Drue Tranquill on locker-room mentality that sets Chiefs above other NFL teams

Chiefs players will be gathering next week in Kansas City as the Organized Team Activities continue.

At some point, coach Andy Reid will address the team and give them a word that will serve as a theme for the upcoming season. It’s something he does each year.

Linebacker Drue Tranquill joined the “Art of Investing” podcast this week. and revealed last year’s word was United.

“There’s I think many reasons coach Reid chose that word outside of you’re the current Super Bowl champion, you’re gonna get everybody’s best shot, we’ve got to be united in this thing,” Tranquill said. “I think what he meant by that was a collective mindset unified towards a common goal. And that goal for us was hoisting another Lombardi trophy, and doing it back to back years is something that’s only been done a handful of times in the NFL.”

Tranquill, who signed with the Chiefs ahead of last season after spending four seasons with the Chargers, noted that even when there were rough waters last year the team maintained its focus on what it wanted to achieve.

“There were no egos in that organization. And that’s something we all have. We all have egos and we all want to be the star of the story. We all want to play an important role,” Tranquill said. “But one thing that was so different in Kansas City, maybe from my other years of experience in the NFL, is nobody was talking about their free-agency contracts. Nobody was talking about what’s next. Nobody was talking about how many catches they were getting or how much playing time they were getting.

“There were subtle jokes or stuff of this, that and the other, but everything was about winning. Everything was about winning the next game, everything was about finding a way to win that game, to move on and to ultimately hoist the Lombardi and win at the end. And I think that obsession with winning in that unified mindset is what carried this team.”

That was one factor Tranquill pointed to for the Chiefs’ success. He praised the leadership at all levels in the organization from ownership to general manager Brett Veach to coach Reid.

Here are two other things Tranquill noted about the 2023 season.

Kelce’s halftime speech

Tranquill then relayed a story from inside the Chiefs locker room at the AFC Championship Game that showed that leadership from a player. The Chiefs led 17-7 and Tranquill said the players were given a “two to the two” notification.

That means in two minutes, Reid would speak to the team for two minutes before the players headed back on the field.

“Coach Reid comes up to talk starts to say what he’s gonna say and Travis Kelce just starts like screaming over the top of coach Reid and just takes over the whole halftime spiel,” Tranquill said. “Players were like, ‘I can get on board with that. I can get on board with that energy,’ because he’s not just saying it.

“There’s an element of competency too in all of this, like you have to have good leadership. A good leader is not somebody who just can say the right things at the right time, but somebody who can actually execute on what they’re saying. And Travis, at that moment, at that critical moment, that critical junction node in our season, was the leadership we needed to go out there in the second half and execute and win the game. So I think leadership is a critical ingredient that we had this year.”

It’s not luck

The third factor for the Chiefs’ success this season, Tranquill said, was what some people would mistakenly call luck.

Tranquill pointed to defensive lineman Chris Jones’ pressure in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII. It forced 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy to throw quicker than he wanted on a third-down play and miss a potential touchdown.

“Some people call it luck. I call it preparation meeting opportunity,” Tranquill said. “But there’s going to be moments where you have to capitalize maybe on another team, or another company or another person making a mistake. And you have to be ready to seize that opportunity. Whether that’s via a turnover or you look at that third-down play in overtime where Chris Jones comes free. How does Chris Jones come free? He’s the best defensive player on the football field. He comes free because they busted protection and Chris did a great job of running and not leaving his feet and forcing the errant throw there back out to the right side of the end zone to force them to a field goal.

“We ultimately know Pat goes down the field and they score a touchdown to win the game. Some people like I say call it luck. I think it’s more capitalizing on opportunities when they present themselves. So you got to have those three things, and I think we had all of those this year.”