KC Chiefs: Ten Worst Starters In Past Ten Years

William Bartee #24 of the Kansas City Chiefs (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

You know it’s funny imagining the days when NFL teams stuck with bad players, but it happened a lot more back in the day (as if the early 2000s were “back in the day”). An example of this would be William Bartee, who was awful, yet kept getting opportunities in Kansas City.

Bartee was the Chiefs’ second round pick (54th overall) in the 2000 NFL Draft. While he spent six seasons in a Chiefs uniform, Bartee never went on to start all 16 games in a season and never seemed to be able to stay healthy.

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During Bartee’s six seasons in the pros, he only managed three and a half sacks, one forced fumble, and ZERO interceptions. You read that right. A professional NFL cornerback who was a SECOND ROUND PICK was unable to pick the ball off one single time in six freaking years. That’s embarrassing.

I was doing some research on Bartee, since his last few years in the league were my first few years of getting into football, and a lot of the sites said that re signing the former Sooner was the Chiefs’ biggest off season priority after his four-year contract was up. I found a gem from Chris Thorman of Arrowhead Pride from several years ago where he discussed the 2000 NFL Draft for the Chiefs.

"Bartee spent six years playing in Kansas City. He played in 87 games over those six years. He became an UFA in 2004 but the Chiefs quickly scooped him back up and signed him to a four-year deal. Bartee also moved from corner to safey in 2005, a move he was comfortable with. Off-season 2006 rolled around and the Chiefs signed Ty Law. Bartee gave Law his number, injured his Achilles and was promptly replaced by draft picks Bernard Pollard and Jarrad Page. And that quickly William Bartee was gone. The veteran player is out of football today."

Now Thorman did go on to give the pick a C+, but maybe he was just feeling particularly nice that day. He also mentioned that Bartee’s ability to play both cornerback and safety was a nice feature, which yes, but not when the player sucks. Bartee was bad and there’s no way he’d be around for six years with the way the Chiefs’ defense is run now.

… and to think, the Chiefs could have spent this pick on Tom Brady, who was taken four rounds later. Yes I’m aware that would have seemed dumb at the time, but just roll with it, okay? Bartee was bad. Really bad.

Next: Another bad receiver