Jake Hampton had driven four hours to Nashville to watch an old friend. But when he walked into Nissan Stadium that December afternoon, even he wasn’t expecting to see Chris Oladokun on the field. Looking up at the video board, Hampton had to ask the question: “Is Chris in the game?”

He was. Patrick Mahomes was already out with a knee injury, and now Gardner Minshew had gone down, too. So in came Oladokun, a quarterback who had waited years to throw his first NFL pass. He finished 11-of-16 for 111 yards that afternoon. Nine months later, his career has taken another unexpected turn. The former Chiefs quarterback is headed north.

“New beginnings!” Oladokun wrote on his Instagram stories. The BC Lions signed Oladokun to their practice roster on Monday, days after his Kansas City chapter officially ended, while also bringing in his younger brother, defensive back Jordan Oladokun. For Chris, though, this move is about more than simply finding another roster spot.

After four seasons in Kansas City, Oladokun’s time with the Chiefs ended in a way that offered little closure. Chris’ Kansas City exit came after an injury kept him out of the Chiefs’ final preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. Kansas City waived him with an injury designation on Aug. 30, and after he cleared waivers, he returned to the team’s injured reserve. The Chiefs then reached an injury settlement with him on Sept. 4, officially bringing his four-year run with the organization to a close.

That ending also helps explain why the CFL became more than just another destination. Oladokun had finally experienced what it felt like to spend a Sunday actually playing quarterback, rather than preparing behind the scenes for a chance that might never come. After getting that taste in 2025, he now gets another opportunity to stay on the field with the Lions.

Oladokun was picked in the seventh round, 241st overall, of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He never appeared in a game for Pittsburgh before joining Kansas City’s practice squad later that summer. The Chiefs kept him around through the next several seasons, giving him an unusual vantage point inside a quarterback room built around Patrick Mahomes.

By his third year in Kansas City, Oladokun’s role had started to stretch beyond simply taking practice reps. He was competing for the No. 3 quarterback job, appearing more regularly in media sessions and serving as one of the experienced quarterbacks during rookie minicamp. With limited reps available to a third-string quarterback, he saw those practices as another way to prove his value.

“I take it as another opportunity to get better… It’s something that I want to do,” Oladokun said at the time. “Especially in my role as a third guy, the reps are slim, so to come out here – no matter who is out here – is just another opportunity.”

He also understood that his value did not have to stop at taking snaps. “It’s good for me not only to be able to run the offense and be able to spearhead everything, but also to be a teacher,” he said, noting that it was his third year in the system.

That patience eventually produced his first NFL appearance, although it hardly resembled the breakthrough he had been waiting for. In the Chiefs’ 38-0 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 18 of the 2024 season, Oladokun took five rushing attempts for five yards, was sacked once and lost two fumbles. He did not attempt a pass.

The following season finally changed that. Oladokun appeared in three games for Kansas City and started two, finishing the year 35-of-55 passing for 235 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. His three appearances came at Nissan Stadium against Tennessee, at home against Denver on Christmas Day and in the season finale against Las Vegas. The circumstances behind that first real opportunity were as unlikely as they were sudden.

Mahomes had already been ruled out with his knee injury when Kansas City went to Tennessee. Minshew started in his place, but after initially trying to play through a knee injury of his own, he was eventually replaced by Oladokun. Just a day earlier, Oladokun had been a practice-squad quarterback. By the second quarter, he was making his NFL debut.

He completed 11 of 16 passes for 111 yards in that game, giving the Chiefs’ longtime third-string quarterback the first substantial sample of NFL action he had spent years waiting for.

Five days later, Oladokun got the start against Denver on Christmas Day. He completed 13 of 22 passes for 66 yards and threw his first NFL touchdown, connecting with wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. He then split the quarterback workload with Shane Buechele in the season finale against the Raiders, throwing for 58 yards on 11-of-17 passing.

Those three games left Oladokun with something he had not had for most of his NFL career: a real sense of what he could do when the quarterback job was actually his.

“Pat (Mahomes) is the best quarterback in the world, and I’m on the sidelines on game day. But to get out there and play, I was like, ‘I really love this game and I love playing this game,’” Oladokun said after joining the Lions. “So that was a big deciding factor in me coming up here.”

That line is important to what comes next. Oladokun isn’t arriving in British Columbia simply as a former NFL quarterback with two Super Bowl rings. He’s arriving as someone who has now experienced the difference between spending a game on the sideline and actually being responsible for running an offense.

Oladokun was part of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl-winning teams in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, earning rings from Kansas City’s victories in Super Bowls LVII and LVIII. But he did not play in either championship game; most of his early Chiefs tenure came as a practice-squad or depth quarterback. His 2025 season was therefore the first time his NFL résumé moved beyond being part of the quarterback room and into meaningful regular-season snaps.

Now he gets to try to build on that experience in a different league.

The Lions already have a quarterback at the center of their offense in Nathan Rourke, who was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Canadian last season. Rourke has continued to start for B.C. this year, making Oladokun’s immediate role one of depth and preparation rather than a takeover at quarterback.

Still, Rourke sees something useful in the former Chief’s experience.

“He knows the formula and knows what it takes to win,” Rourke said. “Obviously, different game here, but he’s certainly got the makeup of a guy who can do it. So no doubt he’ll pick it up pretty quickly and knows how to be a pro. And that’s all good stuff.”

Oladokun, meanwhile, is approaching the CFL as both a veteran and a newcomer.

“I’m a rookie all over again,” he said. “Thankfully, this time around, I’ve been in professional football for a while now, so I know about different study habits and stuff like that. But I’m definitely going to be soaking in everything I can.”

There is another reason the move carries more weight for him.

Jordan Oladokun, 24, is joining the Lions at the same time. The defensive back spent the 2025 offseason with the Los Angeles Chargers before being placed on injured reserve late in training camp. Now, after years of pursuing professional football separately, the brothers will finally be in the same organization.

“It’s a dream come true,” Jordan said at his first Lions practice. “We’re like five-and-a-half, six years apart, so we’ve never been able to play (together), only just played around like in the yard. Now that we have the opportunity to play professional football, it’s a blessing.”

Chris knows exactly how unusual that is.

“Obviously, from going playing backyard football and playing in the living room … to now playing professional football together is something that we’ll be able to have for the rest of our lives,” he said.

The Lions released quarterback Chase Brice in a corresponding move, opening a spot for Oladokun in the quarterback room. Rourke admitted the move was difficult from a personal standpoint, pointing to the value of having another quarterback who can provide a second set of eyes and support the player taking the snaps.

“I’m obviously disappointed about Chase being let go,” Rourke said. “He was a good guy to have in the room. That’s an underrated part about the quarterback room, is just how important it is to have guys who can be your second set of eyes and know how to support the guy who’s playing.”

For Oladokun, though, the calculation is now simpler. After years of waiting for his number to be called in Kansas City, he has another football field to get onto, this time with his brother only a few spots away.