SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Creed Humphrey might be on the verge of making Super Bowl history.
“Might be” because no one seems definitively sure if the second-team All-Pro would actually become the first left-handed center to lift the Lombardi Trophy if the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
Told Wednesday he’s poised to be the first southpaw snapper to win it all, Humphrey responded: “Really!?”
When this USA TODAY Sports reporter then admitted he had no idea if it was 100% true – particularly since centers snapped with both hands on the football years ago – Humphrey let loose a belly laugh.
“That doesn’t count,” he giggled.
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Yet this isn’t as trivial a matter as one might assume. Left-handed pivots seem to be a rarity at all levels of football and, naturally, even more so in the NFL. Several of his teammates were queried, but none could recall playing with one aside from Humphrey.
“It was a consideration when we were evaluating him,” Chiefs offensive line coach Andy Heck told USA TODAY Sports. “In the end, we decided, ‘No, it’s not going to be an issue.’
“And it certainly hasn’t been.”
The primary concern seems to be that when a quarterback takes a direct snap, he’s used to the way the ball comes up from a right-hander. Heck said it “spins a different way” from Humphrey.
Former Atlanta Falcons center James Stone had to adapt to quarterbacks, not vice versa.
“All quarterbacks like to get their under-center (snaps) right-handed, and it’s just more comfortable for me to do the (shotgun) with my left hand because I’m left-handed,” Stone told ESPN in 2014. “I’ve been doing it that way since college.”
And Stone, who wasn’t drafted, still only lasted in the league for four years. Humphrey, a two-time Big 12 offensive lineman of the year at Oklahoma, was selected in the second round of the 2021 draft. That, plus his topflight performance through two seasons, suggests he’ll be sticking around for quite a while.
And yet …
“I wonder if (being left-handed) is one of the reasons maybe he wasn’t picked higher, because the traits would dictate that he should’ve been picked higher,” Eagles five-time All-Pro center Jason Kelce told USA TODAY Sports, adding he’d once had a teammate – whom he didn’t want to identify – who was a lefty but had been forced to learn how to snap with his right hand.
“I know that some teams steer away from a left-handed center. You don’t see a lot of them. … Whatever he’s doing is working really well.”
And it has been for some time.
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Humphrey worked with Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield at Oklahoma but didn’t actually play with him during his 2017 redshirt season. The next two years, Humphrey was delivering the ball to another Heisman winner, Kyler Murray, and then, in 2019, to Jalen Hurts – who will be starting for the Eagles in Super Bowl 57.
As for Humphrey? He’s now merely snapping to two-time league MVP Patrick Mahomes.
“I’ve had four different quarterbacks at OU and I’ve had Pat here,” said Humphrey. “Hasn’t seemed like they’ve ever had any trouble adjusting to me. I don’t think it really changes anything.”
Not after a little practice anyway.
“You just have to get used to it,” said Chiefs backup quarterback Chad Henne. “It took a lot of reps to get adjusted to it.
“Shotgun’s not different.”
And not to bury the lead, but Humphrey’s less obvious traits surely seem to trump his most apparent physical difference.
“I haven’t seen too many players come out of college and be as consistent of a player as him,” said Kelce. “He can do everything. He’s strong enough to handle the point of attack. He’s technically sound enough to work with his teammates and the linemen next to him. He’s athletic enough to reach and get out to the second level.
“He’s got a lot of good traits, and he’s going to continue to grow and become a star in this league, no question.”
Humphrey’s also a key figure in a revamped Chiefs front line. The five players who start against the Eagles will be entirely different from the group that protected Mahomes in Super Bowl 54. Only right tackle Andrew Wylie remains from a battered Super Bowl 55 O-line that left Mahomes scrambling for his life in a blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Humphrey’s linemates adore him.
► Wylie: “He’s a unicorn in the league snapping that thing left-handed – but he’s made it work.”
► Right guard Trey Smith: “He’s basically the field general out there. … Love playing next to him. When you have one of the best centers beside you in the league, it makes it easy. It’s been a great joy playing with him.”
► Left guard Joe Thuney: “It is a little unusual seeing a left-hander snap,” he said while touting Humphrey’s work ethic and intelligence. “It’s unique, but he’s a great football player.”
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Adds Heck: “He’s wise beyond his years, he’s mature beyond his years. He’s very cerebral. But at the same time, he’s quietly an alpha dog that earns instant respect.”
Head coach Andy Reid is also more than appreciative.
“Creed has helped us,” he said Thursday. “He’s a smart kid. He’s big, he’s athletic and tough and knows how to play the game. That’s become a really solid position for us.”
But perhaps no one has greater perspective than left tackle Orlando Brown, who was also Humphrey’s teammate at Oklahoma.
“Very similar to how he came in at OU, just ready to go. Immediately stepping in,” Brown recalled. “He was one of the first guys I remember being at OU that jumped in right away with the vets and the upperclassmen in workouts from the day that he stepped on campus.
“And that showed up right away when he got here, being thrown into the role as the starting center for the Kansas City Chiefs. He’s somebody that takes a lot of pride in knowing what to do, knowing where to go, knowing how to handle it. And he’s definitely continued to make my job a lot easier.”
And Humphrey has little doubt the entire unit can do the job despite facing a Philadelphia pass rush that’s emerged as one of the most prolific in NFL history with 78 sacks this season (playoffs included).
“It’s really cool bringing in all these guys,” said Humphrey. “We have a really good group, a fun group. … Everybody up front has a great relationship, all five.
“At the end of day, we all work very well together.”
Even if it took some getting used to.
“He definitely gets a little bit of (crap) for it, but it is what it is,” said Brown. “People don’t like change.
“Having a left-handed center is a little bit unorthodox, but I think it’s working out really good for us.”
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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis.
