It’s About Time

From Tampa, Florida

The world has been spinning pretty fast for the last 14 hours and I’m only now getting the chance to sit down and compose some thoughts about what happened today with the addition of Derrick Thomas to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

My first reaction at 2:40 p.m. EST when Hall of Fame President Steve Perry announced the six-man class of 2009 was: it’s about time!

My second reaction was one of relief.

My third reaction was one of joy when I saw the smile on Norma Hunt’s face. The first lady of the Chiefs was there for the announcement and she was giddy, not only about D.T. but another member of the class: Buffalo owner Ralph Wilson, one of the original owners from the first year of the American Football League.

I keep getting told these days that I need to make my posts more personal; that’s the way of the 21st Century Internet I’m told. That’s tough for me, because I wasn’t trained that way. I was taught to keep myself out of stories, to tell the facts, or provide analysis or commentary based on facts.

But somewhere along the way, I became part of the story when it came to D.T. and his five-year wait to get into the Hall of Fame. As the Kansas City representative on the 44-person Board of Selectors, it was my job for the last five years to present Thomas’ credentials for induction into the Hall.

And so his failure became my failure. I was roasted by talk-show mumblers, letter writers, e-mailers and those folks who live on the discussion boards. I’ve never been one who much cared what other people thought about me. I’m not trying to win friends and impress people. I’m trying to get reads and visitors to this site, just as I tried to get listeners in radio and subscribers for newspapers.

But after awhile it got old, because it was unfair. D.T. didn’t make the Hall for the first four years because it wasn’t his time. It had nothing to do with me. D.T. didn’t make the Hall because of me, although my friends say I should take the credit.

D.T. is a Hall of Famer because of D.T.

Over five years that he was a finalist, D.T.’s sacks total did not increase. He didn’t force any more fumbles. He didn’t score any more sacks. On first blush, his record was good enough.

But the group did not agree. They didn’t so much disagree, as the time was not right. I said throughout that there was no doubt in my mind that Thomas would make the Hall. Everyone needed to be patient. It was just a matter of time.

That time was Saturday in Tampa. Why? Got me. I’m not going to question what happened. I’ll just enjoy the results.

So what happened? The Board of the Selectors for the second straight year looked harder at defense than offense. Last year, four of the six inductees were defensive players. The class for this year has three of the six on the defensive side. That’s good, because an imbalance has grown over the years with so m any offensive players getting into Canton.

Now, seven of the last 12 have been defense.

That left out a couple of big name receivers, specifically Cris Carter both this year and last year, and Shannon Sharpe, new to the room this year. I’m sure the selectors will get grilled by the analysts and pundits for not providing Carter and Sharpe tickets to Canton.

They too will eventually get in. They just need to be patient.

Several things rolled in D.T.’s favor this year. One, there were two older members of the board who have never been in his corner who were not in the room. They were replaced by younger voters who grew up watching Thomas cause havoc. Two, he was the only linebacker on the ballot. There were two defensive ends and two defensive tackles. DT Cortez Kennedy and John Randle are worthy considerations for the Hall, but this was their first trip into the meeting room and their credentials were not so good that they were headed for immediate induction.

The defensive ends were Bruce Smith and Richard Dent. Smith was an automatic selection. Dent has a very good career record, including more sacks than D.T. and Super Bowl appearances.

Ultimately in the voting, Dent went the same way as Carter and Sharpe and when the voters were down to their final five, it was a lock.

And that sent Derrick Thomas to his rightful place, the hallowed halls of Canton, Ohio.

That’s it for now. I’m going to go pound a mojito or 12 and enjoy the moment. More on Sunday about the whole day, including the stuff you can’t get anywhere else: what actually went on in the voting room.

Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas

From Tampa, Florida

Five years was enough.  The Board of Selectors of the Pro Football Hall of Fame voted in a six-man class for 2009 and it includes Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas.

The announcement just went down at 1;30 CST and we will have plenty of information later in the day.

I’ve got so much to tell you about the voting and the process.

But DT is in.

Saturday Morning Cup O’Super Bowl

From Tampa, Florida

By the time this post hits the site, the doors will be closed and the discussion, deliberations and voting will have begun on the Class of 2009 for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

There will be 44 voters in that room, along with about a half-dozen folks from the Hall of Fame in Canton.

I will be there with them, making it 14 years that I’ve taken part in this process. I consider it one of the greatest honors of my career. The voters are members of the sports media who have covered pro football for a number of years. There is one voter for each franchise in the league and then a group of at-large voters. Some have been on the committee for decades; this year we will have more new faces than any year I can remember with five.

Part of the duties as a representative of a team city is that when a player is a finalist, the voter from that city presents his credentials. It’s not one of those rousing nominating speeches you might here at a political convention. It’s simply a presentation of the man’s career and his accomplishments.

I will make the presentation for Derrick Thomas. I’ve learned over time that when a player keeps coming up for induction, it really becomes just a matter of time. That’s the case with D.T. He is going to get into the Hall of Fame at some point. In my opinion, it should have happened five years ago, but that’s obviously not the opinion of the necessary 80 percent of my fellow voters.

Just for your eyes only, here’s a preview of my presentation. It may change on the fly, but this is ultimately what I’ll say to the room:

I think the time is right for Derrick Thomas. He was the impact defensive player of his generation. The numbers and testimony is there to back up that claim and as we try to address the imbalance between offense and defense in our inductees, it’s time for Derrick Thomas.

He had an impact on the Chiefs franchise, the players he played with and those he played against. He was a defensive player that changed the games he played in each week.

I’ve quoted before and will again if anybody would like to hear, the comments from coaches like Marv Levy, Dan Reeves, Mike Shanahan, Tom Flores, Art Shell, Jim Fassel and Bill Cowher, along with quarterbacks like John Elway, Jim Kelly, Warren Moon and Steve Young about the effect Thomas had on game preparation and during the game itself.

Just yesterday I spoke again with Cowher, who coached Thomas for three years and then spent eight years as an opponent. He might have put it best: Thomas wasn’t just a game changer, he was a game plan changer. Opponents had to alter what they did to account for him. …Read More!

FROM THE COMMISH

From Tampa, Florida

Over time, the Friday of Super Bowl Week has become the day when the NFL Commissioner has a State of the League speech and a press conference. It’s a tradition that was started by Pete Rozelle, was continued by Paul Tagliabue and the torch is now carried by Roger Goodell.

Goodell didn’t really have much of a speech; just some opening comments about the league and the type of season that played out across the country.

“I think it’s been an incredibly exciting season for our fans,” Goodell said. “The one word I like to use is unpredictable. Each week, there’s another unpredictable event, and I think that is the hallmark of our season, and frankly, the hallmark of the NFL.

“There are three ways I’d like to describe this season, thinking back about it, and it’s with three key words: hope, inspiration and teamwork, all of which are very important in football. Hope that your team always can succeed and overcome the obstacles. We saw that with Atlanta, Miami and Baltimore coming from a difficult season the year before and going into the playoffs with first-year coaches. Inspiration, from the efforts by some of our great players each week and our coaches and the teams when they come together and inspire communities, and we see that very clearly. And of course teamwork, which is so critical for what we all need to achieve. It’s working together and coming together at exactly the right time.

When Goodell went to questions, easily the subject that drew the most queries centered on the looming battle with the NFL Players Association over a new collective bargaining agreement. We will save his comments and those of the NFLPA until next week, once the real football is behind us.

But here are a few highlights on his comments involving the owners, players and a new working agreement:

“The ownership has spent a tremendous amount of time evaluating the current collective bargaining agreement. They came to the conclusion that it was better to terminate that agreement and go into a negotiation where we could work to try to come up with something that would work for all clubs and our players rather than continue on with that system. The economics were difficult prior to the economy turning south on us. What’s happened now with the economy turning difficult for all of us, I think that it just accentuated the negatives in that collective bargaining agreement. I think the owners feel that it’s critically important for the future of the game, for the future of the business, that they re-evaluate this. It is being done all across the country in every industry. We’re evaluating our product. Labor unions and management have to work together to address this.”

Here are some of the other topics that Goodell touched on. …Read More!

Parcells on Pioli, Haley

From Tampa, Florida

Inside the Gatorade Studio at the Tampa Convention Center, Bill Parcells was relaxing before he headed off to do about a dozen different interviews at the Super Bowl Media Center.

Before he got started, Parcells took time to talk about the Chiefs new GM Scott Pioli, who also happens to be his son-in-law. He also talked and the man who may be their next head coach, Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

Here’s what Parcells had to say.

Question: What are the driving principles that will be part of Scott Pioli’s leadership of the Chiefs franchise?

Parcells: “He’s relentless. He will not leave any stones unturned when it comes to his job. He’s a hard worker, but he’s also a smart worker. He doesn’t waste a lot of time on things that don’t mean anything. He isn’t going to spend a lot of time appearing in front of the cameras and microphones because that’s not what he’s about. I think Scott will approach his job just with the primary purpose of giving his coach the best team possible.”

Question: At his introductory press conference he said his job is not to get the best 53 players in football, it’s to put together the best team. As a man who has both coached and put together teams, what does that mean to you?

Parcells: “I’m not going to speak for him, but what he’ll do is go out and get character people. That’s the job any evaluator has to handle and that’s not only judging physical ability, but character. You’ve got to have character guys on your team. Now there’s a lot of different ways to define that, but in football it comes down to finding players that will work together for one goal. He will find character players.”

Question: Is there any sense of your own buttons bursting pride that he’s now got a chance to run his own show?

Parcells: “I’ve got two relationships with him. One is football, the other is my daughter. I think he’s a good man and I will try to help him anyway I can, within the rules. But he’s also now a competitor, and I can’t ever forget that.”

Question: Todd Haley was part of your staff at both the New York Jets and Dallas. There are a lot of rumors about that he may be the Chiefs next head coach. What qualities do you think he has for the job as head coach?

Parcells: “OK, right off the bat, I’ve got no idea who he’s thinking about as head coach. I last talked to him (Pioli) last Friday and we didn’t talk about that subject and I have no knowledge of any names. So, I’m not much of a source as you media guys say for the rumors.

“As for Todd, he’s an intelligent, passionate guy, who knows how to handle players and understands the things that are important to get things done with a team. He comes from good stock, because his father (Dick Haley) is one of my favorite people in this game. If he can be half the coach that his father was as a scout then Todd will be successful.

“But again, I’ve got no idea that it’s him. Whoever it is, will be somebody that he (Pioli) feels comfortable with and agrees with his ideas of how you go about putting a team on the field that can win football games. That’s the only way you get to stay around; you have to win.”

Friday Super Quotations: The Coaches

From Tampa, Florida

The head coaches brought the media portion of Super Bowl week to an end Friday morning with 30-minute press conferences. They and their players will now be off-limits to the media until after Sunday’s Super Bowl game at Raymond James Stadium.

Here’s some of the best of what they had to say on Friday.

MIKE TOMLIN (left), on his final message for his team on Saturday night and whether he’s prepared anything:

“I haven’t. I make a conscious effort to wing it. I think that’s real. I think our guys relate to that. It’s that way that I deal with them, for the most part. This week has been tougher than most in terms of trying to keep those thoughts out of my mind because there’s a lot to say. But at the same time, I’m intent on doing that (winging it). I’m going to just walk in and communicate with them like I always do. I never prepare for the night-before-the-game speech.”

TOMLIN, on what advantage the Steelers might have because of how many of their players have played in a Super Bowl:

“I think that if there is an advantage, it is in the week leading up to the game. I think the people who have been here before help the guys with some of the things that go along with game: taking care of personal business, taking care of family members, not letting those things be a distraction and helping them stay focused on what it is we need to do in terms of playing. In terms of the game itself, I would imagine whether you have been in it before or not, it’s going to be pretty big. Some people are going to be nervous, and some people are going to be more nervous than others. If they were nervous in the first game, I’m sure they are going to be nervous in this one. The game itself is the game that is going to play out. If there is an advantage, I think it’s in the preparation leading up to the game and in dealing with some of the things that you have to deal with leading up to the game.” …Read More!

Podcast: Quarterback Mark Sanchez

From Tampa, Florida

Thanks to the folks at Gatorade, I got a chance to sit down and talk to Southern Cal quarterback Mark Sanchez. He’s rated either No. 1 or No. 2 among quarterbacks coming out of the college ranks this year and headed to the NFL.

So, it wasn’t a surprise that Sanchez asked me more questions than I asked him. He wanted to know all about the Chiefs and who the head coach was going to be. Sanchez met Tony Gonzalez for the first time on Thursday night in Tampa and got an earful from the Chiefs tight end as well.

I can tell you already that he’s a very polished young man when it comes to dealing with the media and the stuff that comes from being the in the spotlight quarterback. Very intelligent answers, well spoken and polite.

The kid has those tools to make it big.  The question the Chiefs and 31 other teams must address is whether he has the physical and mental tools to be a successful NFL quarterback.  That’s all coming up with the NFL Combine, workouts and then April’s NFL Draft.

My first question to Sanchez was whether he was prepared to start his career with a football team that will likely not be very good.  Here’s what he had to say:

Chiefs Free Agents

From Tampa, Florida

The NFL Players Association released an early “unofficial” list of players who will become unrestricted and restricted free agents this spring.

The list is called unofficial by the NFLPA because it does not include players who may have voided the final year of their contracts because of performance clauses.

The Chiefs list is very short. The following players will have the opportunity to become unrestricted free agents:

• DE Jason Babin
• LB Rocky Boiman
• S Oliver Celestin
• G Adrian Jones
• S Jon McGraw
• LB Pat Thomas

And, the following players can become restricted free agents. That limits their options when it comes to leaving Kansas City, if the Chiefs decide they want them back:

• C Rudy Niswanger
• S Jarrad Page (above)
• WR Jeff Webb

Jones and Thomas are the UFAs who were starters last year, although Babin and Boiman became starters because of injury. Among that group, the biggest contribution came from McGraw on special teams.

Among the restricted free agents, Niswanger and Page were starters.

Friday Morning Cup O’Super Bowl

From Tampa, Florida

It’s the Number One question asked of anybody from Kansas City walking the rain soaked streets of Tampa on Thursday: who’s going to be the Chiefs head coach?

The shoulders are sore from shrugging so much.

Scott Pioli works with a plan, and that plan apparently did not include the quick hiring of a head coach.

That’s OK if Pioli gets his man. What might make things tough is putting together a coaching staff that will help that man turn things around at Arrowhead Stadium. There have been a lot of coaching changes in the NFL and there have been a lot of good coaches on the street. There were certainly a lot more good coaches two weeks ago when Pioli was announced as the team’s new GM.

Unless this new head coach comes to Kansas City and we find out he’s already got his staff lined up, the Chiefs are going to be at a disadvantage.

This all was brought home to me on Thursday here in Tampa when I sat down to talk with Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians (right).

There are a lot of Chiefs fans who don’t know that the man who calls the plays for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was once a Chiefs assistant coach. BA was the running backs coach on Marty Schottenheimer’s staff for three seasons (1989-91). It was his first job in pro football; he’d just been fired as head coach at Temple University in Philadelphia.

When Schottenheimer was hired by Carl Peterson to come in and help turn the franchise around, he put together a staff that history shows was pretty remarkable.

“It was one of the best staffs I ever worked on,” Arians said. “I think our Super Bowl staff with Bill (Cowher in 2005) was comparable with ‘Whiz’ (Ken Whisenhunt) and Russ (Grimm), Dick Hoak, James Daniel and myself.

“But that staff in Kansas City was special.” …Read More!

Brush With the Boss

From Tampa, Florida

So there I am, hustling down a hallway at the Tampa Convention Center looking for the room where they are about to hold a press conference. Ahead of me is a security checkpoint and I can already see the frown on the face of the man guarding the entry point.

Just then, I hear a women’s voice off my right ear. “Sir, sir, could you take a picture for us?” she asked.

So I stop, take her camera, turn and take a picture of her standing with Bruce Springsteen.

The Boss was there, a few feet away. For more than the last 30 years, I’ve seen him in concert, some three dozen times and I’ve probably gotten no closer than maybe 75, 100 feet from him.

Now, here was the Boss, forcing a smile with some woman he just ran into and I don’t know if she’s more excited, or I am.

I snap the picture, hand over the camera and Springsteen looks at me and says “Thanks Brother.” Then he’s off down the hallway, headed for the Super Bowl Half-time Show Press Conference.

OK, now I’ve done about 25 of these Super Bowls over the years. Seen and met a lot of football superstars. Can’t remember 99 percent of those, but I will remember for a very long time my brush with the Boss.

Some observations: …Read More!

Beisel Staying Focused

From Tampa, Florida

Sunday will not be the first time Monty Beisel plays a Super Bowl.

It will be the first time he plays in the NFL’s official version of the championship game. But as a kid growing up on the flat playing fields of Kansas, Beisel played Super Bowl football every year.

“If the weather wasn’t too bad we’d be out there playing before the game,” Beisel said Thursday, during the Arizona Cardinals media period at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. “In my house, with football being such an important part of my family, Super Bowl Sunday was a holiday

“When the ball was kicked off, we were all in front of the television.”

They won’t be on Sunday. His parents and brothers will be sitting in Raymond James Stadium watching the Cardinals play the Pittsburgh Steelers for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. And No. 52 will be running down the field in his red jersey trying to create mayhem in the kicking game.

“I really haven’t thought about where I am right now,” Beisel said. “In the end, it’s another football game and that’s how we’ve tried to approach things this week. We are just getting ready for another game.”

That’s easy to say, but reality speaks otherwise. Beisel was saying this in a giant tent that was erected on a parking lot at the Grand Hyatt. It was filled with media folks running from table to table, chasing the latest Super Bowl scoop among the players and coaches. …Read More!

Thursday Super Quotations: Steelers

From Tampa, Florida

The Steelers last meeting with the media came in the Sun Dome, the basketball arena for the University of South Florida. These things usually happen at the hotel where the team is staying, but Pittsburgh is practicing at South Florida this week, so that’s where the press sessions went down.

Here’s some of the best of a pretty dry session, in what has been a pretty dry Super Bowl as far as inflammatory comments.

HEAD COACH MIKE TOMLIN, on how a tough schedule prepared the Steelers for the postseason:

“If it doesn’t kill you, it strengthens you. These games are fun; they are. I think our team learned a lot about ourselves in the midst of it. I think that we grew, and that’s what it’s about. When you are fortunate enough to win enough of those games, I think it prepares you for January football. I believe we have a team that doesn’t blink in the face of adversity, because we’ve had quite a bit and found ways to see our way through. It also provides opportunities for guys to step up and deliver, and you can’t create or get enough of those opportunities along the way in preparation for what we face on Sunday.”

TOMLIN, on his relationship with Tony Dungy:

“Specifically regarding Tony (Dungy) and what he’s meant to my growth and development as a coach, I learned many lessons from him, but probably more than anything, was just how accepting he was of people who he worked with – their different approaches – to teaching and conveying his message. His willingness to listen, his servant leadership capabilities – those are some of the key things that stand out having had an opportunity to work with him for a year.”

WR SANTONIO HOLMES, on the tradition of chasing rabbits in his hometown of Belle Glade, Florida:

“Growing up there, it was real tough. There weren’t many jobs or opportunities for jobs. If your parents are out working in the field, there is no opportunity for you to go out and find a job because you have to stay home and take care of your brothers and sisters. We didn’t have many opportunities to do things other than play football and chase rabbits. We did it because it helped us get money. Now, people are saying these guys are really fast because they chase rabbits. I never thought of it that way. Running in the muck, the soil that’s down there, it’s not like a football field. You have divots all over the ground that you have to maneuver through while you’re running. I think it strengthened my legs, but a lot of the guys that chased rabbits also ran track. That probably helped elevate their speed too.

“We probably caught between 40 and 80 rabbits a day, depending on how many come out of the field or how many people are chasing them at a time. If you’re there with two or three guys, you can catch that many in a day. We would go out around seven in the morning and not get home until 6:30 at night. That was our job, what we did to make money. Our parents didn’t have enough money to supply our needs. We wanted shoes and clothes, so we went out and did it on our own.” …Read More!

Thursday Super Quotations: Cardinals

Thursday is the final day where the media can get at the players. On Friday, only the head coaches will speak and no one will hear from the players until after Sunday’s game.

Here are some of the better comments coming out of the Cardinals session with the media on Thursday morning.

CARDINALS PRESIDENT MICHAEL BIDWELL, on what it means to him and his father, team owner Bill Bidwell, for the Cardinals to be in the Super Bowl:

“A year ago, we felt like we had a good team, and we hosted the game in Arizona. Dad and I had many conversations about how we feel like we’ve got the talent on the field that if we can keep everybody performing at the high level that they’re capable of, we have the chance to win any game. So if we do that, we stay focused, we get it done. So throughout this year, we had a great draft, we felt like we filled some holes in free agency, the players got their second year in the offseason training program. We felt we could really build on the 8-8 season that we had in 2007.

“Coming into training camp, Coach (Ken Whisenhunt) made some difficult decisions, including the decision to start Kurt Warner and other decisions including benching Edgerrin James. Those decisions turned out to be the right decisions. What we really did was made sure that the players knew they were going to be accountable to perform and to put in the work throughout the week and not make mistakes. He wasn’t afraid to bench somebody, and they understand that. That helps motivate them to play at a high level. And throughout the season, I realized that we had a chance to be a playoff team. I think everybody did. The question was how far we were going to go. I knew Coach wasn’t going to let us down. In the locker room after we were defeated in New England in Week 15 by a pretty large margin, he told me that he wouldn’t let this happen again, and we haven’t lost a game since then. He’s been really focused on keeping the players focused and keeping their foot to the metal.”

QB KURT WARNER, on the heaviness of his leadership responsibilities on the team:

“Pressure can be a big responsibility. There is no question in this position in the game of football, you are called upon to lead and a lot of pressure is formed. I think because of the way that I have carried my life and the things that I have stood for, there comes a little pressure and responsibility that come with that. The way I always look at it is I embrace it. I embrace the opportunity to have pressure. Somebody just told me about a week about, talking about the playoffs and getting to this point, and told me a story. The quote came across that pressure is a privilege, to understand that pressure is a privilege. I think that it is a great way to put it. It is great to be in this position. Now, things can go against you and you don’t perform and you don’t do something, there is a lot of the truth being in that position, but at the same time, you embrace the idea that ‘Hey, I am in a position to make a difference for my football team and I am in a position to change the world around me because of the platform I have been given.’ I realized that a long time ago that God put me in this place particularly, and I am going to try to grab hold of that responsibility. I’ll take all the responsibility that comes with it and I am going to try to live up to what God holds me to.” …Read More!

Monty Beisel on Scott Pioli

From Tampa, Florida

Former Chiefs linebacker Monty Beisel is enjoying the life as a member of a Super Bowl team. The Kansas native is one of the best special teams players on the Arizona Cardinals roster.

Beisel was a fourth-round choice of the Chiefs in the 2001 NFL Draft and spent four seasons with the team. He has spent the last three seasons with Arizona.

In between was a one-year stint with the New England Patriots and Beisel has a few things to say about former Pats executive-new Chiefs GM Scott Pioli.

“I think that’s a great move for the Chiefs,” Beisel said Thursday morning. “It’s a great, great move. They are getting a first class guy with him.”

Pioli was the guy who wanted to bring Beisel in as an unrestricted free agent in 2005.

“He was the guy who signed me and what I saw there for two years was he was always involved with the players,” Beisel said. “He was always talking with guys, checking up on them, finding out what was going on in their personal lives, stuff like that.

“In the off-season, you would go in and be working out and he would be on the next machine. You could be lifting weights and he would be lifting right next to you. He was always around and he made you feel like what was going on in your life was important, not just what was going on when it involved football.”

Beisel played the 2005 season with the Patriots, contributing 57 tackles in 15 games. He was released in New England’s final cut before the 2006 regular season.

“I enjoyed my time there,” Beisel said. “It’s a good atmosphere. I know Scott wasn’t the final word when it came to stuff, but there’s no doubt in my mind he’ll bring the same kind of attitudes to the Chiefs. ”

More with Beisel from the Super Bowl later today.

Herm Heads For Television

ESPN announced on Thursday that they have hired former Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards to appear on their network of stations as an NFL analyst.

Edwards will appear on the NFL Live and SportsCenter programs on ESPN, as well as programming on ESPNEWS and other football related shows throughout the year.  He will also do some work on ESPN Radio.

According to ESPN, he will join the network sometime in mid-February.

“Herm is well-liked and highly respected throughout the league, and his insights and opinions as a former coach will make a tremendous addition to our year-round NFL coverage,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, production.