Carlos Dunlap, A Kansas City Chief Last Year, Plans To Play In 2023

Carlos Dunlap had an unforgettable 2022 season for the Kansas City Chiefs and has a successful business career waiting, but the 34-year-old defensive end is not ready to call his Super Bowl-winning season his last.

“I can help another team get one of their own or help the Chiefs again,” Dunlap exclusively shared. “The Chiefs haven’t ruled that out, but currently it’s a waiting game.”

Last year he didn’t sign his one-year contract until late July and he expects a similar timeframe this year. A couple of teams have reached out, though he has not received a specific offer.

“I’m a free agent and I feel great and I still love the game,” he said. “I’m a realist.”

The 6-6, 285-pound defensive end willingly accepted a lesser role to help mentor younger players, including rookie George Karlfaftis, and would expect a similar role for this campaign.

Despite only starting two games and playing fewer than 50% of the snaps in nine of the 17 regular-season games, he recorded eight passes defended (tied for third on the team) in 2022. His four sacks ranked fifth; Chris Jones led the defense with 15.5.

Jones shares a fitness trainer, Pete Bommarito in Miami, with Dunlap, though Jones typically works out later in the day than Dunlap. But it’s another bond he has with the Chiefs, and Dunlap said the door has not closed on a potential return.

“The Chiefs obviously have a special spot for me because they were the first team to help me win a playoff game and to win a Super Bowl,” Dunlap said. “So that would be a great opportunity.”

Last year’s opportunity would come to represent the culmination of an emotional and climactic year. After his father, Carlos Dunlap Sr., was killed in January of 2022 when he was struck by a car as he crossed Ashley Phosphate Road in Charleston, S.C. on foot, his son vowed to get his 100th sack in his father’s honor.

He not only became the 41st NFL player to reach that milestone but also serendipitously reached the Super Bowl after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals, the franchise that drafted him and traded him away a decade later, and then won Super Bowl LVII.

“I believe that it’s no coincidence that a lot of things have aligned for me,” Dunlap Jr. said. “I definitely believe my dad was with me every step of the way.”

Until his passing, Dunlap Sr. had worn his son’s college ring he earned after winning the 2009 BCS National Championship Game during which Dunlap Jr. won defensive MVP for the University of Florida.

Dunlap Jr. had told his father to keep it until he won a ring in the NFL.

After the Chiefs received their championship rings last week, Dunlap Jr. posted pictures of himself wearing both rings, including the Florida one that still had damage from the car accident.

“That was a huge sentimental, full-circle moment for me and my family,” he said.

Defeating the Bengals, who traded him away to the Seattle Seahawks during the 2020 season, was obviously meaningful, but he harbors no resentment toward the Bengals, even though he had pushed to be traded away as his playing time diminished.

“The organization and me are in good standing,” he said.

In fact, current executives and former coach Marvin Lewis even sent flowers after his father’s passing.

Several Bengals players and staffers also plan to attend this Sunday’s tasting at his new brunch spot, Honey Uninhibited, in advance of its expected opening during the second week of July.

It’s located in Covington, Ky., which is part of Greater Cincinnati, where he played the first 11 years of his career.

“It’s right on the riverfront,” Dunlap Jr. said. “You can pretty much see the stadium from where the restaurant is.”

It will be Honey Uninhibited’s second location. The first one, which is in the Brickell district of Miami, was named “the best brunch spot in Miami” by the Miami New Times, and its sales grew from $1.7 million to $2 million last year, though operational costs in the restaurant business remain high.

His second Honey Uninhibited location, which has the same distinctly urban and Southern vibe inspired by the Low Country, came to fruition as the Chiefs visited the Bengals for a Week 13 game.

The Covington land developers had already reached out to his Uninhibited Hospitality Group, whose staff, including its chief operating officer Mario Nocero, are mostly from the Cincinnati area.

They flew up from Florida for the game and checked out the potential location with Dunlap.

“I fell in love with the property,” he said.

Like at his Miami location, the menu includes savory and sweets and offers everything from sandwiches to French toast. The most popular items are chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits and lobster truffle mac and cheese.

Honey Uninhibited has a unique ambience as well, featuring a green wall and a hip-hop vibe. Music plays in the background, and portraits of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G adorn the walls.

His hospitality group has purchased another restaurant location in Miami’s Coconut Grove, and in his hometown of Charleston, a renowned foodie city, he has plans for three franchises.

“I’m looking forward to acquiring those and hiring kids in my community and giving them the infrastructure,” he said, “with the hopes that they, too, will be inspired to own and operate their own one day.”

And Dunlap, who earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Miami while still playing for the Bengals, would like to eventually have restaurants in Seattle and Kansas City, the other cities he’s played in.

As far as his original team, Dunlap doesn’t foresee playing for the Bengals next season, considering the Bengals’ depth on the defensive line, but he plans to one day ceremoniously retire as a Bengal.

“It’s no secret,” he said. “We’ll see when that day comes.”