IRVING, Texas – As Todd Haley walked to his car outside Arrowhead Stadium on Oct. 11, 2009, he kept saying the same thing.
“I told them all about Miles,” Haley said.
Haley was in his first year as Kansas City’s head coach, with an earlier three-season stint with the Dallas Cowboys, where his tenure overlapped with Austin's.
Austin finished that 2009 contest with 10 catches for 250 yards and two touchdowns, including the 60-yard game-winner in overtime as the Cowboys dropped Haley’s Chiefs to 0-5.
“(Haley) talked about him all week as far as a guy with an incredible motor and a work ethic like none other,” said Brandon Carr, Austin’s current teammate and a starting cornerback for the Chiefs that day. “He came and showed up and validated everything that coach told us that week and put on a good show.”
Carr wasn’t the only current Cowboy on the Chiefs’ roster that day. Brian Waters was Kansas City’s left guard.
“We just had this conversation (Wednesday),” Waters said. “I told him, ‘We didn’t know who you were.’ We were all looking at each other like, ‘Who in the world is 19?’”
Forgive Waters, because he was not in the defensive meetings; now, he said he hopes Austin “has that type of day again. I hope I’m on the right side of that this time.”
Said Carr, “Miles got his name from 2009, that performance. We heard a lot about him going into that week. He showed up and took over the game. That’s those games that kind of spark players' careers, and that was a catalyst for him to get to where he is right now.”