Turns out Brett Veach is actually Willy Wonka, and he’s handing out golden tickets! – Ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls – come with me as we take a trip into a world of pure imagination, joy, and candy-filled delights, but before you start reading in earnest, I would ask just one small favor. If you have the TV on in the background, listening to music, have any other sound or noise that you can control – shut if off! Now, allow your mind to drift back to a time long ago, and start playing that wonderful little tune in your head. You can even play it on loop if you like. You know the one… “Hold your breath, make a wish, count to three. Come with me, and you’ll be… in a world of pure imagination. Take a look, and you’ll see… into your imagination. We’ll begin, with a spin, traveling in the world of my creation, what we’ll see will defy, explanation!”
Editor’s Note: you won’t want to miss 42 seconds of magic below (be sure to turn your volume UP).
For the record, one thing we must get straight: we are imagining Willy Wonka from the 1971 film “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” as portrayed by Gene Wilder – NOT the new one! Agreed? Agreed!
Now, with that covered… imagine that famous scene where Wonka rolls out of his famous chocolate and candy factory to meet and greet the lucky holders of the golden ticket. It is the candy man just as you remember from your youth, but replace Wilder’s face with that of Mr. Brett Veach, Kansas City Chiefs General Manager. Seems difficult, doesn’t it? I know you can do it! I believe in YOU! Just remember, we are travelling together through a magical world of imagination! Now that you’ve accomplished this, think of those little boys and girls holding their golden tickets, eagerly awaiting the glorious unknown treasures that lie hidden before them. They are wide-eyed, with bright beaming smiles on their little faces… but they are the faces of some of your favorite Chiefs players. Some of them may even be faces of FORMER Chiefs players. And, now that we have drawn up the scene, let us step through the threshold into Wonka-Veach’s stunning factory of possibility!
What makes Wonka-Veach and his factory of football dreams and imagination so special is that he has the ability to turn aside the challenges and struggles of the real world, as he has created his own world in which the rules of the real world do not apply. Let us begin with the stories of those lucky “children” into whose hands the ever elusive golden ticket found its way.
The Naughty Golden Ticket Holders
As we will recall, not all the little children who entered the factory were innocent little darlings. And SPOILER ALERT for anyone who never actually saw the movie (which I’m not sure why you would even be reading this if you don’t follow the context of the story), but all but ONE of the children in the movie ended up showing their nasty side and let their golden tickets go to waste. For the benefit of this article, I will have more than golden ticket success story; but we must still have our sad stories of the players who were sent on their way by the Chiefs’ oompa-loompas. Oh, and one more fun thing to plug into your brain – let’s just go ahead and imagine that the entire Chiefs coaching staff are oompa-loompas. You heard it… Andy Reid is now an oompa loompa with a play sheet in one hand and a cheeseburger in the other hand. You’re welcome – and enjoy that image!
Moving forward! Kareem Hunt is our feisty little cowboy (remember the kid in the movie?). Now, while Veach wasn’t technically the GM yet in the Spring of 2017 when Hunt was drafted, he surely weighed in on the pick. After all, we all know that Veach had a TON of weigh-in on that fella that the Chiefs selected with the 10th overall pick in that year’s draft… and we’ll get to him a little later! As for Hunt, he was a vastly unknown running back from a vastly irrelevant school – Toledo. However, he showed promise and found his golden ticket with the 86th overall pick (3rd round) of the 2017 NFL Draft. After the expected starting Chiefs RB Spencer Ware went down with an injury, Hunt got his opportunity; and after coughing up the ball on his very 1st NFL carry, he made the most of that golden ticket … for a time. Sadly, when he was caught up in a domestic violence incident, and promptly lied to the organization about it, the oompa-loompas sang him his farewell song and bid him adieu.
Breeland Speaks is our fat German kid (though ironically he’s not fat at all anymore!). This former golden ticket holder is widely held up and argued as being Veach’s only really bad draft decision. In retrospect, hindsight being 20/20 and all that … you kinda wish he hadn’t blown a 2nd round pick on a kid who turned out to be a total dud. But let’s try to maintain a little perspective. Before he put on a ton of bad weight, got badly injured, sat out all of last season, and lost so much weight that he ended up not being a fit either at DE or DT in the Steve Spagnuolo system, Speaks was actually a really promising NFL prospect. He showed enough during his time as a DT at Mississippi for Veach to grab him with the 46th overall pick — 2nd round — of the 2018 draft. Additionally, in 2018 he was selected to join Bob Sutton’s 3-4 defense – one he may have eventually fit into better, compared to Spags’ 4-3 scheme. Ultimately, a long string of unfortunate events led to his being cut from the 2020 roster – and the oompa-loompas bid him adieu.
Our Chiefs Charlie’s: The Golden Ticket Holders Who Worked Out (SO FAR!)
Now, you will also recall from the movie that only one kid makes it to the end and claims the grand prize. Well, we have that kid too … but again, we’ll get to him in a bit. First, let’s discuss our kids who received their golden tickets and are making the most of it. And, while we could really call every single player on the 53-man roster a good golden ticket holder, for this exercise I’d like to just quickly touch on a handful. The ones who come to mind for me are those whom Veach plucked from somewhat of a gloomy past situation to give them an opportunity at champion status, and in some cases those who through a funny twist of fate ended up where they are today.
Harrison Butker was just a no-name kicker on the Carolina Panthers practice squad in early September of 2017. Veach handed him his golden ticket after Chiefs kicker Cairo Santos went down with an injury that has effectively doomed his career. Butker took over, and has made the most of the opportunity, transforming himself into easily one of the best kickers in the league, making Chiefs history along the way, and getting himself a great big piece of Wonka candy (a ring).
Travis Kelce was a troubled youth who at one point quit college. With some help from his brother, Jason, and others; Travis got back on his horse and finished his college career. He has since become arguably the best TE in the NFL, and one of the greatest receiving threats in Chiefs history. Wonka-Veach gave him a golden ticket in the form of a big contract extension (four years, $57.25 million).
Tyrann Mathieu also ran into trouble as a youngster, even trouble with the law. He also struggled to find his way with the Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans in the early years of his career. But, Veach saw something in the kid, and gave him a golden ticket straight to Kansas City; and he has solidified himself as one of the primary leaders on a championship team, as well as one of the best safeties in the league.
Then there are players like, Chris Jones, Sammy Watkins, and Demarcus Robinson: who all wanted big contracts and MIGHT possibly only be remaining in Kansas City due to COVID-19 and teams not wanting to go out on a limb for players they couldn’t bring into their facilities in person for testing (though it seems that Jones basically got “kinda-sorta-ish” what he was looking for). Bottom line is, these guys all still hold a golden ticket to play for a World Champion NFL team that has an outstanding opportunity to #RunItBack. I would even mention Matt Moore – dude was teaching high school kids when he got handed a golden ticket to play as an NFL QB, coached by Andy Reid, and get himself a Super Bowl ring. Man, it just doesn’t get any more “golden tickety” than that.
Oh wait… actually it does…
Charlie Bucket
Who else could possibly be our loveable, generous, kind-hearted, selfless, wonderful Charlie than our MVP, our leader, our inspiration and our hope for at least the next 12 years to come: Mr. Patrick Lavon Mahomes II!
What is there to say that isn’t “golden ticket” about this kid? The Chiefs traded up in the 2017 draft to select him 10th overall when so many wrote him off as a 2nd or 3rd round talent, possibly not even good enough to be a starting QB at the NFL level. Spent his entire first year (except for a throwaway game at the end of the regular season) riding the bench, learning from starter Alex Smith. He stayed humble throughout, and remains that way to this day. He seized his opportunity when it came. I don’t even really need to detail everything he’s accomplished in the past two years. If you’re still reading, you know. Now, he’s the ultimate golden ticket holder. League MVP, Super Bowl MVP, Super Bowl champion, 2nd QB in NFL history to accumulate 50/5,000 in a regular season, newly engaged to longtime girlfriend Brittany, part owner of the Kansas City Royals … and oh by the way, there’s that whole contract thing right? The biggest contract in NORTH AMERICAN SPORTS HISTORY. Plus, as of right now he’s set up to be the leader of the Chiefs and the face of the league for at least the next dozen years. Sounds like a Charlie Bucket to me.
Wonka-Veach Imagination
To kinda tie this all together and wrap things up, we’ve seen what wonders a magician like Veach can accomplish, but how does he really get it all done? After all, he is technically a human being… right? Born in 1977, Veach played football (RB, WR, returner) at Delaware. His NFL career started in 2004, when he was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles as a coaching intern. From there he moved up to coaching assistant and later to scout. He would tag along with coach Reid to Kansas City in 2013, where he became a personnel analyst, then co-director of player personnel, and finally general manager. He has somehow brilliantly found ways to replace players who had either been lost to injury or free agency, as if he looked deep into some cosmic glass sphere and seen the future unfold before him. He has found ways to bring back players we all thought with almost impossible certainty would be gone due to salary expectations. He was the guy (again, not even GM yet) who was harassing Reid endlessly about this Mahomes kid from Texas Tech who is literally the greatest thing since sliced bread! How was he so right… and how was he able to take $177 of remaining funds in the 2020 salary cap and turn it into well over $600 million worth off new contracts?!
He could do all that because… Brett Veach is Willy Wonka. His world of imagination does not fit with the real world. He schemes up whatever his brilliant mind desires, and makes it reality. At this point we all may as well stop questioning him, pick up our lower jaws off the floor… and just sit back, relax, and enjoy his world of pure imagination. “Living there, you’ll be free… if you truly wish to be.”
James McGregor — ArrowheadOne
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