This week, Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. spoke with retired Pro Bowl center Mitch Morse.

In his interview with Easton Jr., Morse opened up about his experience during the Kansas City Chiefs–Buffalo Bills rivalry after playing for both teams and teaming up with a young Josh Allen.

Advertisement

“It was kind of like Pat’s (Patrick Mahomes) first year. You just kind of strap in and you’re along for a ride, I feel like, as a center, you get a lot more credit than you deserve. Regarding developing players, no matter who his center is, he will be just fine—figured this thing out.” said Morse, “I was fortunate enough to be along for that ride for five years, Josh (Allen), in the same vein as Pat, has that look in his eye when he walks into the huddle, where you understand that. He’s exuding confidence, no matter what the stakes. The stakes are at their highest. These guys enter the calmest, which is freaky, and something that will have my cortisol shooting out of my eye sockets. It was such a blessing, dude.”

Morse joined the Bills before the 2019 season after beginning his career with the Chiefs. He formed a strong bond with Allen in Buffalo that stretches beyond the football field.

“I think my football career, if you just had to preface it as me being around a lot better players than myself, and me just riding their coattails until it’s time for me to retire. Josh was no exception. Besides that, he’s a good friend, he’s a good person, he’s a guy who, in the locker room, is taking the time to foster relationships, no matter who you are,” said Morse, “There’s not a lot going on in Buffalo. It’s not a knock, it’s just the truth. So he built this absolute cast lot there where he’d have folks over. That was the place where you could be yourself. You can invest in a fellowship, or you can let your guard down. He’s the MVP, a fantastic football player, and one of my best buddies.”

The Chiefs and Bills have battled each other over the years, with Buffalo winning many regular-season matchups in the Mahomes and Allen eras. Kansas City has, however, dominated Buffalo in the playoffs as Allen has yet to defeat Mahomes in the postseason, which adds more fuel to the rivalry, according to Morse.

Advertisement

“I mean, you bang out five appearances, three Super Bowl wins, and they (Chiefs) send you home. I think three of the five years that I was there, they’re definitely on your mind. They’re not the sole reason why you try to better yourself as a competitor. You understand what it takes to get to that moment,” said Morse. “It was an interesting situation, being on my prior team, saying goodbye to my friends, you know, still some of my very good friends.” There was never malice, but there was definitely, I’m like, damn, I want to beat these f****** dudes once in the playoffs. I mean, because we’d win every so often in the regular season, these dudes kept sending us home. They were always extraordinary games, I mean, you talk about in 2021, the 13 seconds (divisional round game), when you have these, these games where it’s just some other monocle, or whatever that describes it, that’s how you know these games are extraordinary. They earned that right to be on everyone’s mind, and I assume they might be back on people’s minds here sooner rather than later.”

Morse played center for 10 seasons in the National Football League for the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Jacksonville Jaguars, earning a Pro Bowl selection in 2022. He also played college football for the Missouri Tigers. He hosts a weekly podcast, Monday Mornings with Mitch, and can be followed on Instagram and X.

This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Mitch Morse opens up about Bills QB Josh Allen, rivalry with Chiefs