ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Defensive end Carlos Dunlap is 47th among the NFL's all-time sack leaders with 96. He said one of the reasons he signed recently with the Chiefs is that playing in Kansas City would give him the best chance to climb the list.
"A hundred is a big milestone that I will enjoy and celebrate and be proud of,'' Dunlap said Thursday at training camp after practicing with the Chiefs for the first time. "But four sacks on the year is not my goal. I try to average eight a year, and I want to go for more than that, obviously.
"I'm in a hot pursuit and I feel like this team gives me a great opportunity, the best opportunity to do it.''
Seven sacks this season would put Dunlap 32nd on the all-time list.
Dunlap, 33, said the Chiefs would give him the chance to be a regular as opposed to playing on third downs or in other obvious passing situations.
"[Other teams] tried to correlate being older [with] taking down your snaps, featuring you in passing situations,'' he said. "But I like to eat whenever you put it on the table. ... First and second downs are just as important to me as third downs.''
Dunlap said he was impressed with the Chiefs' efforts to recruit him when he visited camp before his signing. He arrived at Missouri Western State University after a late flight.
"I landed at, what, 10:30 [p.m.], got here at like 11:30 and the whole staff was here,'' Dunlap said. "They had all the things that I wanted to get answered, each one of them. Spent time with Coach [Andy] Reid one-on-one, eating pizza. Then we went in there with [defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo] and [defensive line] coach [Joe] Cullen watched some tape, basically showed me where I would be, their defense they run, how they call it, his rhythm. And I liked where I fit.''
Dunlap said he had other reasons for signing with the Chiefs.
"I've done a lot in football,'' he said. "One of the things I have not done is I haven't got over a hundred sacks. I haven't won a playoff game and I haven't clearly won a Super Bowl. So those are things that I would like to do at this point in my career.''