Chiefs owner Clark Hunt denies that he promised locker room renovation
The Kansas City Chiefs have been the class of the NFL over the last six seasons, winning three Super Bowls, including back-to-back titles the past two seasons.
That's why it was a surprise that the Chiefs ranked toward the bottom in several categories in the second annual NFLPA survey, which was released in February. The Chiefs were ranked second-to-last in nutritionist/dietician and training room, while their grades for the locker room and training staff were tied for the lowest.
Arguably the most damning result of the survey was that Clark Hunt was graded as the worst owner in the NFL, with players alleging that he failed to fulfill his promise of renovating the team's locker room following the 2022 season. However, Clark denied those events transpired in a recent interview with The Athletic.
"I have spoken to some of our veteran players about that, and they've confirmed to me that it was miscommunication," Hunt said. "Certainly, I personally never said anything to them about a renovation of the locker room. It was a misunderstanding."
In its report, the NFLPA claimed that following the Chiefs' Super Bowl-winning season in 2022, players were surprised to see that the locker room mostly remained the same when they returned for the 2023 season, with the only notable change being new chairs.
But former Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay, who signed with the New Orleans Saints in free agency, came to the defense of his former team's owner.
"No one ever said, ‘Hey, you guys get a renovation if you win a Super Bowl,'" Gay recently told The Athletic. "They won a Super Bowl in 2019, and that didn't happen, so as players, we knew we were not getting any renovations.
"But s---, we are winning Super Bowls, so at the end of the day, how much can we argue? Hey, the facility is falling apart, but we [won] the second Super Bowl in two years. I love Clark Hunt as a person."
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Clark allegedly not fulfilling his locker room promise wasn't the only negative thing players said about him in the NFLPA's survey. Players also felt that the training "is significantly understaffed" while issuing Clark a 4.9 out of 10 rating on the owner's willingness to invest in the facilities.
Patrick Mahomes even voiced his issues about the lack of air conditioning in the team's indoor practice field after dealing with sweltering heat last summer, The Athletic reported. The team reportedly ultimately decided to add an air conditioner to the indoor practice field.
Hunt claimed that's one of the changes that is set to be made to the team's training facilities.
"We are making some pretty significant investments in the training facility this year and we'll continue to do that," Hunt told The Athletic. "We've outgrown that building in a number of ways."
Hunt is also looking to possibly work with players moving forward on how they can continue to improve the environment in Kansas City.
"We'll certainly include the players in our thinking on the future of the training facility," the Chiefs owner said. "We'll want their input and we'll seek that when the time is right."