Waiver Wire Manuvering

There were 32 players claimed on waivers this weekend after the NFL cut to the regular season limit of 53 players.

The Chiefs wound up with two of their claims: G Brian De La Puento who had been released by San Francisco.  He was a college free agent signed out of the University of California-Berkley.  The other was LB Erik Walden, who as a 6th-round draft choice this year of the Dallas Cowboys out of Middle Tennessee State.

To make room for De La Puento and Walden, the Chiefs released second-year cornerback Tyron Brackenridge and rookie LB Wes Dacus.  Expect Dacus to be back with the team today as part of their practice squad.

New Rules in NFL for ‘08

There have been a number of playing-rules changes made by the NFL for the 2008 season. Here are the key ones:

-DEFENSIVE HELMET RADIOS: Teams will now be permitted to have one defensive player on the field with a radio in his helmet. This gives the defense the same ability to communicate its signals as the offense.

-INCIDENTAL FACEMASK: The foul for incidental grasp and release of the facemask has been eliminated. Twisting, turning or pulling the facemask will remain a 15-yard personal foul.

College Preview 8/31

It’s Sunday afternoon college football this week, with Kentucky visiting Louisville. Kickoff is 2:30p on ESPN. Here are some prospects.

Kentucky

CB Trevard Lindley – 6-0, 178 pounds. JR-Redshirt. Lindley has 24 starts in the last two seasons on the corner for the Wildcats. Last year he had 66 total tackles and three INTs to go with the two swipes he grabbed in his freshman season.

Sunday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

The number eventually landed on 18 veterans.  That was the number of players that Herm Edwards and the Chiefs chopped from their roster in various manners at the end of last season.  Many were veterans at the end of their careers.

With the league dropping rosters to 53 players, some of those names turned up in the roster cutting wash on Saturday.  Here are the 18 and what we know of their pro football job status right now:

Quick Thoughts on First 53-Man Roster

Nobody can ever say Herm Edwards doesn’t back up what he says.

The Chiefs head coach said the roster needed to be younger.  He said that over a year ago.  He’s gone about making it happen.

The initial 53-man roster for the Chiefs has 31 players who are 25 years old or younger.  That’s 59 percent of the roster.  Twenty-two of those players are 23 years old or younger.  Ten of those players are 22 years old or younger.

Final Cuts 8/30

Here’s the list.  Details to come:

OFFENSIVE LINE: C Rob Smith, G Travis Leffew, G Edwin Harrison, T Anthony Alabi, T Will Svitek and G Tre Stallings

FULLBACK: Chris Manderino

TIGHT END: Michael Allan and Michael Merritt (Non-Football Injury List)

WIDE RECEIVER: Kevin McMahan, Sergiori Joachim, Jabari Arthur and Bobby Sippio

DEFENSIVE LINE: DE Jason Parker, DE Johnny Dingle and DT Derek Lokey

LINEBACKERS: E.J. Kuale, Steve Octavien and LeRue Rumph

DEFENSIVE BACKS: CB Rashad Barksdale and S Khayyam Burns

SPECIAL TEAMS: PK Connor Barth

Mizzou-Illini Preview 8/30

It’s been a long time since Mizzou fans have been as excited about a college football as they are for the 2008 season. After the Tigers performance last year, they are among the Big 12 Conference favorites this season. The key for head coach Gary Pinkel has been his ability to increase the talent level of his team. That’s where the improvement has come and that’s visible when you look at their pro prospects.

These two teams face off Saturday night from the Edwards Jones Dome in St. Louis. Kickoff is just after 7:30 on ESPN.

Missouri

FS William Moore – 6-1, 226 pounds, SR-Redshirt. Moore is ranked among the 40 senior prospects for NFL teams to evaluate thanks largely to his physical gifts and his big play ability. He really jumped forward at the end of the ‘07 season when Mizzou lost fellow safety Pig Brown and Moore became the playmaker. In the last six games, he had five interceptions and two forced fumbles. He led the team and Big 12 Conference with eight interceptions. He has 10 career picks, and he’s returned four for touchdowns. Could be a top 20 choice in April ‘09 Draft.

The Story of Stone Johnson

It was 45 years ago on this day that the brand new Kansas City Chiefs suffered the first tragedy of its very young existence.

While blocking on a first-quarter kickoff return in a Chiefs pre-season game against the Houston Oilers in Wichita, wide receiver Stone Johnson injured his neck. Unable to move anyof his limbs, Johnson was carried off the field on a stretcher.  Taken by ambulance to St. Francis Hospital in Wichita it was determined that he suffered a compression fracture of his fifth cervical vertebrae. He underwent surgery that night.  His condition seemed to stabilize.

Eight days after the surgery, Stone Johnson passed away, his parents at his bedside in Wichita. He was just 23 years old.

How Stone Johnson went from the 1960 Summer Olympics to becoming part of the Chiefs that summer long ago is a story that is part of the history of the American Football League. The new league was constantly searching for athletic talent and one place where the AFL dipped their bucket many times was among the black colleges of the South. In that era the NFL was integrated but there were unspoken quotas with most teams on how many black players could be on a team’s roster. Many players from small black colleges in the South never even received tryouts with the established league.

NFL Review/Pre-Season #4

You have to be careful what you take out of the NFL pre-season.

Can we expect the Detroit Lions to win the Super Bowl? They did finish the exhibition season as the only unbeaten team in the NFL with a 4-0 record.

Can we expect New England and Cleveland to have a coin flip for the No. 1 draft choice in the 2009 Draft? They finished the pre-season as the only teams in the league that did not win a game.

It doesn’t take long for things to change in the NFL when the games are for real. The Chiefs will see that when they travel to Foxboro to face the Patriots next Sunday. Detroit might be able to keep their streak going, since they open on the road at Atlanta. Cleveland hosts Dallas to start their season.

When it came to scoring points in the pre-season, the champ was Seattle, as the Seahawks threw up 103 points. Carolina had 99 points.

When it came to stopping points, Detroit allowed just 32 points, Miami gave up 41 and opponents scored 45 points against Tampa Bay.

On to the regular season! Here are some of the pre-season week No. 4 highlights:

College Preview 8/30

Here’s a look at some of the top players the NFL is keeping an eye on who are involved in Saturday’s national-TV action in the world of college football. Each week we will highlight several of the games. We’ll have a separate Mizzou-Illinois posting later this afternoon. We won’t do every team every week, because there are some teams that will keep popping up on national games like Ohio State and Southern Cal.

Today we look at highly ranked players from three games:

• Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina in Charlotte, NC, 11a ESPN.
  
• Utah at Michigan, 2:30p on ABC.
  
• Clemson vs. Alabama in Atlanta, 7p on ABC.
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Saturday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

Lost amidst all the clatter from Thursday night’s Chiefs pre-season finale was this: rookie LT Branden Albert dressed for the game.  He did not play, and wasn’t expected to get into the action.

But Herm Edwards felt it was important to allow Albert to dress and go through warmups for the first time in his young career.

“We got him all pumped up,” Edwards said on Friday.  “Brian (Waters) came up to me in the locker room and said, ‘Coach, 76 is dressing?’  He looked at me oddly and I said, ‘Brian, the guy has never been through a warm-up yet. It would be awful to take him up to New England and it’s the first time he ever stepped up on the field and he’s never even warmed up. He needs to get his heart pumping like he’s going to play.’

Top 40 College Seniors-NFL View

The college football season kicks off everywhere this weekend and that means that NFL scouts will begin their long trek towards the Draft next April. That starts with tracking the best college players through this senior season.

Now, the NFL says it does not prepare for juniors who will decide to come out early, but you can bet the scouts will be starting dossiers on guys who have the potential to make the jump. Based on the last couple years, that figures to be as many as three dozen underclassmen.

We’ve taped our NFL sources and they produced this list of the top 40 seniors coming out this year. We’ve broken them down by conference and team. Any listing of one through 40 at this point is really a waste of time without the senior season production.

A Final Roster Guess-Corrected

OK, here’s my guess on the roster as it will look at 3 p.m. on Saturday, when the Chiefs must turn in their moves to reach the NFL maximum of 53 players.

(UPDATE: Thanks goodness for you eagle-eye readers who noticed I did not have Jamaal Charles down.  Obviously a major screw up on my part.  That’s been corrected and I’ve adjusted accordingly to keep within the 53-man limit.  Must have been too much water on the brain last night at Arrowhead!)

QUARTERBACK (3): Brodie Croyle, Tyler Thigpen and Damon Huard.

HALFBACK (5): Larry Johnson, Kolby Smith, Jamaal Charles, Jackie Battle and Dantrell Savage.

FULLBACK (2): Mike Cox and Chris Manderino.

TIGHT END (3): Tony Gonzalez, Brad Cottam and J.P. Foschi.

Leftover from St. Louis Game

From Arrowhead Stadium

Going into Thursday night’s pre-season finale, the returner job was Dantrell Savage’s to lose.

And then he lost the handle on the opening kickoff, fumbling the ball away and setting up the St. Louis offense at the Chiefs 22-yard line.

Suddenly, there’s doubt.  Savage came back and did a great job on his return opportunities, taking back two punts for 26 yards and two kickoffs for 46 yards, including a 40-yarder.

But when you are a rookie returner, you don’t want to put that doubt in the head coach’s mind, especially just hours before the final cutdown date. 

If You Were There, Tell Me Why!

If you were one of the folks who was at Arrowhead Stadium last night, who sat out the rain delay, who stayed until the second half, I want to hear from you.

The Chiefs announced paid attendance of 65,686, far below their official capacity for a sellout.  Still, the game was on local TV, so everybody could have stayed at home and watched on the telly.

If you went, if you got wet … OK, if you got drenched, if you hung in there through the evening, tell me why?  I’m serious about this.  I want to hear why, but I also want others to hear from the die-hard fans.  It’s a chance to express your passion.

If you were there, you are a die-hard fan. Tell me why.

A Strange Pre-Season Finish

From Arrowhead Stadium

Maybe it was the rain.  It came down in buckets.

Maybe it was the 90-minute delay on the opening kickoff, because of the rain that came down in buckets.

Maybe it’s just the state the Chiefs are in right now, where trouble seems to find them and comes down in buckets.

Whatever the reason, there were some strange sights Thursday evening in the Chiefs pre-season finale.

Friday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

What is it about Arrowhead Stadium that seems to attract thunderstorms?

As the rain came down in buckets early Thursday evening, I sat in the nice, dry press box at Arrowhead and tried to remember the last time the Chiefs played at home in a slight rain, or just a little mist.  I’m sure there were a few,  but I spent 14 years watching every game on the sidelines and for the most part the weather was good.  Sure, sometimes it’s cold, there’s been some light snow, a sprinkle here and there.

Chiefs Get Back in Step

From Arrowhead Stadium

Last Saturday, the Chiefs took a step backwards in their growth, losing badly in Miami.  On a soggy Thursday night in Kansas City, Herm Edwards saw just what he wanted to see.

The Chiefs bounced back and beat the St. Louis Rams 21-17, winning the Governor’s Cup and finishing their pre-season with a 2-2 record.

“We gained some steps back,” said Edwards afterwards.  “They responded well.  It was a good win for us, a good win at home.”

Mother Nature got involved Thursday evening and filled that silver cup from the Governor with a good old Missouri thunderstorm to start the evening.  The teams were chased off the field during warmups and from that point until the eventual kickoff, it was a two-hour wait.

During the Monsoon

From Arrowhead Stadium

It’s been over 90 minutes (5:30 p.m.) since the Chiefs and Rams were chased off the playing field here because of heavy rains and lightning.  They’ve not returned.

So as we kill time here waiting for this August monsoon to pass through Kansas City, we got to looking at some statistics and thinking.

Obviously, when this game is finally played, the playing surface here at Arrowhead is going to be soggy.  It’s a good track, but it’s rained heavily at least three different times in the last 90 minutes, so it’s not going to be a good track.

Which is why if I was Herm Edwards, I would tell Larry Johnson to go ahead and take the shoulder pads off.  I would bring an end to his pre-season before this game kicked off.

The Practice Squad

One part of the roster equation is always the practice squad, the eight-man development unit that each NFL team can have.  Generally, teams name players they’ve had with them to the bulk of those eight spots.  Teams can begin signing players to the practice squad after the daily waivers have cleared on Sunday at 3 p.m. CDT.

There’s also some confusion among fans and yes even the media on qualifications for the practice squad.  Many were under the impression that the practice squad was only for rookies.  Others believed once a player appeared in an NFL game, he could not go on the practice squad.

Actually the rule is quite simple.

College Preview: 8/28

The college football season kicks off Thursday night with two big national games on ESPN: North Carolina State at South Carolina and then a Pac-10 matchup between Oregon State and Stanford.

During the college season, we’ll try to take the national games and point out some players to keep your eye on that the NFL is keeping their eye on. Here are a few for Thursday night.

South Carolina

LT Jamon Meredith – 6-5, 304 pounds, SR. Meredith has started the last 13 games at LT for the Gamecocks, but he won’t play against North Carolina State or William & Mary to open the season. This absence traces back to his freshman year when he played a few plays and then took a red-shirt season. The NCAA ruled he could have the extra year, but he had to give up two games. The ticket is due and he’ll be on the sidelines. When he comes back, Meredith may move inside to guard. He’s considered one of the top 40 prospects in the country by some NFL teams.

CB Captain Munnerlyn – 5-9, 185 pounds, JR. Don’t you just love that name! NFL teams don’t have juniors ranked yet, but by the end of the college season there’s a good chance the Captain will be on the radar screen. He’s played 23 games with 15 starts and last year the SEC coaches voted him all-conference. This guy is a hard-nosed player, despite not being very big and he’s got legit 4.3 to 4.4 speed. He also returns punts and has done kickoffs as well. He suffered a broken bone in his left foot at the end of last year and that kept him out of spring ball.

Fantasy Players Players

Thought you would enjoy this one from the Ft. Worth Star Telegram’s coverage of the Texas Rangers, who just left Kansas City are sweeping a series from the woeful Royals:

“The No. 1 topic of conversation in the Rangers’ clubhouse Wednesday wasn’t Brian Bannister, Jose Guillen or any other member of the Kansas City Royals.

Larry Johnson, Tony Gonzalez and some other members of the Kansas City Chiefs were, however, the day after assorted Rangers held their annual fantasy football draft.

For the record, Johnson, the Chiefs’ running back, was drafted in the second round by Frank Catalanotto. The outfielder’s war-room effort from the fifth spot was considered the best, even though he didn’t take a quarterback with any of his first five picks.

It was a culmination of at least two weeks of studying volumes of magazines, Internet analysis and in-depth conversations. There was even a mock draft - possibly two.

Now that all the preparation is over, what will the participants in the league do with their time?

“We’ll trash-talk until the season starts,” Catalanotto said. “Once the games start, then we’ll really trash-talk.”

Not everyone has a team, said Catalanotto, but those who do remain in steady contact with each other during the off-season via the telephone or through the league Web site.

“It’s fun,” he said. “I think it helps out with the camaraderie in the clubhouse.”

 

Few Jobs Left On Chiefs Roster

The Chiefs will play their fourth pre-season outing Thursday night against the Rams, but there’s not much players can do in the game to win a job on the final 53-man roster.

That’s because most of the decisions have already been made.  There may be two or three spots that are in doubt among the players on the roster right now.  Even those last players that make the 53-man group on Saturday need to understand that things will be very fluid after the league cuts come down on Saturday afternoon.   The Chiefs will actively pursue players they feel will provide an upgrade to their roster, especially at two spots: linebacker and offensive line.

So what jobs remain open?  Well, one spot is obvious.  The others not so much. Here’s my view:

Thursday Morning Cup o’Chiefs

There’s nothing that is forgotten quicker than the last pre-season game of any NFL season.

Thus it will be Thursday night with the Chiefs-Rams at Arrowhead Stadium.  This game was forgotten before it was played.  The game will be on local TV, but it’s nowhere near a sellout.  Why the folks at Arrowhead want don’t want to invoke the blackout rules is something I do not understand and is a subject that I’ll touch on down the road when the games matter.

The key for everyone, at the stadium or at home, is that this game starts at 6 o’clock.  That was a demand from the NFL.  Why?  Because of the Democratic National Convention and the acceptance speech of Barack Obama from Invesco Field in Denver. 

The Feely Affair

So just what were the Chiefs doing with Jay Feely this week?

They brought Feely to Kansas City on Sunday where he made eight of 12 kicks in a workout for the coaches and personnel staffs.

They signed the veteran kicker on Monday and in competition with Nick Novak and Connor Barth, he went out and hit 11 of 15 field goal tries.

There was another kickoff between the three on Tuesday and Feely made 13 of 15 attempts.

Then they released him, just over 24 hours after signing him.

What’s up?

Wednesday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

The PUP list was a busy place the last few days as NFL teams got their rosters down to the league limit of 75 players for now.

The Physically Unable to Perform list is a refuge for players who because of injuries suffered on the NFL field in the last year and can’t yet pass a team physical so they can practice.  It’s a variation of the injured reserve list with one key difference: a player on IR cannot under any conditions play for the team that season.  A player on PUP has a window where he can practice and possibly be activated to the 53-man roster.  This window comes after the sixth week of the season and ends before the 10th game.

Feely Goes Wide Right

It’s been an interesting two days in the world of kickers and the Kansas City Chiefs.

To reach the NFL roster limit of 75, the Chiefs final cut was Jay Feely, the veteran kicker they signed on Monday.

They will go into the pre-season finale with both kickers that went through training camp: Nick Novak and Connor Barth.

So what happened?  The Chiefs aren’t saying anything publicly at this time and haven’t even announced the move.

But all three kickers had a kickoff the last three days and the order of finish for most field goals made was Barth, Novak and then Feely.

It’s impressive to see Barth respond to the competition.   More on this to come.

Kickoff Luncheon Words from Herm

The annual Chiefs Kickoff Luncheon was held Tuesday afternoon at the Hyatt Regency in Crown Center.

There were many words spoken.  Bill Grigsby suggested the Chiefs were on a three-year plan to the Super Bowl.  With a smile on his face, Carl Peterson mentioned that now famous Chiefs Urban Myth that he came to town in 1989 and set up a five-year plan.

The final words of note belonged to head coach Herm Edwards and they deserve to be heard again:

Cuts, With One Left

No surprises on the Chiefs roster moves on Tuesday to reach the NFL limit of 75.

Released were DT Maurice Murray, DE Jonal Saint-Dic and T Ken Shackleford.  None were a factor in making the regular-season roster.

Sent to the Physically Unable to Perform List was WR Kevin Robinson.  He underwent knee surgery back in June and hasn’t been able to get back on the practice field yet.

That leaves one cut to make. Chiefs were in a personnel meeting that began after their Kickoff Luncheon to decide on which of the three kickers on their roster would be released.  They can also move TE Michael Merritt to the NFI list if they can’t decide on a move with the kicker.

Draft Class

The Chiefs dirty dozen draft class of 2008 was cut by half last weekend in Miami.  Of the 12 players drafted by the Chiefs back in April, only six were on the field and available to play against the Dolphins.  The others were in various stages of injury and rehab, including four players who are going to play a lot of football for the team this season.

Here’s where they stand right now after three pre-season games:

1. 1.  DT Glenn Dorsey - got the most playing time of his career against Miami and made an impression on the Chiefs coaching staff.  “He’s exactly what we thought he would be when we drafted him,” said Herm Edwards.  “He’s a powerful man inside.   He can control the double-team.  He’s getting better with his pass rush, he’s getting a better feel.”
   
2. 2.  LT Branden Albert - has not yet returned to practice from his foot injury, but is progressing on schedule and he may be able to practice next week.  Does that mean he’ll play in the season opener against New England? “Not necessarily,” Edwards said.  “We will have to wait and see.  With a veteran guy, you might do that, but with a young guy, I’m not sure that’s fair to him or the team. We’ll see what kind of progress he makes when we start next week.”
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Review: NFL Pre-Season Week #3

There was a lot of quarterback action and talk in the NFL over the last week. Guys were moved into starting jobs, others moved out.

But after three weeks worth of games, there are some numbers that really jump out when you look at quarterbacks in the league:

• Tom Brady (foot) – three games for New England, no snaps.
• Peyton Manning (knee) – four games for Indianapolis, no snaps.
• Matt Hasselbeck (back) – three games for Seattle, 12 snaps, all in the first pre-season game.

And then Monday night we watch Philip Rivers of the Chargers play against Seattle. There’s no way this guy is 100 percent after off-season knee surgery. He doesn’t so much run as hobble. He does everything he can not to put too much weight on that right knee and leg.

Tuesday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

The world of kickers in the NFL is really a wacky world, like one of those hillbilly families where some guy’s cousin is also his brother, and his aunt is his grandmother.

Take this scenario.  The Chiefs signed Jay Feely on Monday.  Whether he’s the team’s kicker this season remains to be seen, but his chances of holding down the position are good.  Feely was kicking with the New  York  Giants in 2006, but was replaced there by Lawrence Tynes, who used to kick for the Chiefs.

Feely went to Miami, where he replaced Olinda Mare last year.  Mare went to New Orleans, where he replaced John Carney.  Carney went on to kick at Jacksonville and then ended the season last year with the Chiefs.

The door just spins and spins and the same names keep coming out the door.

Feely Makes Three, For Now

So the Chiefs signing of kicker Jay Feely has surprised some people because of its timing.  With the NFL roster limit dropping to 75 by 3 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, it would seem time to cut players rather than sign them.

Jay Feely

By signing Feely now, what the Chiefs have done is protect their options if they decide against Nick Novak or Connor Barth.  If Feely was still floating around out there after Tuesday’s cutdown date, there’s no guarantee he would be there after the final slice to 53 players.

The Chiefs will not carry two kickers into Thursday night’s game against St. Louis.  Either Novak or Barth will be cut loose on Tuesday after the kickers workout. Even Feely could be released, although that’s highly unlikely; he would have to fail miserably in the workouts for that to happen.

Practice Update 8/25

From The Truman Sports Complex

The Chiefs went through what amounts to their only practice of the week on Monday afternoon, and it was not a workout where the offense walked away very happy.

The defense definitely ruled the roost on this afternoon, picking off three passes. FS Jarrad Page grabbed  one one a ball that was tipped off the hands of WR Jeff Webb.  CB Maurice Leggett got another one that bounced off the hands of TE J.P. Foschi.  That ball was very catchable.  CB Brandon Carr won a jump ball with WR Dewayne Bowe for the third INT.  RB Kolby Smith also fumbled on a running play.

For the first time in a long time, the Chiefs No. 1 defense was on the field.  It was McBride-Tyler-Dorsey-Hali upfront, with Johnson-Thomas-Edwards at linebacker and the secondary of Surtain-Page-Pollard-Flowers.  When the Chiefs went to nickel, Edwards left the field and Carr came on as the extra defensive back.  When the defense went to the dime (4-1-6), Thomas left the field and CB Dimitri Patterson came on the field.

Merritt, Feely Signed

The Chiefs were busy on the personnel front today.

They added veteran kicker Jay Feely to their active roster.  He was cut several weeks ago by Miami.

They also signed their seventh-round draft choice Michael Merritt.

To make room for Feely and Merritt, the Chiefs released LB Oliver Hoyte and DE Trevor Johnson.

Feely joins the battle at kicker involving Nick Novak and Connor Barth. 

Merritt will be one of the Chiefs roster moves on Tuesday to reach the NFL limit of 75 players.

Here’s how it works:

Merritt remained unsigned because he’s still recovering from a broken leg suffered at the end of his college season with the University of Central Florida.  Because he could not pass a physical to participate in practice, the Chiefs decided not to tie up one of their 80 roster spots with a body that could not get on the field.

The Boss

Ordinarily our conversation here is about football and that’s where this epistle will reach a conclusion.

But before that, we are going to wander all over the road a bit, the Thunder Road in fact. Stick with me; I’ll close the circle.

I went to the Bruce Springsteen concert last night at the Sprint Center.

I went expecting to be disappointed. I should have had more faith in The Boss.

Let me establish at the outset that this was not my first Springsteen evening. Not even my second or third. My calculations, hampered by diminished memories of age, put this concert at either the 29^th or 30^th time I’ve seen him in person. My wife says that makes me a groupie. I say now way, because I’ve known people that have seen Bruce hundreds of times. I knew one guy out of college that quit a job to follow him on tour.

I saw Bruce in ‘78 at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh. I saw him in 1988 in Sheffield England at Bramall Lane, one of the oldest soccer stadiums still in use. There were about 40,000 Englishmen singing “Born in the USA.” He didn’t tour in 1998 or I would have had four 10-year mileposts of Bruce concerts. I first saw him in 1976 in Pittsburgh. I’ve seen him perform in Asbury Park, in Cleveland at the Agora and the Allen Theater, at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pa., at the old Spectrum in Philly and in the Meadowlands, his home turf of New Jersey. I’ve seen him perform in a bar, a small theater, a small arena, a major arena and a stadium. Those are my Bruce credentials.

Monday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

With now less than two weeks before the regular season openers, NFL teams are making all sorts of quarterback decisions.

In fact, there appears to be only one team that hasn’t made a final call: the Baltimore Ravens.  There, it’s a battle between Kyle Boller, Troy Smith and first-round draft choice Joe Flacco.  Right now, it appears that Boller  will be the guy,  but new coach John Harbaugh could surprise and go with Flacco.

After this weekend’s games, decisions were made on starting quarterbacks in Atlanta and Arizona.  The Falcons are going with their first-round draft choice Matt Ryan over Chris Redman and Joey Harrington.   It  will be interesting to watch how Ryan holds up under the pressure and pounding.

Out in the desert, the Cardinals are going to go with veteran Kurt Warner over youngster Matt Leinart, who had an especially bad performance against the Raiders, hitting only four of 12 p asses for 24 yards and three interceptions.

Leftovers from Miami

From Miami Gardens, Florida

I’m sure there are some things that Gunther Cunningham won’t be pleased with when he looks at the tape of Saturday night’s Chiefs-Dolphins game.  A team doesn’t lose 24-0 and have anybody happy.

But Gun can’t get too down on his defense because once you shift through all the plays and all the stats it indicates that they actually got some things done.  Other than not getting the quarterback on the ground all night and giving up an 80-yard run in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs defense performed at a winning level.

They forced four turnovers, including an end zone interception.  They stopped Miami’s first possession from scoring, despite six plays the Jets ran off inside the Chiefs five-yard line.  They gave up no pass play for longer than 17 yards and other than the 80-yard run, allowed only one other play for more than 20 yards.  They stopped Miami’s offense on 3^rd down 10 of 13 times.  RB Ricky Williams averaged just 3.9 yards per carry.

An Example For Brodie

From Miami Gardens, Florida

Let’s make this plain right up front: the Chiefs did not lose their second pre-season game of the summer because of Brodie Croyle.

Neither did they win the game against the Miami on Saturday night at Dolphin Stadium because of Croyle.

It was not a good night for the Chiefs starting quarterback, but then he did not have a lot of help on his side of the ball.  Pass protection was a problem.  The running game did not produce.  Receivers could not get open, which is always a bit of a problem in making the passing game go.

I’m sure there are many things Croyle will learn by watching the tape of the Chiefs offense’s shutout performance against the Dolphins.  But he might learn more by watching the tape of the Miami offense and more specifically Chad Pennington.  Starting his first game for the Dolphins, Pennington did exactly what he’s done throughout his NFL career.  He played smart football, he threw passes that were available, he set up the running game, he made time for himself with his feet and mostly he did not make any mistakes.

Sunday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

From Miami Gardens, Florida

The Chiefs and Dolphins provided interesting contrasts to rebuilding when they faced off Saturday night at Dolphin Stadium.

Chiefs fans all know how the organization reacted to the 4-12 season last year.  The roster was turned upside down and its filled with youngsters.  There are 37 rookie and first year players on the roster and 46 of the 80 are new to the team in 2008.

Well the Dolphins made a lot of changes after its 1-15 season last  year.  There’s a new guy in charge of football, new GM, new coach and some new players, in fact 42 added to the roster just this year.  But Miami’s gone in a different direction.  They haven’t gone as young as the Chiefs. They have only 22 rookies on their roster right now and no first-year players.

No Points, No Victory For Chiefs

From Miami Gardens, Florida

It’s the most impossible task in the game of football.

The score starts 0-0.  If a team can’t change their zero, then they have no chance of winning the game.  None. Nada. Zero.

The Chiefs were forced to re-learn that most basic of football lessons again Saturday night at Dolphin Stadium, losing 24-0 to the Miami Dolphins.

Give credit to the Fins under new head coach Tony Sparano.  They played a good game, especially on defense.  They allowed the Chiefs just 189 offensive yards.  Kansas City’s No. 1 unit registered only 137 yards on 40 plays.  Miami is an improved team; they couldn’t be much worse than the 1-15 record they ran up last year.

But it really came down to the Chiefs shutting out themselves with poor play and mistakes.  The offense simply could not sustain any momentum or production.  Only once did they penetrate the scoring zone against the Dolphins and that possession ended short of the goal line.  In fact, the Chiefs got inside Miami’s 45-yard line just two times all night.  The second trip was courtesy of the defense, but that ended with a missed field goal and the goose egg stayed right where it was at the opening kickoff.

Positions Review: Backs & Tight Ends

Over the next 10 days, I will take a look at each position on the Chiefs and where I think the roster decisions are headed for the regular season.  My conclusions are based on what I’ve seen during this pre-season and what I know about the Chiefs and what they are trying to create with this 2008 team.  But just remember, these are my guesses, so don’t commit them to stone! 

Let’s look at the backs and tight ends.

The Chiefs have a long jam at halfback and somebody is not going to make the team. The Chiefs would carry four at most, although a fifth wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility. We know that Larry Johnson (pictured to the left), rookie Jamaal Charles and Kolby Smith will be on the opening day roster. They are locks.

The battle comes down to Jackie Battle and/or rookie Dantrell Savage. Now, Battle started strong during training camp, but has been battling a sore shoulder for the last several weeks. Savage has made a name for himself as a returner, now handling kickoffs and punts. He’s also shown himself to be a productive runner, although remember he’s doing it against the second and third team defenses.

Saturday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

From Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

The Chiefs arrived in south Florida late Friday afternoon for tonight’s pre-season encounter with the Miami Dolphins.  Like most of these exhibition games - the NFL hates that term - this meeting will be very forgetable.  Since the games don’t count in the standings, few are memorable.

However, every 40 years or so there’s a pre-season game that is unforgetable.  The Chiefs had just such a game on this day, 41 years ago at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City.

Final score: Chiefs 66, Chicago Bears 24.

The Bears had never given up 66 points in any game whether pre-season, regular season or in the playoffs.  They still haven’t in 88 years of play.  No Bears’ team has been beaten by 42 points before and since.  In the last 50 pro football seasons, no team has scored 66 points in a pre-season game.  In the last 50 seasons, no two teams have scored 90 points in a pre-season game.

Forty years later, Len Dawson can still feel the emotions of that hot summer night at 22^nd and Brooklyn on the east side of Kansas City.

“I played in a lot of exhibition games in my career but I never played in one that had that much emotion involved,” Dawson said.  “It was an unusual evening.”

Answer Bob

From Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

The Chiefs arrived here Friday afternoon after being delayed by bad weather.  The Chiefs charter flight had to circle the Ft. Myers area as the Ft. Lauderdale Airport was closed by a bad thunderstorm.  The Chiefs were about to land in Ft. Myers to refuel when the airport opened and they were able to land.  Heavy rains in south Florida have puddles everywhere.

The extra time on the flight south allowed me to answer some of your recent comments and questions on bobgretz.com posts.  Again, thanks for your readership and interest.

Offensive line questions from Blake and Patrick.

• Blake I can’t say that Anthony Alabi has shown much.  When it’s been time to fill  in with the first group he’s run behind Herb Taylor, Barry Richadson and sometimes Will Svitek.  I did fail to mention that Alabi can also play inside at guard,  something he did in Miami.
• Patrick, I think it best for the health of Brodie Croyle that Herb Taylor stay at left tackle.  Believe me, if he can handle the duties there, moving to the right side  will not be hard.  Herb is a pretty smart guy as well, so while in theory I agree with your premise, he’s the best left tackle the Chiefs have right now and that means he needs to protect Croyle’s flank.

Several very nice comments on Gene Upshaw from long-time Chiefs fans who didn’t hold his silver and black  heritage against him.

Replacing a QB Legend

It’s pretty darn hard to replace a Hall of Fame quarterback.

Just ask the Miami Dolphins. Or, for that matter, the Chiefs.

Len Dawson hasn’t played for the Chiefs in 33 years. Dan Marino hasn’t worn the Dolphins uniform in nine years. There have been a lot of quarterbacks who have stepped into the starter’s position for both teams. None have been able to fill their shoes.

Saturday night in Miami it will be Brodie Croyle and Chad Henne trying to become the next guy. They both join long lists.

Here are the quarterbacks who have started for the Chiefs since Dawson retired after the 1975 season: Tony Adams, Mike Livingston, Steve Fuller, Bill Kenney, Todd Blackledge, Matt Stevens, Doug Hudson, Frank Seurer, Steve DeBerg, Ron Jaworski, Steve Pelluer, Mark Vlasic, Dave Krieg, Joe Montana, Steve Bono, Rich Gannon, Elvis Grbac, Warren Moon, Trent Green, Damon Huard and Croyle. That’s 21 quarterbacks over 32 seasons.

At the end of the 1999 season, Marino retired and the Dolphins have struggled to replace him. Here are the guys who have tried: Jay Fiedler, Damon Huard, Ray Lucas, Sage Rosenfels, Brian Griese, A.J. Feeley, Gus Frerotte, Joey Harrington, Daunte Culpepper, Cleo Lemon, Trent Green and John Beck. That’s 12 starting quarterbacks in eight seasons.Either Chad Pennington or Chad Henne, and possibly Josh McCown will make it 13, 14 or 15 in nine seasons.

Postion Review: Secondary

Over the next 10 days, I will take a look at each position on the Chiefs and where I think the roster decisions are headed for the regular season.  My conclusions are based on what I’ve seen during this pre-season and what I know about the Chiefs and what they are trying to create with this 2008 team.  But just remember, these are my guesses, so don’t commit them to stone! 

Let’s look at the defensive backs.

The starting group appears set at this point with Pat Surtain and Brandon Flowers at the corners and Jarrad Page and Bernard Pollard at safety.

The fifth guy will be rookie CB Brandon Carr, as he’s working as the nickel back and figures to share the spot with Surtain.

The sixth guy will be rookie S DaJuan Morgan who only needs to clean up some of the mental parts of the game to get playing time. He’s shown he can handle things physically and he’s a big hitter back there.

Friday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

If you’ve enjoyed this site over the last month you know our focus is Chiefs and NFL football.  We’ll expand that horizon a bit here in the coming weeks with college football.  But you are likely to find anything here that strikes my fancy.

One such thing turned up in Thursday’s edition of USA Today.  It was a front page story in the sports section about the Minnesota Twins.  Now I’m not much of a seamhead and haven’t been since the ‘79 Pirates beat the Orioles to win the World Series, but the story caught my eye.  It’s a look at how the Twins continue to operate at the top of major league baseball despite the fact they have one of the smallest payrolls.

They do it with a strong organziation that has established equally strong values for its team and does not allow itself to get swayed by outside forces.  The Twins lost three of their best players in free agency and trades last year, including their best outfielder in Tori Hunter and their best pitcher in Johan Santana.  This year they have a starting pitching rotation that has no pitcher older than 26 or making more than $422,500.

Position Review: Offensive Line

Over the next 10 days, I will take a look at each position on the Chiefs and where I think the roster decisions are headed for the regular season.  My conclusions are based on what I’ve seen during this pre-season and what I know about the Chiefs and what they are trying to create with this 2008 team.  But just remember, these are my guesses, so don’t commit them to stone! 

Let’s look at the offensive line.

In his first season with the Chiefs, Herm Edwards had 10 blockers on his opening week roster. Last year, he started the season with nine. The general rule of thumb in the NFL is 4-3-2. That’s four tackles, three guards and two centers. Whether it’s nine or 10 this year will depend a bit on injuries, specifically the banged up tackles Branden Albert and Damion McIntosh. In fact, those injuries could mean as many as 11 make the opening day roster.

Here’s what’s obvious: the starting five are in, and that includes both Albert and McIntosh, along with Brian Waters, Rudy Niswanger and Adrian Jones (pictured above.)

Add Herb Taylor and Wade Smith, who appear to be the number one subs at tackle (Taylor) and inside at guard and center (Smith.)

That’s seven. Sixth-round draft choice Barry Richardson will make the roster based on the potential he’s displayed in the pre-season. He’s probably not ready to make a contribution right now, but could be a contributor at right tackle at the start of next season.

That’s eight, with four tackles. For the ninth spot, the Chiefs need someone to play inside. That would seem to bring it down to a battle between Tre Stallings and rookie Edwin Harrison. Travis Leffew and Rob Smith could also get a look there.

If there’s a 10^th roster spot to open the season, it would probably be at tackle because of the injuries and that might give veteran Will Svitek another lease on roster life. It would come down to either Svitek or Anthony Alabi.

The Chiefs will also take a long look at the waiver wire for young offensive linemen who can improve the talent level at the bottom of their roster.

Practice Update 8/21

From the Truman Sports Complex

It was a short practice session for the Chiefs, their last before Saturday night’s game in Miami.  These types of practices are more mental than physical, so there tends to be less to report as the players physical intensity level is throttled down.

We can update the injury front.

Newest injury was WR Will Franklin who walked off the practice field before the session ended wih the help of a trainer.  Afterwards, Franklin’s right knee was heavily wrapped and sporting an ice pack.  He was headed for an MRI. Franklin said he felt “a tweak” while running a route.  His status for Saturday is obviously up in the air.

RIP Gene Upshaw

Gene Upshaw

The scene was a hotel ballroom on the east side of Manhattan, right on Lexington Avenue.  It was a September Monday in 1982 and the room was packed with reporters and television cameras.  Just as I walked into the room, a hand reached out from behind a door and grabbed my arm.  It was Tom Condon, then Chiefs starting guard and one of the leaders of the NFL Players Association.

Before I knew it, I was on a day-long odyssey with Condon and a host of NFL players, including their leader Gene Upshaw.  First, they announced in the hotel ballroom that the league’s players were going on strike at the end of the Monday night game that was coincidentally being played in the Meadowlands in New Jersey that evening.

As you could imagine, there were plenty of questions for the union leadership in that room, and the guy at the center of things was Upshaw.  At the time, Ed Garvey was the union’s executive director.  The mere mention of Garvey’s name could send an NFL owner into spasms of angry shouting.  Garvey was considered him a socialist and the owners made fun of his stated negotiating goal: getting the players 54 percent of the NFL’s gross revenue.

Position Review: Linebackers

Over the next 10 days, I will take a look at each position on the Chiefs and where I think the roster decisions are headed for the regular season.  My conclusions are based on what I’ve seen during this pre-season and what I know about the Chiefs and what they are trying to create with this 2008 team.  But just remember, these are my guesses, so don’t commit them to stone! 

Let’s look at the linebackers.

If there was one position where the Chiefs may be active on the waiver wire the day after the final NFL cutdown, it will be at linebacker. In his first two seasons with the Chiefs, Herm Edwards has kept seven linebackers. Right now it’s tough to find seven backers who have performed well enough in this pre-season to deserve a roster spot.

Count on Derrick Johnson, Demorrio Williams and Pat Thomas to be there as the Chiefs starters. Williams will not play over the rest of the pre-season because of a broken bone in his hand,  but the Chiefs expect him to be ready to play in the season opener.

 Also count in veteran Donnie Edwards who continues to rehab his hamstring pull and should be back on the practice field next week.

Thursday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

The Chiefs are all about building through the draft under Herm Edwards.  The first selection meeting where Edwards and VP of Player Personnel Bill Kuharich were in charge was the 2006 Draft.

Here’s a quick check on how they did:

1-DE Tamba Hali, a starter since his first game.

2-S Bernard Pollarid, became a starter last season at strong safety.

3-QB Brodie Croyle, became a starter last year.

But Can He Catch?

Usain Bolt

What would you think if the Chiefs went out and signed a 6-5, 190-pound wide receiver who will be 22 years old on Thursday?

Oh, did I mention he’s fast.  Very fast.  I mean very, very, very fast.

That guy is available.  His name is Usain Bolt.

If you havent’ been paying attention to the Summer Olympic Games from Beijing, China then Bolt may not be a familiar name.  He should be.  On Wednesday, the Jamaican sprinter won the gold medal in the 200 meters, setting a world record in 19.3 seconds.  Combined with his victory in the 100 meters (another world record in 9.69 seconds), Bolt is the first man to sweep the 100 & 200 in the same games since Carl Lewis in 1984.

Practice Update 8/20

From the Truman Sports Complex

The Chiefs went full pads for their Wednesday afternoon workout and it was certainly the most intense practice the team’s had since returning from the northwoods.  Although it wasn’t full scale football, the playes were pushing the action and the intensity level was high.

Added to the injury report was LB Demorrio Williams with a finger injury.  This will  likely keep him out of Saturday night’s game in Miami.  RT Damion McIntosh watched practiced after suffering a right ankle injury on Tuesday.  Herm Edwards said the injury is not serious and he’s day-to-day for a return to the field.  LB Oliver  Hoyte returned to practice after missing the last several days with a neck injury.

Here are some highlights:

Position Review: Wide Receivers

Over the next 10 days, I will take a look at each position on the Chiefs and where I think the roster decisions are headed for the regular season.  My conclusions are based on what I’ve seen during this pre-season and what I know about the Chiefs and what they are trying to create with this 2008 team.  But just remember, these are my guesses, so don’t commit them to stone! Events may change the picture at any position over the next two weeks.

 

Let’s focus on wide receivers.

Currently, the Chiefs have 10 wide receivers on their roster. In his first two seasons, Edwards started the season with five wide receivers on the opening roster. But in both of those cases, the player handling returns in the kicking game was listed as a wide receiver: Dante Hall in 2006 and Eddie Drummond in the 2007 season. That may not be the case this season, as right now it looks like RB Dantrell Savage may be the return guy. Veteran free agent B.J. Sams has been working at wide receiver and he still has two games to claim the returner’s job.

Keep in mind the obvious formula in the NFL: 25 on offense, 25 on defense and 3 special teamers makes for a 53-man roster. Generally, the roster has 13 players at wide receiver/tight end/running back.

Dewayne Bowe, Devard Darling and rookie Will Franklin have the top three spots at wide receiver. Bowe and Darling have been running as the st