Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Shame: Worst breakup and more

After celebrating the Chiefs by highlighting their players (and a coach) who could someday be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, we flip the script to give you Kansas City's Hall of Shame.

Worst breakup: Tony Gonzalez 

Gonzalez, who was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019, was one of the best players in franchise history. In 12 seasons with the Chiefs, the tight end made 10 Pro Bowls and earned five First-Team All-Pro nods. Yet Kansas City believed trading him to the Falcons for a second-round pick in 2010 was smart. 

Kansas City went 4-12 in 2007 and 2-14 in 2008, so it was wasting Gonzalez's prime, and using him to acquire more draft capital and rebuild didn't seem like a terrible idea. However, the Chiefs should've received more than one second-round pick for an elite player like Gonzalez.  

Kansas City used the pick (No. 50 overall) on cornerback Javier Arenas. He only started in 12 games in three seasons with the Chiefs before they dealt him to the Cardinals in 2013.  

In five seasons with Atlanta, Gonzalez made four more Pro Bowls and was selected to First-Team All-Pro once.

Worst draft pick: QB Todd Blackledge 

In the 1983 NFL Draft, the Chiefs selected Blackledge with the seventh overall pick, passing over future Hall of Famer Dan Marino.

The Chiefs met with Marino before the draft, and several front-office members liked him, per the team's website. They still went with Blackledge instead because Kansas City head coach John Mackovic preferred him over Marino.

It was a huge mistake. Blackledge only started in 24 games in five seasons with Kansas City, and his numbers were awful: a 49.1 percent completion rate and more interceptions (32) than touchdown passes (26). Blackledge played two more seasons, with Pittsburgh, before exiting the league. 

Marino became a league MVP in 1984 and made nine Pro Bowls in 17 seasons with Miami.    

Worst free-agency signing: Chester McGlockton

The Chiefs signed McGlockton to a five-year, $30M deal in 1998. It seemed like a smart move because he was a solid defensive tackle. In six seasons with the Raiders, he made four Pro Bowls, earned a First-Team All-Pro honor and logged 39.5 sacks. 

However, his production dipped significantly in Kansas City (seven sacks in three seasons), and the Chiefs released him after the 2000 season. McGlockton only played three more seasons in the league.

Worst loss: 1971 AFC divisional playoff game on Dec. 25, 1971

In the longest game in NFL history (82 minutes and 40 seconds), the upstart Miami Dolphins broke the Chiefs' hearts in a 27-24 double-overtime upset in Kansas City.

"Fantastic, unbelievable," K.C. coach Hank Stram called the game.

The Chiefs had been aiming for their second Super Bowl title in three seasons. 

Kansas City running back Ed Podolak compiled 350 all-purpose yards, still a league postseason record. However, Jan Stenerud missed two key kicks, a potential game-winner from 31 yards near the end of regulation and a 42-yarder that was blocked in the first overtime. Miami kicker Garo Yepremian made the winning field goal in the second overtime. 

"I have no idea what I'm going to do now. I feel like hiding... it's unbearable, totally unbearable," Stenerud, a future Hall of Famer, told the media afterward, per the Kansas City Star.

"It happens to the best. And for that, I felt sorry for him," Yepremian said of Stenerud.

The Chiefs didn't make the playoffs again until the 1986 season.