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Kansas City Chiefs: Christian Okoye Documentary Premieres Friday

By Joel Wagler

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The Kansas City Chiefs will still be in focus after their loss on Thursday. The NFL Network will premiere its original documentary of “A Football Life: Christian Okoye” at 8:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time, on Friday.

Christian Okoye burst onto the NFL scene for the KC Chiefs in 1987, and for a few brief seasons, he was a Pro Bowl and All-Pro running back.

The “Nigerian Nightmare” played his collegiate career at little-known Azusa Pacific and was a freakishly big man to be playing running back at the time. He was a compact, powerful 6’1″, 253 pounds, built more like a linebacker rather than a ball carrier.

It will be a KC Chiefs Night of sorts on the NFL Network as they will follow the Okoye documentary with a rerun of “A Football Life: Derrick Thomas” directly after.

Maybe this will be just the thing to help Chiefs fans recover from the unlikely, and numbing, loss to the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night. The Chiefs scored with only 2:15 seconds left in the game to take a 24-17 lead. A minute, 48 seconds later, the Broncos had scored two touchdowns. Chiefs’ hearts broke all over Kansas City.

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Two documentaries featuring very historically popular KC Chiefs should get fans fired back up for their beloved Chiefs. Thursday night was a tough game to watch, but watching programs on the careers of Okoye and Thomas should help the recovery.

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Okoye ended up playing just six seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs, and in only 79 games. Still, he made an impression.

His career numbers are not impressive as a whole, as he carried the ball 1,246 times for 4,897 yards (3.9-yard average), and he rushed for 40 touchdowns. He also pulled in 42 catches (24 in his rookie year), for 294 yards.

For three seasons, however, from 1989-1991, he was one of the best in the NFL. He logged 840 carries and gained 3,316 yards. In 1989, he led the NFL with an amazing 370 carries and 1,480 yards.

According to Pro Football-Reference, he was a Pro Bowl selection in 1989 and 1991, and a First Team All-Pro in 1989.

He battled knee injuries throughout his career, and in 2009, Bleacher Report listed him as having one of the top ten most snakebitten careers in NFL history.

Christian Okoye was inducted into the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame in 2000.

It will be fun to reminisce about Okoye and Thomas. These two stars were instrumental in turning around this franchise, and new Chiefs fans need to appreciate how fun they were to watch on the gridiron.

CHECK OUT MORE ALL-TIME CHIEFS LISTS!

Here is a taste of what you will see tonight.

Don’t miss these back-to-back documentaries on the NFL Network at 8:oo p.m. CDT, on Friday, September 18th.

Christian Okoye and Derrick Thomas were two great Chiefs that led interesting lives on and off the field. Enjoy!

Next: Top Chiefs in the 1990's

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