George Karlaftis, who is of Greek descent, emigrated to the country with his family when he was 13 years old. Prior to being selected by the Chiefs in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, he played college football for Purdue, where he earned All-Big Ten honours.
He was raised as a multi-sport athlete, participating in basketball, football, track and field, and water polo, the latter of which he played for the Greek national team. He was born in Athens.
In 2014, while travelling to the Greek island of Kos to give a speech at an engineering conference, his father Μathiós Matthew suffered a heart attack and passed away.
George Karlaftis started attending West Lafayette High School after his death, when Amy and her kids returned to West Lafayette.
During his time in high school, he played football for the school and recorded 41 sacks. He competed for the school in track and field as well, taking home back-to-back shot put state titles. He participated in the 2019 U.S.
Army All-American Game and won Defensive Player of the Year for his performance. He attended Purdue in January 2019 after finishing high school early.
The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Karlaftis in the first round (30th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft.
George Karlaftis’s Contract, Salary and Net Worth
The 21-year-old player signed a 4 year, $11,935,473 contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, including a $5,860,344 signing bonus, $11,935,473 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $2,983,868.
In 2022, Karlaftis will earn a base salary of $705,000 and a signing bonus of $5,860,344, while carrying a cap hit of $2,170,086 and a dead cap value of $11,935,474. Karlaftis’ net worth is estimated an amount between $1.5 million to $2 million.