 Karlaftis with thePurdue Boilermakers in 2021 | |||||||||||||
| No. 56 – Kansas City Chiefs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defensive end | ||||||||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (2001-04-03)3 April 2001 (age 24) Athens, Greece | ||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 263 lb (119 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | West Lafayette(West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.) | ||||||||||||
| College | Purdue (2019–2021) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2022: 1st round, 30th overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 9, 2025 | |||||||||||||
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George Matthew Karlaftis III (Greek:Γιώργος Ματθαίου Καρλαύτης;kar-LAFF-tiss; born 3 April 2001) is a Greek professionalAmerican footballdefensive end for theKansas City Chiefs of theNational Football League (NFL). He was born inAthens and grew up as a multi-sport athlete playingfootball,track and field,basketball, andwater polo, the latter of which he played with theGreek national team.
Karlaftis and his family moved to the United States when he was 13. He playedcollege football for thePurdue Boilermakers, where he won all-Big Ten honors before being selected by the Chiefs in the first round of the2022 NFL draft. In his debut season, Karlaftis was part of the ChiefsSuper Bowl LVII winning roster and was a regular starter. In his second season, he was a key contributor inKansas City'sSuper Bowl LVIII win.
Karlaftis was born inAthens, Greece.[1] His father Μathiós "Matthew" Karlaftis grew up as an all-around athlete in Greece and later earned a degree incivil engineering at theUniversity of Miami before pursuing a doctorate atPurdue University.[2] His mother Amy, who had grown up near Purdue inWest Lafayette, Indiana, met Matthew while she was a freshman. After marrying, they settled in Athens.[3] While Amy spoke English to the couple's four children at home, they were otherwise brought up in Greek culture.[4]
In his early years in Athens, he playedwater polo as a goalkeeper in the youth ranks ofPanathinaikos,[5] theGreek team of which he is also an avid supporter.[6][7]
Matthew died of a heart attack in 2014 while on the island ofKos where he was to deliver a speech at an engineering conference there.[2] Following his death, Amy and her children moved back to West Lafayette, where George Karlaftis began attendingWest Lafayette High School.[4] He was enlisted in the school's football team and had 41 sacks during his high school career.[8] He also competed intrack and field for the school, including winning back-to-back state championships inshot put.[1] He played in the 2019U.S. Army All-American Game, where he was named the Defensive Player of the Year.[9][10] He graduated early from high school and enrolled at Purdue in January 2019.[4][11][12]
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As a true freshman atPurdue in 2019, Karlaftis started all 12 games, recording 54 tackles and 7.5 sacks. He only played in three games as a sophomore in 2020 due to a positiveCOVID-19 result, finishing the year with four tackles and two sacks.[13] Karlaftis declared for the2022 NFL draft following the 2021 season in which he recorded 4.5 sacks.[14]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft3+3⁄4 in (1.92 m) | 266 lb (121 kg) | 32+5⁄8 in (0.83 m) | 10+1⁄4 in (0.26 m) | 4.71 s | 1.65 s | 2.69 s | 4.34 s | 38.0 in (0.97 m) | 10 ft 1 in (3.07 m) | 21 reps | ||
| Sources:[15][16] | ||||||||||||
Karlaftis was selected by theKansas City Chiefs in the first round (30th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft.[17] Karlaftis ended his rookie season with 33 tackles, six sacks, two fumble recoveries, and seven passes defended.[18] He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.[19] The Chiefs reachedSuper Bowl LVII, where they defeated thePhiladelphia Eagles 38–35, with Karlaftis recording two tackles in the game.[20] Karlaftis's second season ended with 47 tackles, 10.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and three passes defended. Karlaftis helped the Chiefs reachSuper Bowl LVIII where they defeated theSan Francisco 49ers 25–22 to win their second straight championship.[21] In the Super Bowl, Karlaftis recorded five tackles, 0.5 sacks, and a fumble recovery.[22] In Super Bowl LIX, he had a sack in the 40–22 loss to the Eagles.[23]
On July 20, 2025, Karlaftis signed a four-year, $93 million contract extension with $62 million guaranteed.[24]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | FF | FR | Yds | TD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | ||
| 2022 | KC | 17 | 17 | 33 | 18 | 15 | 6.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 2023 | KC | 16 | 16 | 47 | 29 | 18 | 10.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 2024 | KC | 16 | 11 | 35 | 21 | 14 | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Career | 49 | 44 | 115 | 68 | 47 | 24.5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | FF | FR | Yds | TD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | ||
| 2022 | KC | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | KC | 4 | 4 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 3.0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 | KC | 3 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 10 | 10 | 36 | 21 | 15 | 8.0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
Karlaftis was once a youth member of theGreece men's national water polo team.[1] His father, Matthew, was ajavelin thrower for theUniversity of Miami's track and field team and also tried playing on theirfootball team before suffering a severe skull injury during his first practice with them.[1][4] His brother, Yanni, won a youth world championship injudo at 11 and joined the Boilermakers as an outside linebacker in 2021.[1]
Karlaftis is aGreek Orthodox Christian.[25]
