Ex-Mississippi State standout Chris Jones reached another milestone during his legendary time with the Kansas City Chiefs, and he did it with the show of force that has become his trademark since the Chiefs drafted him a decade ago.
The now 32-year-old veteran had 2 sacks during Sunday’s 35-12 blowout victory over the New York Jets, wowing the home crowd at Arrowhead Stadium and moving up to No. 2 on Kansas City’s all-time sacks list. Jones passed Tamba Hali for second on that prestigious list of Chiefs, with Hali finishing his career in KC with 89.5 sacks.
There is a new No. 2 on the list and it’s Jones with 90.5 career sacks in now his 11th season with Kansas City. The 7-time Pro Bowler who has helped lead the Chiefs to 3 Super Bowl titles during their dynastic run in the NFL only has 1 more name ahead of him now on that all-time sacks list in Kansas City, and it’s the late and legendary Derrick Thomas.
Thomas, who like Jones starred in the SEC at Alabama, set an insanely high benchmark in Kansas City and in the NFL in general, piling up 126.5 sacks during his time with the Chiefs from 1989-99. That’s the same time frame that Jones has spent in Kansas City, which gives fans an idea of just how dominant Thomas was during his 11 seasons with the franchise.
The Chiefs celebrated Jones’ spot right behind the beloved Thomas on Sunday with this post:
Unlike Thomas, who was a first-round pick and No. 4 overall by the Chiefs in 1989, Jones was only a second-round pick — 37th overall — in the 2016 draft after starring at Mississippi State from 2013-15.
Despite not even being a first-round pick, Jones has elevated himself into superstar status during his time in Kansas City, which brought us to Sunday, when Jones passed Hali with a sack of Jets quarterback Geno Smith that created yet another milestone moment for him in KC.
Like so many other quarterbacks in the past decade since he arrived in the NFL, Smith couldn’t escape the pursuit of Jones on the sack, and the home crowd had yet another reason to cheer No. 95.
Who knows how close Jones will get to the great Thomas’ all-time sack record, but that number is out there as more motivation for Jones, who is still going strong in his 11th season.
No matter how close Jones gets to Thomas, the Mississippi native who stayed in-state to play for the Bulldogs continues to cement his legacy with the Chiefs.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
