This week, Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. spoke to former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Danan Hughes, one of the unsung heroes on the special teams unit in the 1990s.
In his interview with Easton Jr., Hughes, who will appear at the Chiefs Kingdom Tailgate at Flanker Kitchen + Sports Bar on October 26 and 27 in Las Vegas, discussed his growth as a broadcaster and the differences between tight-end greats Tony Gonzalez and Travis Kelce.
“It was a process because, nowadays, I don’t cast any aspersions or jealousy towards guys that go right from the field into the booth, but I climbed the ladder,” Hughes said of his broadcasting career. “I was doing Pop Warner and high school games in the local high school and state championships, and then doing some radio spots when guys were on vacation, Literally, just kind of by reputation, by continuing to grind and climb the ladder to get to a point where, you know, I am one. I believe I’m the only analyst, not the only personality, but the only color analyst currently in all four significant positions in sports.
“When you talk about it, I do college baseball for ESPN and the Big 10 Network, college basketball for ESPN, college football for the Missouri Valley and Big 10 Network, baseball, and football, and then I do the Chiefs. So, it is special to me to be involved in the three sports I grew up playing—baseball, basketball, and football—and to have the incredible blessing of being in the booth for the only organization I played for, the Chiefs. I played here; I wasn’t a big name, so nothing was automatically given to me, and having that as part of my resume has been really cool.”
Hughes continues to cover the Chiefs regularly and has the unique viewpoint of playing alongside rookie Tony Gonzalez and following the career of Pro Bowler Travis Kelce. He shared what he believed to be the differences between the two stars.
“Yeah, I think there are some differences between them,” Hughes explained. “I want to say maybe Tony Gonzalez was more physically gifted. In regards to size, he seemed bigger. He seemed like he was, you know, a bigger body, stronger type of tight end like the old school tight ends were; he was very athletic. Travis Kelce has a little bit more wide receiver to him, a little bit more wiggle, and maybe a little bit more quick movement on the field. They’re, to me, the two of the top tight ends they ever play the game. I’ve been fortunate to be around both guys, Patrick, who is great at quarterback.
“Even though Tony had Rich Gannon for a little bit, he had Trent Green for most of his career. Those guys, to me, are not on the same level as Patrick Mahomes. So to have that luxury of having him and Alex Smith and being consistent, I think both of those guys, when you consider the wide receiving corps around them, you can say that they garnered a lot of attention because they didn’t have those top echelon receivers around them. Yet, they still could be dominant in different ways, maybe a little more wiggle and wide receiver tendencies with Travis Kelce versus the old school, bigger, thumping, breaking tackles presence that Tony Gonzalez had.”
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