KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jerry Tillery’s football journey has taken him across four NFL teams. But it’s his off-the-field travels that truly set him apart.
The Kansas City Chiefs' newest defensive lineman speaks English and Japanese fluently — and he’s currently working on adding Spanish to the mix.
“Let me see… two well, but three — I’m working on a third,” Tillery said with a smile.
His interest in languages and cultures started early thanks to a study abroad trip during his freshman year at Notre Dame.
“That kind of opened up the world, literally,” Tillery said. “So I just ran with it.”
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Since then, the former first-round pick has studied in South Africa, Ireland and Japan. His next destination? Brazil, where the Chiefs will take on the Chargers later this year in São Paulo.
“Portuguese is pretty close to Spanish,” Tillery said. “So there's a little bit of a similarity in the verb conjugations; it's all the same, the romance languages."
The phrase “Vamos, Chiefs!” might come in handy for fans making the trip. For Tillery, he's already familiar thanks to his Spanish studies.
“First time in Brazil, and I’m very much looking forward to it,” he said.
Now, Kansas City is hoping his impact off the field matches his performance on it as he gears up for his first season in Chiefs Kingdom.
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