Tautvydas Kieras, Former Discus Thrower, to Chiefs: Contract Details, Reaction

The Kansas City Chiefs are going to the sport of discus in hopes of finding new talent, signing former Mississippi State star Tautvydas Kieras to a deal. 

Kieras' signing was officially announced by the Chiefs, who also listed his position as linebacker. 

The signing of Kieras is a bold move for the Chiefs, though it's also one that carries some risk because he's never actually played organized football. 

According to Hail State Beat, Kieras' first experience with football came in January when he decided to train for the sport in an effort to see if he could catch on as a professional player. 

Speaking to the site about his training efforts, Kieras clearly made an impression on some of the coaches during his workouts in Las Vegas:

"

Coaches were so surprised that I had never done stuff. They’d tell me to do something, first or second try I’d do it correctly. It might not look as fluid, but then the fifth or sixth time, I look like another football player … It helped me a lot, discus.

It was just a couple practices. but I felt comfortable with it. Tell me to run, I run. Tell me to knock the guy out, I knock the guy out. I felt comfortable.

"

One scout told Hail State Beat that Kieras "wouldn’t be a bad invite" to camp because he "put up good numbers" in his workouts that made him worth a low-risk contract. 

Per NFL.com's Gil Brandt, Kieras measured at 6'3" and 271 pounds with a 4.72 time in the 40-yard dash and a 35-inch vertical jump during Mississippi State's pro day earlier this month. 

NFL teams have been exploring various sports in hopes of finding talent. Jarryd Hayne moved from Australia's rugby league to earn a spot on the San Francisco 49ers' roster last season, though he only appeared in eight games. 

Kieras is facing an uphill climb to even make Kansas City's practice squad, let alone earn a spot on the 53-man roster when the regular season begins, but there's no risk for the team and he will also be auditioning for 31 other teams throughout the summer who are intrigued by his raw talent.