Kevin Vickerson slowly dressed as he spoke to a handful of reporters in the Kansas City locker room on Sunday night after the Chiefs’ 24-17 loss to the Broncos. On his mind? Getting another chance to beat Denver — the team that cut him at the end of August after four years of being the team’s starting defensive tackle.
“It was a business decision by them (the Broncos), a business decision by me to come here (to Kansas City) so I could play them twice,” Vickerson, 31, said. “They made a business decision; I made a business decision. , but I chose these guys. That’s who we’re going to ride with: Chiefs.”
“You chose them on purpose?” a reporter asked.
“I definitely did. Definitely did. Definitely did,” Vickerson said. “Coach Reid gave me an opportunity to be here (as did Chiefs General Manager John) Dorsey. I’m here. We’re going to do it for the year, and we’re going to play these guys again, too. I’ve got another shot at them. We’re going to do a split. They got us this one, but we’re going to get them next time.”
The Chiefs picked up Vickerson on Sept. 9, and it’s clear he was playing to show Broncos executives they made the wrong decision in releasing him. He had been starting for the Broncos since the 2010 season — one of the few holdovers from before the John Fox regime — but last year that left him sidelined for the season. His recovery, however, was slow, and he struggled to regain fitness.
“It was a little bit different. Just my familiarity with these guys helped me out a lot. But other than that, the game is the game. Football don’t change, players do,” Vickerson said. “I didn’t give them any insight. [The Broncos] are true to the tape, I told the guys what I knew, and it stood true.”
