The Big Lead

Kyle Van Noy rips Chiefs training staff for 'unprofessional' treatment

By Joe Lago

Nov 16, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy (50) warms up before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images
Nov 16, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy (50) warms up before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images
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Winners of three of the last five Super Bowls, the Kansas City Chiefs have set the NFL's championship standard in the post-New England Patriots dynasty era. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid have replaced Tom Brady and Bill Belichick as the league's new power duo.

Where the Chiefs have fallen woefully short is off the field with their workplace conditions and offerings. In the NFL Players Association's 2024 survey, Kansas City's own players were so critical of the franchise that it ranked 31st among the league's 32 teams. They gave the team an "F" grade in four of the 11 categories, including training staff.

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Linebacker Kyle Van Noy discovered just how poor Kansas City's trainers really are last Thursday, when the Baltimore Ravens kicked off the NFL season against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.

On his "McCoy and Van Noy" podcast with former six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, Van Noy blasted the K.C. training staff for its "unacceptable" and "unprofessional" treatment of his fractured orbital bone that he suffered in the third quarter of the Ravens' 27-20 loss.

"I was disappointed in the way the training staff of the Chiefs handled the situation," Van Noy said. "When things like that hurt, when you get hurt, especially something that could be serious like mine was, you're supposed to rely on the team's training staff or their doctors. And I was supposed to see an ophthalmologist ... and they took an entire quarter to get down to talk to me in the lockerroom. Which to me is unacceptable.

"Because then you start thinking: What if I was trying to get back into the game? What if I was really really hurt? I know mine just happened to be moderate, but it still was serious because it was an eye. Your expectation of someone to be down there, as the training staff asked him to be down there, would've had a little bit more urgency. And just the way it took time was super unprofessional to me."

Van Noy also was critical of how casual the Chiefs were at treating him, citing the presence of a doctor or a doctor's friend who stood by while "double-cup-fisted" with beverages as if "everything was good."

"I understand how Kansas City, the players, have given that training room an 'F,'" Van Noy added. "Because with my experience, I would've probably, after that, gave them an 'F' too."

Van Noy got a little emotional finishing up his story. That's when McCoy jumped in to perfectly sum up what had happened to his podcast mate.

"You gave them one letter," he said, "but I got two letters for them."

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