There were plenty of poignant moments during last Saturday’s annual 101 Banquet to honor the best of pro football, but maybe the most emotional involved Neil Smith and his “Little Buddy.”

Smith was standing on the podium at the Westin Crown Center Hotel as the 2006 inductee into the Chiefs Hall of Fame. His “Little Buddy” was the late Derrick Thomas. From the time the two hooked up after Thomas was drafted in 1989, they were almost inseparable. Although D.T. would become the top name on the Chiefs defense, he was always Neil’s “Little Buddy.”

On this March evening, Smith was thanking the people who had been so important to his career and he was congratulating this year’s award winners. One of those was Indianapolis defensive end Dwight Freeney, who was the AFC’s defensive player of the year. Smith called Freeney back to the podium and pulled from his suit jacket a football card of the late Derrick Thomas. It included D.T.’s signature.

“Young man, I want you to have this,” Smith told Freeney. “I don’t really have anything signed by Derrick, but this popped up the other day and I want to pass this along.”

The look on Freeney’s face was the priceless moment of the whole evening; it was a combination of shock, pride and thanks. In many ways, it was a moment where the torch was passed from one generation of NFL pass rushers to the next.

That happens a lot at the 101 Banquet. Those of us lucky enough to attend always complain about how long the evening runs, but it’s always a great moment to see the greats of the NFL up close and personal, no helmets, no pads, just the real people.

Take Tony Dungy for instance. The Colts head coach was back in town to accept the AFC Coach of the Year Award and it was another reminder of the greatness of this man, not just the coach. He was so happy to be back in Kansas City and having to face an audience of just 1,000, rather than 79,000 red-clad maniacs. Earlier in the day, he had been strolling through the Crown Center Shops. “I must have had a dozen people stop me and ask ‘Coach Dungy, how we going to be this year?’” Dungy said in his typical self-depreciating style.

Stump Mitchell was back in town, to serve as a presenter to the NFC Offensive Player of the Year, Seattle running back Shaun Alexander. Mitchell is the Seahawks running backs coach. Most Chiefs fans may have forgotten that Mitchell once wore the red and gold. He went to training camp with the 1991 Chiefs, after spending almost 18 months recovering from a devastating knee injury he suffered during the 1989 season with the St. Louis Cardinals. His career ended in the ‘91 pre-season when he was returning a kickoff against the Lions at Arrowhead and suffered another knee injury.

Mitchell was hopeful Saturday afternoon that the Seahawks could re-sign Alexander, who was to become an unrestricted free agent. His wish came true less than 48 hours later when Alexander signed a new deal to remain with Seattle.

Other 101 memories:

Chiefs MVP Larry Johnson telling the story about his first game in Pop Warner football when he returned a kickoff and got drilled along the sideline by a tackler. He decided then and there that he wasn’t going to play this game anymore … Cooper Manning, the oldest of the three Manning boys introduced his brother Peyton and showed that while a spinal injury may have ended his football career, he’s still the funniest of the Manning boys. He would add he was also the best-looking and athletic brother… Clark Hunt introduced the newest Chiefs Hall of Famer and recalled that when Smith went to Nebraska out of high school in New Orleans, he weighed just 206 pounds.

Video courtesy of Lamar Productions