Dorsey Has Talked With Jackson

From River Falls, Wisconsin

As last year’s first-round draft choice DE Glenn Dorsey missed the first day of training camp.

Dorsey signed the next day, missing two practices in all and there wasn’t anything that he missed that he didn’t have the opportunity to make up.

And Dorsey has been in contact with this year’s first-round selection DE Tyson Jackson. The former teammates at LSU have talked several times in the last week, as Jackson missed the start of camp on Friday.

“He wants to be here, but he’s got to take care of business,” Dorsey said Friday afternoon as he headed into the UW-River Falls cafeteria for lunch. “It was the same with me. I wanted to be here from the first day last year, but there are things you have to get done and it’s the time you do them.

“I told him the ropes, but he’s got to do what he’s got to do. I think he’ll be here pretty soon.” Read More..

Conditioning Test Over, Football Next

From River Falls, Wisconsin

The Chiefs had their dreaded conditioning test Friday morning on the practice field here at UW-River Falls and now the focus goes from conditioning to football.

“I thought as a whole it went very well,” said head coach Todd Haley. “It was about what I expected. There were some surprises both ways, but overall about what I expected. It’s a difficult portion of the physical and a whole I felt pretty good.”

Haley would not talk at all about those players who failed the conditioning test. The coach made the session off-limits to media and fans. He did indicate that a number of players will not be passed on the team physical for a number of reasons, and thus will be unable to practice Saturday morning. Read More..

On The Run … Friday Cup O’Chiefs

From River Falls, Wisconsin

Year-to-year, not much is different in this western Wisconsin burg.

The farm fields on the outskirts of town are green with corn and soybeans. Main Street looks like it did last year, and the year before that, and the year before … although there is a new Best Western Motel set to open downtown, right across the street from the campus of UW-River Falls.

It’s a very familiar setting for the Kansas City Chiefs, even though so many of them were seeing it for the first time. As the team arrived in River Falls late Thursday afternoon, there were 41 players, 10 assistant coaches, a GM, a head coach and an assistant GM seeing the town for the first time.

That’s why Dwayne Bowe led a bunch of rookies out to the Shop-Ko store on the edge of town so they could pick up a few items to brighten up their rooms in the South Fork Suites. Shop-Ko is a Wisconsin version of Target.

But Todd Haley wasn’t out shopping, or checking out the local watering holes, or hitting the local coffee shops. What he wants to see more than anything in River Falls comes down Friday morning.

“I want to see everybody pass the test,” Haley said. “But before that I want to see everybody make weight.” Read More..

Chiefs Arrive In River Falls

From River Falls, Wisconsin

The parade of four buses pulled onto the campus of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls just before 5 p.m. Thursday, as the Chiefs rolled into town for their 19th and supposedly last training camp here in the northwoods.

The players quietly strolled off the buses and into the George R. Field South Fork Suites dorm, their home away from home for the next three weeks.

One guy who was thrilled to be in the land of beer and cheese was head coach Todd Haley.

“I’m really, really excited,” said Haley, who may have been the only member of the traveling party that arrived in suit. “I’m really going to have to temper myself, just knowing me, to try and stay calm, knowing we can’t get it done in a day.

“I’m just really fired up. It’s an exciting time for me in my life.” Read More..

AFL Memories: The Texans First Game

This year, pro football is celebrating the creation of the American Football League some 50 seasons ago. Over the rest of the year, we will bring you some moments from the AFL’s history book

It was Mark Twain who once said that the coldest day he ever spent was a summer afternoon in San Francisco.

The Dallas Texans found that out on July 31, 1960 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

On a brisk 50-degree Sunday afternoon the Texans beat the Oakland Raiders 20-13 in front of a crowd estimated between 13,000 and 18,000 fans that were bundled up against the fog rolling in off the Pacific Ocean.

It was the first game in the history of Lamar Hunt’s franchise.

“There were a lot of ups and downs, but I’m just tickled to death to win,” head coach Hank Stram told reporters after the game. “I thought our guys showed a lot of poise after that terrible first quarter.”

The Texans had flown west out of their training camp in Roswell, New Mexico, where they had been practicing for several weeks. There was great excitement in their ranks as they crossed the Rocky Mountains and headed for the Bay Area; for most of the 49 players on that plane, it was their first professional football game.

The excitement certainly didn’t translate with the football fans of Oakland-San Francisco. There was no place available for the Raiders to play on the east side of San Francisco Bay, so they were forced to head to Kezar (above left), which at that time was 34 years old and already in some disrepair. The stadium was also the home of the 49ers and they had the advantage on playing dates. Read More..

Some Advice For Haley … Thursday Cup O’Chiefs

Around dinner time Thursday evening, Todd Haley will step off the bus and his boots will hit the ground for his first training camp as an NFL head coach.

As he walks a few shorts steps from the parking lot to the dorm that will house the Chiefs on the University of Wisconsin-River Falls campus, there will be all sorts of thoughts rolling through his head. I’m betting it’s been that way since just after July 4th, back when he was still on vacation with his family.

The first couple of weeks of being away from football were probably very relaxing for Haley. The pace of the 2008 season with the Cardinals going to the Super Bowl, and then his hiring a week later as Chiefs head coach, moving his family from Arizona, hiring a coaching staff, preparing for the NFL Draft; the last 12 months have been a whirlwind. Some time away was very necessary for him.

The morning after those fireworks filled the sky, I’m sure Haley started getting itchy for football again. Over the last three weeks, he’s been thinking about what’s ahead, trying to probe his memory for past camps, past situations he was part of during a dozen years as an NFL assistant.

Coaching staffs draw up scripts for practices and head coaches make schedules for workouts, meetings, training, etc.

But the head coach spends a lot of his time during a football season working off-script. Read More..

Position Overview: Quarterbacks

With this overview of the quarterbacks, we conclude our series on the Chiefs 2009 roster and the nine main position groups as the team begins training camp.

There is no question that when they hit the practice field on Saturday morning for the first workout of the 2009 season that the Chiefs now belong to Matt Cassel (left).

Trading a second-round pick was evidence alone, but there’s no doubt after his six-year, $63 million deal got done with the team.

Cassel is the present and future of the Chiefs offense and he can now go about the process of elevating his game and that of his teammates. Todd Haley can talk about competition for jobs, but barring injury there’s no question that Cassel will start the opener against Baltimore.

Tyler Thigpen can only continue to work and be ready. It’s a similar situation for Brodie Croyle as he tries to come back from his knee injury. If Croyle falters in any fashion because of his knee or rustiness then Ingle Martin is still around to grab an opportunity.

Here’s how the position breaks down: Read More..

Chiefs Ink Two Draft Picks, Another Is Close

The Chiefs have sliced their list of unsigned draft picks in half as they have reached deals with third-round DE Alex Magee and sixth-round WR Quinten Lawrence.

Still without contracts are first-round DE Tyson Jackson and fourth-round CB Donald Washington. A player must have a signed contract to participate in training camp.

Details on Magee’s deal are unknown, but Lawrence reportedly signed a three-year, $1.275 million deal with a signing bonus of $90,000.

It appears that they’ll have a deal done with Washington sometime today.

Position Review: Tight End

Until the start of training camp late next week, we will take a look at the Chiefs 2009 roster and break down the 80 players based on the nine position groups. We’ll also provide perspective on what each position has done in this decade of Chiefs football.

When the Chiefs traded Tony Gonzalez to the Atlanta Falcons back in April, they removed from their roster 916 catches, 10,940 receiving yards and 76 touchdown catches.

As they head to training camp, they have five tight ends on the roster, with three TEs that have played in the NFL. Combined that trio – Brad Cottam (right), Tony Curtis and Sean Ryan – have 20 starts in the league, with 30 catches for 218 yards and three TDs.

Gonzalez had those numbers before the end of his first season.

No NFL team builds an offense or even a passing game around a tight end. But over the last 10 years, Gonzalez was the most reliable receiver in the Chiefs offense year-after-year and the best security blanket available for the team’s quarterbacks.

He’s gone and there’s a big hole at tight end. None of the five on the roster has the skills or background to become the next Tony Gonzalez. That doesn’t mean they can’t make contributions and catch passes for the Chiefs offense in ‘09. They just have very big shoes to fill.

Here’s a look at the tight ends on the roster. Read More..

Favre Retires. Really? … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs

Our long national football nightmare is over.

Brett Favre is going to stay retired, fade off into the Mississippi sunset, never to be heard from again until five years from now when he makes his speech at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Yeah right.

If you believe that, I’ve got some land in Florida you might be interested in. There’s a little bit of water there, but overall it’s a great piece of property … if you have boots and don’t mind snakes.

Favre told the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday that he was going to stay retired and not try to come back to play another season. For the better part of the last two months, Favre and the Vikings have been dancing together, trying to figure out if they should get hitched or move on to other partners.

In the end, Favre decided not to go home with the Vikings. This time he did the smart thing and stayed retired.

At least for now; I put the over-under at August 1; that’s when it will become public that Favre is having second thoughts about this decision. We have not heard the last of Favre. He won’t go quietly and more importantly the media types won’t let him go without a few more shouts and reports. I think ESPN may have to lay off about a dozen people if they don’t have the Favre story to cover anymore. Read More..

Chiefs Release Connor Barth

So much for competition at the kicker position for the 2009 Chiefs.

The Chiefs announced early Tuesday evening that they have released second-year kicker Connor Barth.

Unless there’s another kicker that special teams guru Steve Hoffman has found to join the team, it looks like seventh-round draft choice Ryan Succop will be the Chiefs kicker for the ‘09 season.

Barth’s release also indicates the Chiefs are ready to conclude a deal with one of their four unsigned draft choices. After this move, the Chiefs have 81 players on their roster. Another player will have to be moved off the roster to bring the total to the NFL limit of 80 players under contract for the start of training camp on Friday. Players without contracts do not count against the roster limit.

Last season, Barth kicked in 10 games after he was brought back to replace Nick Novak in late October. He was 10 of 12 on field goals and hit all 24 of his PAT kicks. Barth was signed last year as a rookie free agent out of the University of North Carolina.

During the off-season work, Succop displayed a stronger leg, but Barth appeared to be more consistent in his accuracy. Obviously the coaching staff believes that Succop can be accurate enough to provide the help the team will need in scoring points.

AFL Memories: The Day Lamar’s Baby Was Introduced

This year, pro football is celebrating the creation of the American Football League some 50 seasons ago. Over the rest of the year, we will bring you some moments from the AFL’s history book.

It was a Congressional hearing of the kind that goes on hundreds of times each year in our nation’s Capital.

There was nothing on the hearing’s agenda that day indicating anything substantial was going to happen.

But on July 28, 1959 during testimony in front of a Senate judiciary anti-trust and monopoly sub-committee the existence of what would become the American Football League became public for the first time.

The sub-committee was meeting to discuss different bills that had been introduced by Senators C. Estes Kefauver (D-TN), Kenneth B. Keating (R-NY), Everett M. Dirksen (R-IL) and Thomas C. Hennings (D-MO). The bills were designed to provide certain exemptions for professional sports teams to anti-trust laws.

Giving testimony on this Tuesday morning was NFL Commissioner Bert Bell (left). Here’s how it was reported the next day by the New York Times:

“Bert Bell, the Commissioner of the National Football League announced today the imminent formation of a new professional football League. He said the sponsors of the new league planned to field teams in six cities, probably including New York, in the 1960-61 season. He said that the owners of the new circuit intended to expand to at least eight and possibly twelve teams in subsequent years. The league, at least initially will operate independently of the existing twelve-team National Football League, but definitely not as an “outlaw” to organized football according to Bell.” Read More..

Position Overview: Special Teams

Until the start of training camp late next week, we will take a look at the Chiefs 2009 roster and break down the 80 players based on the nine position groups. We’ll also provide perspective on what each position has done in this decade of Chiefs football.

With the exception of punter Dustin Colquitt (right) and coverage man Jon McGraw, the Chiefs special teams struggled during the 2008 season. Snapper, kicker, returner … they all left much to be desired in helping the Chiefs win games.

Thus, the 2-14 record thanks to one of the worst FG percentages in the league and no returns for touchdowns, something the Chiefs haven’t seen at all since the 2006 season.

For any chance to turn around the team’s record this season, Todd Haley and his coaching staff must come up with more plays out of the kicking game. They must get consistent kicking, consistent coverage and some spark in the return game.

But do they have the players to get those things done?

Here’s the breakdown of the key positions in the kicking game. Read More..

The Next Move For Vick … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

On Monday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell tried to split the loaf with the Michael Vick case.

He conditionally reinstated the quarterback, while keeping him suspended for what could be the first six weeks of the NFL regular season. That suspension could be much shorter.

It was a victory for Vick because it provided the former NFL icon with a timeline for his return to the game and allows him to sign with any team in the league right now. He could be in an NFL training camp tomorrow if he found a willing partner to sign him.

But it was also victory for all those who think Vick has not yet paid his debt to society for his reprehensible actions involving dog fighting and lying to cover up his actions. There’s now more that Vick must go through to earn back the privilege of playing professional football.

If everybody feels like they got something out of the deal, or did not get everything they wanted, then it’s probably a good compromise.

But it was certainly a compromise. Read More..

It’s Camp Week … Monday Cup O’Chiefs

It’s the beginning of one of the biggest weeks on the football calendar.

By this time next week, all 32 training camps in the National Football League will be up and running and football will be in the air.

The Chiefs will hit the road to Wisconsin on Thursday for the start of their 19th and likely final training camp in the north woods. If all construction goes as planned, they’ll be at Missouri Western University next year in St. Joseph.

Most of the team’s equipment has already made the trip to River Falls, including training machines, computers, pads, tape, Gatorade and a thousand other items. Picking up a football operation and moving 500 miles is not something that gets done in one afternoon.

On Monday, Todd Haley and his coaching staff will be back in the Chiefs offices and preparing for the start of practices on Saturday.

The work that must get done before the team heads north is up to Scott Pioli and his group in getting the final four draft choices signed to contracts.

Still sitting out there is No. 1 pick DE Tyson Jackson, third-rounder DE Alex Magee, fourth-round CB Donald Washington and sixth-round WR Quinten Lawrence. Read More..