Chiefs front office executive sends firm message about what makes GM Brett Veach a future NFL Hall of Famer

"I don't know," Shea told Meirov. "It makes no sense to me, and I don't know if I can give you a reason. I think, I think Brett (Veach) is very humble, and he doesn't promote himself, but he has a lot of success. I think people here would tell you that he's been instrumental in everything we've done to get to the place where we've been in four Super Bowls and won three of them. I think he's a Hall of Fame General Manager, and there aren't many of them with the success he's enjoyed.

"Coach Reid is a Hall of Fame coach, and we've got a great quarterback. We've got an all-time great coach, maybe one of the two or three greatest of all time, maybe the greatest of all time. Having that combo, maybe overshadows the general manager a little bit, and that's not Brett's fault, but he's spectacular."

Is it simply a matter of fatigue over the Chiefs' greatness? They've got a future Hall of Fame head coach in Andy Reid. They've got a future Hall of Fame tight end in Travis Kelce. They've got a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Patrick Mahomes. That might be the case, but perhaps people simply don't recognize Veach's full impact as general manager.  

"Just to give you a little insight into him, he's the best general manager or figurehead of any team I've belonged to or worked for at the college level or the pro level at building process and communication that leads to an open and aligned culture," Shea explained. "You know, the way we meet? He has our entire front office in our draft meetings (and) in our free agency meetings. That doesn't happen everywhere. There are often lots of silos where people sort of have very narrow job descriptions and don't get exposed to how other people think about players. We're all watching more film and meeting more together as a unified staff than any place I've ever been. This is my eighth year here. I have worked, I think, 16 or 17 years in the league before I ever got here and he just creates an openness where we're all aligned and know, know eventually what he's thinking, understand what types of players he wants, but also what types of players the coaches want."

It's not just about signing free agents, drafting well, and negotiating contracts. It's about bringing together a vision for an entire organization. As much credit as the coaching staff gets for getting the players to perform on the field, Veach should get credit for bringing everything together off of it. 

"He also does a tremendous job of involving the coaching staff, interacting with the coaching staff organically all the time, and the support staff, so that we're really one big football operation here that's all rowing in the same direction," Shea said. "That starts with Clark Hunt and Coach Reid, but Brett's instrumental in it, and he should be talked about as one of the great GMs, not just of now, but of all time."

The odds are probably stacked against Veach to be remembered as an all-time great, even with all of his accolades. There are just over a dozen general managers in the Hall of Fame, but most held other roles, too. Only time will tell if Veach is recognized as a Hall of Famer, but it's clear that those around him have the utmost respect for everything he does to keep the organization at the pinnacle of the NFL.