Chiefs LB R Mason Thomas reflects on his draft night reaction

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker R Mason Thomas spoke with reporters at Friday's press conference during this weekend's rookie minicamp. He opened up about his first impression of Kansas City and reflected on his eventful draft night.

"It's a lot like Oklahoma, really. Kansas City is not too far from Oklahoma," said Thomas, " but it's definitely – you see all the trophies and Lombardi's. It's definitely different, and it's definitely a program that's a dynasty, for sure."

During four seasons at Oklahoma, Thomas played in 42 games, collecting 65 total tackles and 17 sacks, earning AP second-team All-American honors. Thomas was selected in the second round, 40th overall, with high expectations, as he shared his unique experience of hearing his name called on day two.

"It was pretty crazy. To be honest, I thought time was going to freeze for a second, but it just kept on going," said Thomas. "The next day I woke up and (I was) like 'whoa.' I didn't really – I really didn't realize that I was a Chief because I was looking at the fourth-through-seventh round and the Chiefs picked up somebody and I was like 'oh I wonder how that looks', well duh, I'm going to be there with them (laughter). So, I didn't – that's the word register, it didn't register with me that I was a Chief at one point but yeah, the weeks been smooth going back to working out – I don't know it's different."

In the 2025 season, Thomas started 10 games, finishing with 26 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss with 6.5 sacks, a pass breakup, 2 forced fumbles, and a safety.

This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Chiefs LB R Mason Thomas reflects on his draft night reaction