KANSAS CITY, Mo. – If only one signature play can be picked from the many during Jamaal Charles' time with the Kansas City Chiefs, it would have to be his 91-yard touchdown run against the New Orleans Saints in 2012.
The Chiefs ran a sweep to the left and the blocking was good. But Charles was so quick and decisive to the hole that he made it look like the Saints were slow to react. Then, after breaking into the clear, Charles used his sprinter's speed to outrun a couple of defenders to the end zone.
The play had all of the qualities that made Charles who he was. But what made it uniquely Charles was only a few people -- fans of the Chiefs and in this case, the Saints -- saw it happen.
It happened in one the Chiefs' lost seasons, something that was a common occurrence early in Charles' career. Charles was doing what he often did, which was providing some light in another lousy season for his team.
Many NFL fans knew Charles, who was released by the Chiefs on Tuesday, only from a fantasy perspective. He was a name in a lineup and a good one to have, particularly later in his career when he began scoring touchdowns in big numbers.
He was better in person. Brilliant, in fact. He didn't just outrun his peers by gaining 5.45 yards per carry over the course of his nine seasons with the Chiefs.
He outran all of the great backs in NFL history. That 5.45 yard-per-carry average is the best of all time. Jim Brown is second at 5.22, followed by Barry Sanders at 4.99 and Adrian Peterson at 4.86.
Charles was almost invisible in doing all of that good work. He joined the Chiefs in 2008, when they were going through massive and painful rebuilding phase. Things would get worse before they got better and by that time, Charles' time with the Chiefs was winding down.
He played in just two career games on the biggest stage: in the postseason. In one, he did typical Charles things, rushing for more than nine yards per carry and scoring Kansas City's only touchdown, though it happened in a blowout loss.
In the other, he was knocked out of the game because of a concussion in the first quarter and didn't return.
Charles had a chance for immortality in the final game of the 2009 season. With 259 yards in the fourth quarter, Charles had a shot at topping the NFL's record for single-game rushing yardage, 296 and held by Peterson.
Charles declined to go back in the game in the fourth quarter, with the Chiefs holding what was unusual for them in that era -- a big lead.
Charles explained afterward that he didn't want to get the record in such a manner, adding that he would break it another time.
He didn't, but he came close enough. Charles rushed for 233 yards in that 2012 game against the Saints and 226 later that season against the Indianapolis Colts.
Numbers have to define great running backs. There's no other way to compare, particularly among those from different eras.
Charles did well for himself in that area, but his true greatness was in real time. The problem for him as his days with the Chiefs are at an end is that only a privileged few will ever really know.