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Linebacker Tamba Hali, a face synonymous with the identity of the Kansas City Chiefs defense over the past decade, will play in his 11th season with the team in 2016 after signing a new contract this past offseason. “I wanted to end my career here,” Hali said when he signed the contract. “It’s a family atmosphere and everything [John] Dorsey, coach [Andy] Reid and the Hunt family stand for, everything they say, it’s been right on point. It doesn’t happen in our league anymore for a player to be in this position, to finish out their career where they got drafted. I’m just thankful.” During the course of his career, Hali has recorded 435 tackles (309 solo), 86.0 sacks and 2 interceptions. Over the past two seasons, the production of the 11-year veteran has remained solid. His 12.5 combined sacks during the past two years are second on the team only to fellow LB Justin Houston, who had 29.5 during the same span. Among all edge defenders in the NFL, Hali had the 11th highest grade in the league in 2015, according to Pro Football Focus. SEASON REVIEW Hali had another strong season for the Chiefs in 2015. Since the arrival of Houston to the Chiefs in 2011, the pair it created with Hali has become the focal point of the Chiefs defense. In 2015, when Houston went down with a knee injury, Hali’s already important role became even greater magnified, and at the age of 32, he delivered. Hali finished the season with 48 tackles (39 solo) and 6.5 sacks. Despite the Chiefs coming up short against the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round, Hali said he was proud of the way the team was able to respond early in the season when he spoke at the post-game press conference. “When you think about it, a lot of other teams might have quit 10 weeks ago, but I’m proud of the fact that we call ourselves family,” he said. “I’m proud of the family. We rally and it’s unfortunate to end this way, but it’s been a season that you can remember and not a lot of teams have been in this position.”HOW HE FITS Hali shares the leadership role in the Chiefs linebacker room with Houston and Derrick Johnson, whom he has played with his entire career. The Chiefs selected Johnson in 2005, just one year before selecting Hali. Chiefs 2016 Linebackers No. Name Ht. Wt. Age Exp. College 44 Adams, Tyrell 6-2 228 24 1 West Georgia 57 Alexander, D.J. 6-2 233 24 2 Oregon State 55 Ford, Dee 6-2 252 25 3 Auburn 91 Hali, Tamba 6-3 275 32 11 Penn State 50 Houston, Justin 6-3 258 27 6 Georgia 56 Johnson, Derrick 6-3 242 33 12 Texas 59 March, Justin 6-0 222 23 2 Akron 46 Massaquoi, Jonathan 6-2 264 28 4 Troy 90 Mauga, Josh 6-1 245 29 7 Nevada 54 Moses, Dezman 6-2 249 27 5 Tulane 40 Mulumba, Andy 6-3 260 26 3 Eastern Michigan 52 Nicolas, Dadi 6-3 235 23 R Virginia Tech 62 Smith, Terrance 6-2 235 23 R Florida State 53 Wilson, Ramik 6-2 237 23 2 Georgia 51 Zombo, Frank 6-3 254 29 7 Central Michigan 2016 OUTLOOK Just after signing his new contract with the Chiefs this offseason, Hali said this: “At this stage in my career, I need to rethink that to where I can be the most effective—play less snaps but be more effective on the snaps I am playing, instead of trying to be a young Tamba in the game the entire time.” The idea he presented is that that less playing time could mean more efficient playing time. “With all the new technology and how you can monitor guys, I could probably be more effective with less snaps,” he added. “That’s not coming from me, that’s coming from [the personnel staff] upstairs, and I agree with them.” Because of offseason knee surgery, Hali did not participate in any offseason workouts. That said, he was around the team nearly every day without a helmet, helping the rest of the linebacker room with hand and team drills. Before leaving for the summer, Reid was asked about his status headed into training camp. “The thing you always have to do with Tamba is back him down a little bit,” he explained. “He’s full throttle. We’ll see how he feels once we get to camp. He didn’t do anything during minicamp, although not too many of us in this room could probably hang with him with his workouts because he’s unbelievable in that way. We’ll see how he does once we get up there.”

Kansas City Chiefs Official Team Website | Chiefs.com

Pre-Camp Reads: Looking at LB Tamba Hali

Over the past few weeks, we’ve taken a closer look at players on the Chiefs roster