 Karlaftis with Purdue in 2021 | |||||||||||||
| No. 56 – Kansas City Chiefs | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Defensive end | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | 3 April 2001 Athens, Greece | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 263 lb (119 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | West Lafayette (West Lafayette, Indiana) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Purdue (2019–2021) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2022 / round: 1 / pick: 30 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 1, 2024 | |||||||||||||
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George Matthew Karlaftis III (Greek: Γιώργος Ματθαίου Καρλαύτης; kar-LAFF-tiss; born 3 April 2001) is a Greek professional American football defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Athens and grew up as a multi-sport athlete playing football, track and field, basketball, and water polo, the latter of which he played with the Greek national team.
Karlaftis and his family moved to the United States when he was 13. He played college football at Purdue, where he won all-Big Ten honors before being selected by the Chiefs in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft. In his debut season, Karlaftis was part of the Chiefs Super Bowl LVII winning roster and was a regular starter. In his second season, he was a key contributor in Kansas City’s Super Bowl LVIII win.