ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Kansas City Chiefs fans won't be cheering for Jamaal Charles on Monday night.
They won't be hoping for a multi-touchdown performance and they definitely don't want to see Jamaal Charles run wild in Kansas City to spur a Broncos win.
As long as the game's in progress, the Arrowhead crowd's loyalties will lie with their current players and not with the franchise's all-time great.
But C.J. Anderson hopes at some point — whether it's before the game or during a break in the action — the Chiefs will honor Charles for his contributions to the organization.
"I would assume he is [being honored]," Anderson said Thursday. "I hope they give my man the big ol' Jumbotron and [show] all the cool highlights [from] back in the day. [Hopefully he] gets a little emotional so we can laugh at him, and then he [can] go out there and do what he does best, and he's doing it for blue and orange, not red and yellow."
Charles didn't have a problem admitting he may shed a tear when he returns to the place where he was drafted and played nine seasons.
"I probably will [cry]," Charles said. "It's good to let people cry sometimes and not hold it in."
When Charles does decide to retire, he plans to again return to Kansas City. He's spoken to Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt and head coach Andy Reid, and they've already extended the invitation for their all-time leading rusher to retire as a Chief.
The Broncos welcomed back some of their injured players as they began preparing to take on the Chiefs on "Monday Night Football." (Photos by Gabriel Christus unless noted)
Photo by Ben Swanson
Photo by Ben Swanson
Photo by Ben Swanson
Photo by Ben Swanson
Photo by Ben Swanson
Photo by Ben Swanson
For now, though, Charles is focused on an opportunity to earn a win in the stadium that was the setting for the loudest roar at a sports stadium.
"At the end of the day, I'm just going out there [to] play football," Charles said. "That's my main focus right now: to win and hopefully go [3-1] in the division."
And as he tries to help the Broncos earn their first road victory of the season, he'll do so knowing he's proved a pair of NFL teams wrong.
"The other two teams that looked at me, [they] looked at my knees and said basically, 'You should retire. … We don't want you right now.'
"I think I've proven to people I can still play right now, and I can still play with anybody."
Monday night, he'll try to provide another reminder in a familiar setting.
