Can History Repeat Itself, Part Two

 

Wow.

My little piece posted last night about the comparison to the situation that was faced 44 years ago by the Dallas Cowboys to the current Chiefs season caused a reaction. Not only has it come here to the site, but to other sites and outlets as well.

I thought I would touch on some of the things that I’ve read and heard in reaction to what I wrote. I don’t really do that too much and I should probably react to reaction more often. I’m still getting the hang of this Internet thing.

If you missed the piece, here’s the link.

So, let me rattle off some points:

1.) If you’ve read this site at all in its brief lifetime you have noticed that I’m a student of history. I believe in the George Santayana approach that he who does not study history, is doomed to repeat the failures of the past. One of the things lacking from a lot of today’s so-called journalism is context. Context doesn’t look good on TV, so they don’t go after that view. Sports talk radio doesn’t have the time or work ethic to provide context to a situation. Newspapers have the time and space, but nobody reads them anymore and quite frankly most of today’s sportswriters don’t want to be bothered. They are too busy trying to figure out how they can get jobs in radio and television.

I figure that’s what the Internet can bring to the party and that’s something this site will always have: context. I consider myself a student of the game of football and it’s a class that never ends.

Player Profile: Mike Cox

One of many rookies to make the Chiefs opening day roster, Mike Cox was one of six first-year starters for the season opener in New England. He’s been part of the equation ever since as the team’s only true fullback.

That role has not brought him a lot of touches in 10 games, with just one carry and six catches for a total of 10 offensive yards.  But the 23-year old has done his share of blocking and done it well enough that in this season of roster turmoil, his spot on the 53-man list has not been in doubt.  It helps that he played for offensive coodinator Chan Gailey at Georgia Tech and knew the basics of the scheme the day he arrived as an undrafted college free agent. 

Coming out of small town in Pennsylvania, Cox has achieved one of his dreams by playing in the NFL. Find out more about this young man by clicking here.

Chiefs Update 11/21

From the Truman Sports Complex

Add DT Glenn Dorsey to the Chiefs injured list.  That news came down Friday as the Chiefs wrapped up preparation for Sunday’s game against Buffalo.

Dorsey will be listed as probable on the NFL’s official injury report with a knee injury.  He was limited in his participation in practice on Friday.  If he can’t go, expect Alfonso Boone to move inside and start for him.

Listed as out for Sunday’s game are LB Donnie Edwards, RG Adrian Jones, CB  Pat Surtain and LB Pat Thomas.

Listed as probable were WR Mark Bradley, CB Brandon Flowers, LB Derrick Johnson and S Jarrad Page. 

Demorrio Williams will fill Edwards slot when the Chiefs are in their base defense, with Rocky Boiman handling the middle for Thomas.  Wade Smith will continue to start at RG in place of Jones.

The Bills will be without two starters in their secondary as both S Donte Whitner and CB Jabari Greer are out of the game.  Whitner has a shoulder  injury, Greer is dealing with a knee  injury.  Also out is starting DE Aaron Schobel; Ryan Denney replaces him in the starting lineup.  On Friday the Bills sent LB Marcus Buggs to the injured-reserve list and brought up LB Dustin Fox from their practice squad.

Whitner missed the second half of Buffalo’s Monday night loss to Cleveland due to a separated right shoulder he suffered three weeks ago against the Jets. Greer injured his right knee in the Browns game. 

Whitner’s replacement, Bryan Scott is questionable because of a left knee injury.  If he can’t go George Wilson would start. Rookie Leodis McKelvin will likely start in place of Greer.

WR Josh Reed is listed as questionable, but he’s expected to play for the first time since spraining an ankle against Miami on Oct. 26. Reed practiced all week after missing the last three games.

Some familiar names coming to town on the Bills roster includes former Chiefs LB Kawika Mitchell, former KU tight end Derek Fine, rookie RB Xavier Oman out of Northwest Missouri State and punter Brian Moorman from Pittsburg State. 

On the Bills coaching staff are former Chiefs QB Alex Van Pelt (1993-94) who handles the quarterbacks on Dick Jauron’s staff.  Also part of the coaching staff are Chuck Lester, who was here with Marv Levy in the early 1980s and Nathaniel  Hackett, who handles the offensive quality control position. He’s the son of Paul Hackett, former Chiefs offensive coordinator.

One other note: LB Erik Walden, waived by the Chiefs on Tuesday was claimed on the waiver wire by Miami.

Podcasting: Len’s Look 11/21

Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson joins us to talk about the Chiefs.  Len continues to analyze the growth of Tyler Thigpen at quarterback and his need for a victory to validate himself and his offense.  Len also talks about the Chiefs lack of a pass rush and the poor special teams play that is hurting the team’s chances of victory.  He also spends some time talking about young Buffalo quarterback Trent Edwards.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Friday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

Two of the four starting quarterbacks from the 2007 NFL Draft class will be on display at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.

Third-round choice (No. 92 overall) Trent Edwards (below) will handle the opening snaps for the Buffalo Bills. Seventh-round choice (No. 217) Tyler Thigpen (right) will take the first snap for the Chiefs.

The other starters right now among the 11 quarterbacks taken were first round picks JaMarcus Russell with Oakland and Brady Quinn with Cleveland.

Right now, the star of the group would have to be Thigpen. He’s got more touchdown passes than any of the other throwers and half the 10 interceptions that Edwards brings to Arrowhead Stadium.

What he does not have is a victory as a starting quarterback. Thigpen is 0-5 despite his improved play. That leaves him trailing the other picks that have started at least one game. Edwards is 5-5, Russell is 2-7 and Quinn is 1-1.

Obviously a victory is what Thigpen is looking for this weekend.

“A lot of people look at statistics,” Thigpen said. “It doesn’t matter if he plays good, did he win? I think that’s the biggest thing. I think if I can get that out of the way, it’ll help out a lot for myself, and also for this team.”

Edwards had five victories in nine starts last year as a rookie. This year the Bills won the first four games of the season and five of the first six. But they’ve now lost four in a row and five of the last six. Part of the problem has been a drop in Edwards’ production at quarterback and an increase in interceptions. In the first month, he threw two INTs. In the last six games, he’s thrown eight picks, including three in the Bills’ loss Monday night to Cleveland.

“I’d say I’m still just as confident as I was,” Edwards said this week. “Obviously once you make some mistakes you try to tone it down a little bit. You’re trying not to force as many balls. That’s probably why I didn’t look as confident. We weren’t taking as many shots because of the defenses they were giving us.

“If there’s nothing downfield I can’t force it. That’s what was happening on those two interceptions. I made the mistakes by forcing the ball down the field.”

Here are the 11 quarterbacks drafted in 2007, with their round and overall selection spot and the teams they are currently with:

*-Stanback is on Cowboys roster as wide receiver. **-Rowe is on Bengals practice squad. ***-Palmer was released by the Redskins who drafted him and signed with Bengals. ****-Thigpen was claimed off Vikings waiver list in ‘07 by the Chiefs.

Can History Repeat Itself?

Comparing events, people and situations over time is a funny business. No matter how similar the facts seem, the plots are never quite the same from generation to generation. While moments may seem like copies of each other, when held up to the light the differences become obvious.

Nevertheless, follow along with me on this football story.

A young man, the product of a Texas family that built a fortune in the oil business, owned a professional football team.

His club was going through a tough patch, losing far more often than it won. This wasn’t just one bad year, but several. The talent level of the team was low and what good players were on the roster were young and inexperienced.

The fans were grumbling. OK, they weren’t just grumbling, they were staying away. Attendance and interest were falling.

That natural reaction for any owner in this situation was to fire the head coach. But this owner happened to like the guy, liked what the coach stood for and liked his ideas on building a strong team that would contend for the playoffs over many seasons. The coach was defensive minded and the owner knew from football history that strong defensive teams tend to be more competitive for longer periods of time.

The owner also had a strong general manager to oversee the franchise and the G.M. was completely in the coach’s corner.

The situation called for action.

That’s just what the young man did.  He took action.

On February 5, 1964, Clint Murchison Jr. (below) gave the head coach of his Dallas Cowboys a 10-year extension on his contract. Up to that point, over four seasons Tom Landry had led the Cowboys to a record of 13-38-3. With one more year to go on his original contract, Landry now had an 11-year contract. It was something unheard of in the world of sports at the time.

The rest of the story is one of the great tales in the history of sports.  In 1964, the Cowboys went 5-8-1. The next year Dallas was 7-7. With the 1966 season, the Cowboys finished 10-3-1 and made the playoffs. They would end up making the playoffs 16 of next 17 years, with 11 appearances in the NFL/NFC Championship Game, five Super Bowl trips and two Super Bowl championships. Tom Landry was the head coach for all of those games.

Now that you know this bit of pro football history, let’s bring the picture back to the present. Another young man from an oil family has a struggling football team and a head coach who is drawing fire from fans for the poor play of his team. Some are calling for his firing.

So far it doesn’t sound like Clark Hunt is ready to pull the plug on Herm Edwards.

Despite losing 18 of the team’s last 19 games and racking up a 14-28 record over the last three years, Hunt has been nothing but supportive of Edwards. Remember just a few weeks ago he told the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram: “I think we’re headed in the right direction. It certainly isn’t going to be a straight line; there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs on this road. But I think Herm is the right type of coach to take us through the rebuilding.” Then, this week Hunt told the Kansas City Star: “… I’m encouraged and very interested to see the last six weeks and how we do in those games.”

Far be it for me to pass along advice to Clark Hunt. This is his business and he understands all angles of the franchise far better than me or anybody in the media. But if he really likes Edwards ideas and his way of rebuilding the franchise, then he should step forward and make it obvious.

College Pass Rushers Part 2: Pro Potential

Whether they select a quarterback, pass rusher, middle linebacker or offensive lineman, the Chiefs will get the opportunity to draft one of the best players in the 2009 NFL Draft. They figure to again have a selection among the top five picks, maybe even as high as the No. 2 spot.

We checked out the top quarterbacks in early October. Now, with the Chiefs pass rush floundering and headed for the worst sacking season in club history, it’s time to look at the pass rushers. Yesterday, we hit on the top active sackers, both this season and over a career. If you missed that, you can read it right here.

Today, we look at a top 10 list of pass rushers rated on potential by scouts around the NFL.

Here’s our list:

1. Michael Johnson     DE    Georgia Tech    SR    6-7    258

Understand right off the bat that when it comes to Johnson, the Chiefs have a lot of inside information, since he was recruited to Georgia Tech by offensive coordinator Chan Gailey and there are two other former Tech assistant coaches on the Chiefs staff. As a physical specimen, Johnson is off the charts. He has size, speed, quickness and athletic ability. His body fat is that of somebody 100 pounds lighter and a long-distance runner. That’s caused him problems in the past with dehydration and cramping. Scouts think he relies too much on his speed to rush the passer. He sometimes has problems standing up to the run, which is why he was used only in pass rush situations until this season. Over his career he’s played in 46 games with 96 tackles and 16 sacks.

Chiefs Update 11/20

From the Truman Sports Compex

It was a quiet Thursday around the Chiefs practice facility.  The team held a indoor practice that was just under two hours long.  The door to the roster did not swing open.

And, there was good news as TE Tony Gonzalez returned to practice.  Gonzalez missed Wednesday’s work because of a sore knee, an injury he suffered last Sunday against New Orleans.  But he was back to work on Thursday and was a full participant in practice.

So where DE Tamba Hali, LB Derrick Johnson and CB Brandon Flowers, so it looks like those three defensive starters will be back on the field  this Sunday against Buffalo.

Limited in practice work were LB Pat Thomas, CB Pat Surtain, S Jarrad Page and WR Mark Bradley.

Held out of practice were RG Adrian Jones and LB Donnie Edwards.