Chiefs rookie Hunter Nourzad using Legos to adjust to training camp

SAINT JOSEPH, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs rookie offensive lineman Hunter Nourzad is an exceptionally intelligent human.

The fifth-round pick spent his first three seasons at the prestigious Cornell University and was a Second-team All-Ivy League selection at right tackle as a true freshman.

He also earned academic All-Ivy League honors, was a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy (an honor considered the “academic Heisman”) and was named to the NFF Hampshire Honor Society (awarded to student-athletes who keep a 3.2 GPA).

Nourzad transferred to Penn State in 2022 where he was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection at left guard starting in eight of 11 games. The Marietta, Georgia native is listed at 6’3, 317 pounds and was a second-team All-Big Ten Conference in 2023.

He also earned academic All-Big Ten honors, Penn State’s Tim Shaw Thrive Award (given to student-athletes who have overcome adversities and been an inspiration to fellow teammates) and the team’s Nittany Lion Club Award winner, given to a senior with the highest GPA.

Nourzad earned his engineering degree from Cornell and had a bidding war between the graduate engineering department at Penn State and the graduate business department for his services.

“There was interest from the graduate engineering school, to have me come in and get a master’s in mechanical engineering,” he said during rookie minicamp.

“But I figured that that probably wouldn’t be a great balance between school and football so I decided to go the business route.”

He ended up getting a master’s in business administration from Penn State.

Nourzad’s intelligence is easily seen on the field through versatility. He started 20 straight games at right tackle at Cornell and played 24 games at Happy Valley at guard and center with 13 starts at center in his final season.

On the second day of training camp, he’s preparing to play wherever the Chiefs want him to.

“I’m working everywhere,” Nourzad said on Thursday.

“I’m going to do anything they want me to. If they want me to go get water, I’ll do that. So I’ll do whatever they need me to do.”

The rookie already made headlines with what he moved into camp with as reporters watched him walk in.

Three essentials were in hand for Nourzad: a six-pack of Monster energy drinks, an Ulta bag with shampoo and conditioner and a Lego orchid in a pot.

“I brought one of my smaller sets just to have a piece of home with me,” he said.

“It’s just something to, you know, keep you centered.”

Nourzad’s Lego habit started when he was young. He received a Lego Batmobile when he was eight years old as a Christmas present and he built it over Christmas break.

“Being an eight-year-old, I was clumsy and I remember dropping it down the stairs and just raw emotion,” he said.

He has since expanded his collection to include a 10,000-piece coliseum, a Bugatti car, a Ford F-150, a Dodge Challenger, a Formula 1 car and a crane that moves. With such a large collection, he plans to get a shelving unit soon.

The 23-year-old is a mathematical learner which makes a lot of sense when examining his accomplishments. He learns by gathering information and putting the pieces together, just like he was to do with Legos.

Just like an engineer has to gather info and calculate it to build anything, football players must constantly go over their playbook in meetings and walk through and practice before they can finally perfect it.

“The best way for me to learn is to take in like all the information for example during meetings and then go back on my own and start organizing it in a way that makes sense to me,” Nourzad said.

“Using my own words to reflect on what I learned. Honestly, just repetition, just doing stuff over and over, writing stuff down over and over again. And it takes a lot of time but it’s what I’m here to do.”

Nourzad’s learning style is perfect for an NFL career and Andy Reid’s training camp. Chiefs players meet with their coaches constantly throughout the season going over every single detail of the playbook and game situations. With guard Joe Thuney’s playing status unknown after missing the Super Bowl and offseason practices with a torn pec, Nourzad could be in contention for a starting spot as a rookie.

However, learning the playbook is always the biggest hurdle for a rookie in the NFL. The first three days of training camp are for rookies to continue adjusting to life as a pro.

“I study a lot,” he said.

“A lot of repetitive note-taking and drawing plays up and scheme, trying to get mental reps in my notebook rather than being on the field. The playbook is very big. There’s a lot of details I think is the biggest difference. There’s so many details to go with everything and it’s really just how much time you’re going to put in and I put in a lot of time off the field and out of meetings.”ChiC

All-Pro center Creed Humphrey and other veterans on the offensive line have already become mentors to him.

“He has so much to give when it comes to knowledge and scheme and also technique in his play,” he said about Humphrey.

“He is an extremely, extremely talented center. I’m gonna do my best to try to get every ounce of knowledge out of him.”

Training camp is his proving ground to show that he has a lot of brawn to go with a high-level brain.

“I just want to show that I can hang with these guys and I can compete at a high level,” he said.

“I’m gonna do everything I can in my power to do that.”

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