Let’s go back to last November, shall we? Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Turk Wharton was leaving the Bank of America Stadium after defeating the Panthers 30-27. While walking towards the tunnel, he saw a little kid in the No. 32 Nick Bolton jersey calling him. Turk walked towards the kid while taking his gloves off when in excitement, the youngster leaned a bit too forward over a section that didn’t have any guardrail. Like the kid’s hero appearing in real life, Wharton caught him before falling headfirst, averting a nearly 10-foot fall. At that time, who could have predicted this wasn’t going to be his final interaction at the Panthers stadium?

Fast forward four months—Turk is now a Carolina Panther, hoping to help his team with anything they ask from him.

See, Wharton is coming into a Panthers defensive setup that surrendered 534 points last season (an NFL record that no one wants to hold). Almost 10 teams dunked at least 30 points, while 3 more amassed over 40. Their protection against the run game was almost non-existent. Giving up 3,057 rushing yards, among which their final 6 games saw them yield over 200 rushing yards on average. So, to stop it from happening again, they turned towards Charlotte’s hero—Turk Wharton.

Appearing on a virtual introductory presser for his new team, one reporter questioned, “You were asked, a few times in Kansas City, to drop back in coverage, how comfortable are you in that? And do you think that’s an area of opportunity with this particular defense?”

Turk had a straightforward answer. “I mean, I still got, you know, we turned it towards OTA. So, once I get there, I understand what’s going on. But I mean, there’s an area where if it comes, it comes, you know, I could do it. I’m a team player so if it’s called for them, I do it. If it’s not, then I’d be great at what they tell me to do.” 

Coming off a career-high 6.5 sacks last season, Wharton mostly played as a pass-rushing nose tackle. But the thing that stood out for him the most was his dropping into coverage. Out of all the defensive tackles last season, Wharton dropped 10 times into coverage, the seventh-most in the league. So, having the versatility and quickness of a defensive lineman. The fifth-year veteran could prove to be a key piece to DC Ejiro Evero’s 3-4 base scheme set-up.

Seeing himself earn a whopping $54M contract with $30 guaranteed on a 3-year deal, Wharton couldn’t help but remember some moments in his career that could have changed his whole NFL dream.

Turk Wharton remembers the biggest obstacles in his time with the Chiefs

Just 5 years ago, Wharton’s career was off to a worst possible start. Coming out of Missouri S&T, Turk went undrafted in the 2020 NFL draft. Having to overcome a small-college stigma, Turk was picked by the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent. Obviously, him finding a home in Kansas City was supposed to be a positive, right? But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

Make no mistake—it was COVID-19 year. And that proved to be the first major obstacle in Turk’s career. Because of the pandemic, he recalled how he “didn’t get to do a pro day. I didn’t get to do any of that. Those things that probably would have lit me up on the boards I didn’t get to show.”

So, for almost 4 years, he was in a rotational role in the Chiefs Kingdom. Yes, he finally did manage to earn a name for himself in his final year with Kansas City. But almost 3 years ago, when the Chiefs’ three-peat run basically started—Wharton met his biggest hurdle yet. When asked, “What was the biggest obstacle you feel like you’ve had to overcome to get to the point you are now where your career seems to be taking off?” 

Wharton remembered that moment in 2022 when he tore his ACL. “I would say I never had a major injury until my ACL. So that was the obstacle, you know, seeing your team, they continue to succeed, and you know, able to go win when I was hurt. So, I feel like that was big and coming back, you know, the situation that was going on, you kind of came back a little early. Then I would have liked it and, you know, going through that and then getting going at the end of the year. So, I feel like that was the biggest obstacle,” Turk shared. 

Wharton’s ACL tear in 2022 restricted him to just 5 games. While his season ended early, the Chiefs won the Super Bowl LVII. He was reduced to being a spectator from the sidelines as the Chiefs hoisted the Lombardi. Wharton regrets not coming back early and joining his teammates in their Super Bowl-winning run. But hey!! At least his regret turned into jubilation the following year.

Turk came back healthy and led the Chiefs to another Super Bowl. This time, he was there against the 49ers, recording one tackle and winning his second Super Bowl ring in the process as a substitute to Chris Jones. However, the return was not timed according to what he would have wanted. Still, to pick the team up in Jones’ absence, he had to make a comeback earlier than expected without recovering a 100%.

Hell, he could have made it 3 in a row if not for the Eagles. Now, in Carolina, Turk Wharton would be hoping to turn their defense around as he did with his career in Kansas City.