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Mike Kafka wanted only one extra week on an NFL roster.
The Buccaneers promoted him when quarterback Josh McCown damage his thumb in 2014. McCown returned one week shy of Kafka gaining sufficient tenure to turn into a vested veteran, which might entitle him to pension, insurance coverage and different advantages after taking part in.
Kafka — a St. Rita and Northwestern alum — talked about the timeline to McCown as the sport approached. The veteran bolted upstairs to speak to go coach Lovie Smith.
“He got here again possibly 25 minutes later and stated, ‘It’s finished — you’re in …’” Kafka stated this week. “That was one of many greatest issues for me, so far as a participant, to have the ability to get that vested tag — not only for myself however for my household.”
The Bucs waived him the following week.
Kafka wasn’t an NFL standout — he solely threw 16 passes — however he’s answerable for probably the most dynamic quarterback of his technology: Patrick Mahomes.
He was the Chiefs’ offensive high quality management coach in 2017 earlier than being promoted to quarterbacks coach. The Chiefs gave him the added title of pass-game coordinator this season.
“He got here in similtaneously I got here into this locker room,” Mahomes stated. “Even earlier than he got here in as quarterbacks coach, he already had an enormous imprint on what I did in growing me to be the participant that I’m. He continues that. He stays on me.”
Ultimately, Kafka figures to be a stylish identify for a play-calling job, or perhaps a head coach. That dialogue stays difficult, although, as long as his boss, coordinator Eric Bieniemy, stays shut out of head teaching jobs.
“When that chance presents itself, I’ll be prepared,” Kafka stated.
He gave credit score to his stops within the Chicago space — first at St. Rita, which he referred to as “the most effective choices I made as a younger grownup.” Deciding to remain shut at play for Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald — the place he starred as a senior in 2009 — simply felt comfy.
“I believed this system at St. Rita and this system at Northwestern had been very related,” he stated. “[They] match into who i used to be an individual and who i wished to be as a person.”
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