Malcom Floyd comes full circle in KC

Malcom Floyd was robbed last year.

All this was taken from him.

The last time the Chargers were in Arrowhead Stadium, they won on a last-minute touchdown the wide receiver saw from home. He missed the locker-room laughs. He missed the return flight. They were stolen.

At this time last year, the Chargers beat the Chiefs in Week 17 to clinch a playoff berth. He was at home, still sore, wearing a neck brace to bed more than three months removed from injury, wondering if he’d ever play football again.

Floyd was robbed.

On Sunday, he can take it back.

Déjà vu has been kind to the 33-year-old. Again, the Chargers enter Week 17 with a playoff berth on the line. Again, it comes against the Chiefs. This time, he is part of the ride. Floyd will complete an elusive 16-game regular season at Arrowhead Stadium.

Good things happen to good people.

Floyd was due.

Sunday marks the second time in his 11-year career that he will have appeared in every game and the first since 2009. The 2009 season also was the last in which Floyd experienced a playoff berth first-hand.

“This is a huge game,” Floyd said. “ It’s exciting to be in this position again. It’s been so long for me personally as a player. … It means a lot (after last year). It means a lot. I get emotional right now.

“I’m just really fortunate to be playing in this league with all these great athletes. There’s so many of us that I know want to be here who can’t be here, guys like Danario (Alexander), guys like Nick (Hardwick). I so feel their pain. I just live on their legacy.”

There is a subtle example.

Floyd is a rare NFL athlete. As a person, he might be truly unique.

He was injured last September in Philadelphia, his limbs going limp from a spinal disk injury that came on an open-field hit in the third quarter. His neck was stabilized, he was carted off the field, and he was hospitalized. His teammates prayed for him.

Later that day, Floyd apologized.

He was sorry for not having caught it.

When Floyd missed the final 14 games last season, he said that he felt he let his quarterback, his team and this city down. He felt he owed them something. He said he was glad his injury could allow then-rookie Keenan Allen to step in and produce.

The player Floyd is makes this a remarkable season -- 49 catches for a team-high 827 yards, a game-tying touchdown last week in the final minute of regulation that saved the Chargers’ season. He is a strong candidate for the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award.

But when people talk about Floyd, it’s never just the player.

It’s the person, too. It has to be.

“I don’t know if there’s a bigger heart than his,” Rivers said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever met one – ever, anywhere. He’s the most sincere guy who’s ever been in this locker room.”

“I have to every now and again pinch. Is this guy real?” offensive coordinator Frank Reich said. “I mean, a guy who works as hard as he works, just as good of a person as you’d want to be around, one of the most unselfish players I’ve ever been around. He just has this phenomenal attitude and this phenomenal gift.

“He’s got this gift. He’s got great ball skills. He’s a big-play-making machine. … I’m not sure we’d be where we are this year if he wasn’t here. The big plays that he’s made in games have loosened up defenses, they’ve scored touchdowns and helped us win games.”

The Chargers were robbed last year, too.

Floyd was unable to be part of their playoff berth.

Today, they can take it back.