Kansas City Chiefs 100-Sack Man Carlos Dunlap Runs A Thriving Brunch Restaurant

On a third and seven late within the first quarter of Week 10, Kansas Metropolis Chiefs defensive finish Carlos Dunlap beat Jacksonville Jaguars proper deal with Jawaan Taylor and helped take down Trevor Lawrence.

Dunlap summersaulted in celebration — and for good cause.

That half sack made NFL historical past. Dunlap, who faces his former Seattle Seahawks crew this weekend, grew to become the forty first NFL participant to succeed in 100 profession sacks and the eighth lively participant to take action. However it additionally carried larger private significance.

Carlos Dunlap’s father, Carlos Dunlap Sr., was killed in January when he was struck by a automobile as he crossed Ashley Phosphate Highway in Charleston, S.C. on foot.

His son, the 13-year NFL veteran, vowed to get his a centesimal sack in his father’s honor.

“As soon as I misplaced him this yr, I needed to go get that final objective,” Dunlap solely shared, “and dedicate it to him.”

His father impressed him off the sphere as properly.

Dunlap Sr. ran his personal enterprise, Dunlap Bail Bonding, for practically 30 years. His kids labored there, and his father suggested them: “Solely spend money on belongings you love and also you’ll by no means work a day in your life.”

His son did that when he based a brunch restaurant in Miami referred to as Honey Uninhibited in the summertime of 2019. It fulfilled Dunlap’s ardour of meals and in addition crammed a necessity within the Miami restaurant scene, which lacked Southern breakfast spots or bunch eating places open late within the afternoon.

Dunlap grew up in Charleston — a famend foodie metropolis — however he was a choosy eater as a teen. It wasn’t till he entered the NFL and began touring extra that he grew to become excited about delicacies.

“The thought of getting a spot the place all my favorites have been at was at all times behind thoughts,” Dunlap mentioned. “Then alternative got here to open up a restaurant, and I jumped on it.”

Situated within the Brickell monetary district of Miami, Honey Uninhibited has a distinctly city and Southern vibe impressed by the Low Nation in Charleston.

The menu contains savory and sweets and affords all the things from sandwiches to French toast. The most well-liked gadgets are hen and waffles, shrimp and grits and lobster truffle mac and cheese.

Honey Uninhibited has a singular atmosphere as properly, that includes a inexperienced wall and a hip hop vibe. Music performs within the background, and portraits of Tupac Shakur and The Infamous B.I.G adorn the partitions.

“This idea was Carlos’ brainchild,” mentioned Mario Nocero, chief working officer of Unihibited Hospitality. “He’s extraordinarily concerned. He’s a hands-on proprietor.”

Dunlap even got here up with the restaurant identify. He ruminated on it, put down a number of concepts in his telephone, mentioned them out loud and even ran it by family and friends.

The tip consequence was a intelligent play on phrases.

“I preferred the truth that it had a twin which means,” Dunlap mentioned. “Honey appeared very becoming as a result of you may come and style our honey, and/or you may come and convey your honey, and all of the honies love honey.”

Plus, there’s nothing extra Southern than a grandma saying, “Come on in, Honey!”

Uninhibited, the second a part of the identify, had which means too.

“Miami is a glitz and glamourous city,” he mentioned. “I needed to be simply outdoors of that and I needed to create an surroundings with Southern meals that allowed individuals to loosen up and be themselves with out the peer influences of the quick lifetime of Miami.”

Honey Uninhibited is open day by day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m and due to lengthy strains, weekend reservations are really useful. Even Miami Dolphins extensive receiver Tyreek Hill needed to undergo his agent (each Hill and Dunlap are represented by Drew Rosenhaus) to snag a spot. And Dunlap says Honey Uninhibited has produced hundreds of thousands in gross sales.

“It’s a robust financial mannequin,” Nocero mentioned.

However enterprise wasn’t at all times so brisk.

Eight months into working, the restaurant was simply hitting its stride when Covid-19 resulted in a country-wide shutdown.

“The pandemic crucified my enterprise,” Dunlap mentioned. “Thankfully, that wasn’t my solely endeavor, however I felt each little bit of it.”

Dunlap exercised each alternative to maintain the restaurant afloat, together with working with the owner, and benefited from the state of Florida, which opened up companies sooner than many different states.

The resilient restaurant is now well-liked with locals and celebrities. A number of Chiefs, together with Chris Lammons, Deon Bush, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chris Jones — a few of whom even stumbled upon the restaurant not realizing it was Dunlap’s — have dined there.

Jones, who labored out with Dunlap and coach Pete Bommarito throughout the offseason, was the one who shared the sack on Dunlap’s takedown of Lawrence, which bought him to No. 100.

The play of Jones, who has a team-high 11 sacks this yr, and Dunlap, who signed a one-year cope with the Chiefs earlier than the season, are two causes for an improved Chiefs move rush. (Coming into Week 15, the Chiefs ranked fourth within the NFL with 42 sacks — already 11 greater than they produced in all of 2021.)

Whereas taking part in in each sport and beginning two, Dunlap’s snap counts percentages have ranged from 23% to 75%, and he has used his 6-6, 285-pound fame to deflect six passes, one thing he’s executed 75 occasions throughout his profession.

Dunlap additionally has 4 sacks this season, and his defensive position coach Joe Cullen compares his persistent potential to remain alive whereas dashing to former Baltimore Ravens star Terrell Suggs, who latched onto the Chiefs late in his profession like Dunlap.

“You by no means see him simply get blocked and cease. He’s at all times working to get to the quarterback,” Cullen mentioned. “Typically he doesn’t at all times beat the man clear, however he impacts it, is aware of when to counter again.”

The 33-year-old Dunlap is clearly nonetheless productive, however he’s been getting ready for the subsequent chapter of his life for a while.

He earned a grasp’s diploma in enterprise administration from the College of Miami whereas nonetheless taking part in for the Cincinnati Bengals and punctiliously thought-about the enterprise panorama earlier than beginning Honey Uninhibited.

The subsequent objective for his restaurant enterprise is to franchise it. Dunlap famous that whereas eating places often don’t change into worthwhile for the primary 4 or 5 years, having a series of them permits bulk ordering on items and results in higher worth.

He began the Uninhibited Hospitality Group this yr and bought one other restaurant location in Miami’s Coconut Grove.

Maybe the subsequent step is returning to his roots in Charleston, the place he realized enterprise acumen from his father.

“I need to take my flavors again residence,” Dunlap mentioned. “Regardless that I’ve traveled the world, I need to convey the world again to Charleston.”