What they are saying in Indy – Volume 3

New York Giants co-owner John Mara (left) and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

It was Super Bowl Media Day on Tuesday in Indianapolis, a one-day orgy of football and the media horde meeting head-to-head in a battle of banalties and ridiculous questions. There was plenty to say and here are some of the better comments.

Giants co-owner John Mara – “I look at the other successful franchises in this league – the Patriots, the Steelers, Green Bay, Baltimore – that’s what they have, they have stability. They don’t make big changes every year. You try to get the right people in place and you try to let them do their jobs and then you try to have some sense of stability. There’s enough turnover in this league as it is and if you can keep your key people in place and have some confidence to let them do their jobs and ride out the ups and downs, then I think you have a chance to be successful. If you start making impulsive changes, I think that’s recipe for disaster. We’ve tried to avoid that.”

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“There’s enough turnover in this league as it is and if you can keep your key people in place and have some confidence to let them do their jobs and ride out the ups and downs, then I think you have a chance to be successful. If you start making impulsive changes, I think that’s recipe for disaster.” Giants co-owner John Mara

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…Read More!

Dominoes Start to Fall … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

It’s always part of the collateral damage when a football team decides to change head coaches.

The top man is only the first domino. When he gets knocked over, it knocks down other dominos on the coaching staff, and even into other areas of football operations. No head coach has been asked to leave without others joining him.

That process with the Chiefs started becoming public on Monday, as the hiring of a new special teams coach was announced. Tom McMahon joins the team after three seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. Kansas City is the third stop in the NFL for the Montana native, starting in Atlanta and moving on to St. Louis.

That McMahon was hired means that someone else was fired, and that was the Chiefs special teams coach of the last three years, Steve Hoffman. That happened right after Crennel was named the team’s head coach and he started talking with members of the staff. Hoffman was asked to stay with the team and coach only the kickers, but he decided against that choice and the serious pay cut.

That’s too bad for the Chiefs because Hoffman’s work with kickers and punters has always been top shelf in the NFL during his time with Dallas, Atlanta, Miami and Kansas City. In those earlier stops he worked only with the punter and kicker. When he was hired by the Chiefs, Hoffman was given the entire special teams package to coach. …Read More!

What they are saying in Indy – Volume 2

Giants QB Eli Manning (right) on a moment from their childhood where big brother Peyton picked on him – “His most popular move, he would pin me down and take his knuckles and knock on my chest and make me name the 12 schools in the SEC (Southeastern Conference). I didn’t know them all at the time, but I quickly learned them. I don’t suggest anyone else try it out, but it definitely made me learn the schools of the SEC. Once I figured those out, he moved on. There were 28 teams in the NFL at that point, so all teams in the NFL. I had to get my studying on for that. Then once I figured that out – the one I never got was the 10 brands of cigarettes. When he really wanted to torture me and knew I had no shot of ever getting it, that’s when I just started screaming for my mom or dad to come save me, or maybe Cooper. That was his go-to move.”

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on the business of coaching – “Honestly, as a head coach of a professional football team, you make hundreds of decisions every day. I can’t talk to everyone on the team and sit down to have a long conversation with them. Some guys you talk to, some guys you don’t. You can say things one way, and you can say them a different way. You make decisions on strategy, make decisions on personnel, make decisions on motivation and practice reps – all of those kinds of things. There are a lot of things on a daily basis that as the head coach, you are involved in. People come to you and say, ‘How do you want to do it, this way, or that way? Do you have a feeling on this?’ You can make a decision to turn it over to them. Whatever you think is best, that’s what you do, or you can say, ‘I prefer A over B, C over D.’ It’s not just one thing. There are a lot of different elements to it.” …Read More!

Chiefs Have New Special Teams Coach

The moves that Romeo Crennel is making with his coaching staff are starting to become public, the first came Monday afternoon when Tom McMahon was named the team’s special teams coach.

He replaces Steve Hoffman, who held the post for the last three seasons and was not retained by the organization. The Chiefs wanted to keep Hoffman to coach only the kickers, but he declined that opportunity in Kansas City.

McMahon has spent the past three seasons in St. Louis with the Rams. He’s a native of Montana and began his coaching career in 1992 at his alma mater Carroll College. Thanks to his association with the Petrino coaching family, he moved up the ladder in the profession. McMahon played college football and spent two years coaching for Bob Petrino at Carroll. He later moved to Utah State where he worked for Paul Petrino over 11 years.

It was on to Louisville where he hooked up with Bob Petrino’s other coaching son Bobby Petrino, following him to Atlanta. He spent two seasons on the Falcons staff before landing with the Rams and head coach Steve Spagnuolo’s staff in 2009.

The Chiefs also announced that they have not retained WR coach Richie Anderson and assistant offensive line coach Pat Perles. Still no word on offense coordinator from Crennel.

What they are saying in Indy – Volume 1

The New England Patriots were the first team to arrive in Indianapolis for Super Bowl 46. Here are some of their comments upon arrival.

QB Tom Brady on being in Indianapolis – “It’s great to be in Indy. We drove by Lucas Oil Stadium on the way in, and you see Dwight Freeney’s picture up there, and to come to Indianapolis and not play him is definitely a relief for me. He’s terrorized me for a long time. Regardless of where you play, the Super Bowl is an incredible experience. I’ve been very fortunate in my career that it’s my fifth time. You try to communicate to the younger players how special it is to be here because you do really never know when you’re going to come back. That’s what makes for a fun week.”

Brady on the evolution of head coach Bill Belichick – “I think those jokes that he tells the team I’ve probably heard 20 times. He’s very consistent as a coach. I think he expects and demands that we’re always at our best, and I’d say that he coaches me the same way that he coached me the day that I got here. On our team there really is no separate treatment for different players. The rookies are expected to perform and act the same as the veteran guys. It’s great as a player on our team, because on our team you really don’t have to hold the other players accountable because the head coach does it. …Read More!

Bowl Week Grab Bag … Monday Cup O’Chiefs

There’s been a lot of material jumping off the pages of my notebook that involve a lot of bowl game action and other stuff.

THIS JUST IN: THE PRO BOWL IS A JOKE

Obviously, this does not qualify as breaking news. Everyone around pro football, from fans to owners, has known for some time that the annual Pro Bowl is the least satisfying performance each year. That they actually charge money and people actually pay money to be in the stadium to watch this trash is just short of grand larceny.

But the game they played Sunday night in Hawaii was the worst, the absolute worst. There may be more action physically at the 2012 NFL Draft than what the NFC and AFC teams showed. It was so bad that fans at Aloha Stadium starting booing the NFC team on its first possession. In essence, it’s football patty-cake.

The league has tried to change things a bit. They moved the game to before the Super Bowl, rather than after. They pulled the game out of Hawaii for two years, playing in Miami and Dallas before Super Bowls were played there. They have become far stricter when it comes to players that pull out of the game, supposedly because of injury.

I’m here to present a far greater change, one the NFL can even use to involve the fans more and put a bit more real football into the game. …Read More!

It’s Official – Emery New GM of Bears

The Chiefs director of college scouting Phil Emery was named the new general manager of the Chicago Bears on Saturday.

Emery’s hiring comes less than 24 hours after a day-long interview session at Bears headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois. That was the second interview Emery had with Bears management, led by team president Ted Phillips.

The job had come down to Emery and New England’s director of pro personnel Jason Licht.

The Bears needed a new GM after ownership fired GM Jerry Angelo in the days after the completion of the 2011 season.

Emery is a 15-year NFL veteran who joined the Chiefs after the 2009 NFL Draft, coming over from the Atlanta Falcons. He also previously worked for the Bears as an area scout seven years.

He’s respected around the league for his work ethic and attention to detail in scouting players. His departure is a bad loss for the Chiefs personnel department.

In his new position, Emery has one mandate from management: close the talent gap with Green Bay and Detroit in the NFC North. Another part of the job was being able to work well with Smith, an area where Emery was thought to have the edge because of his previous ties with the Bears.

Emery inherits a team that could use help on both lines, in the secondary and at wide receiver. RB Matt Forte’s rookie contract is up, and Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs has made it clear he wants to renegotiate even though his six-year deal runs through 2013. Also part of what he takes over is a franchise QB in Jay Cutler along with stars such as Forte, Briggs, DE Julius Peppers, LB Brian Urlacher and kicker returner Devin Hester.

Senior Bowl Leftovers … Saturday Cup O’Chiefs

Saturday afternoon the Senior Bowl will kickoff at 2 o’clock in Mobile, Alabama at Ladd-Pebbles Stadium.

Too bad that the television broadcast is only on the NFL Network, because this is the one all-star game that history shows has the best players and the best performances. Last year, 83 of the players in the game were drafted and all 100-plus ended up going to an NFL training camp.

In three seasons, Chiefs GM Scott Pioli has drafted 24 players. Four of those were players that had eligibility remaining and did not participate in the Senior Bowl. Of the other 20, nine took part in the game, including eight in the last two seasons. When the Senior Bowl selected its all-time team for its 50th game a decade ago that group included LB Derrick Thomas, CB Albert Lewis and CB Dale Carter.

Here’s the roster for the North squad, and here are the players for the South team. There’s a good chance several Chiefs draft choices are on those lists. …Read More!

Tamba Enjoys Fun In The Sun

The 2011 season was one of great disappointment for the Chiefs, so it’s nice to see at least a few of them honored for their play and getting some time in the sun at the Pro Bowl.

That’s Tamba Hali above, taking part in Friday’s AFC team practice in Honolulu. Somewhere to his left is teammate Derrick Johnson. They are the only two members of the Chiefs that got their ticket punched for this year’s all-star game.

Both teams practiced at what they call Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on the island of Oahu.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CST on Sunday and can be seen on NBC.

Chiefs Hire New PR Guy

The Chiefs announced late Friday afternoon that they’ve hired Ted Crews (right) as the team’s vice-president of communications.

Crews joined the Chiefs after spending three years (2009-11) with the St. Louis Rams, where he was the team’s Senior Director of Communications. Before that he spent four years with the Atlanta Falcons (2005-08) as Manager of Football Communications. He broke into the league with the Carolina Panthers where he spent five years in the public-media relations department (2000-04).

A 1999 graduate of South Carolina State University, Crews worked in the school’s sports information office during his time as an undergraduate.

In another public relations department move unrelated to the hiring of Crews, long-time Manager of Football Information Brad Kuhbander (left) has turned in his two-week notice and will leave the Chiefs next week. The Hamler, Ohio native joined the team in 2001 after working at both the University of Florida and the sports information office of his alma mater Baldwin-Wallace College in Cleveland. He was the longest tenured person in the team’s PR department with 11 years of employment. Actually, at 11 years he was one of the most veteran club employees in the building.

Kuhbander has taken a position with the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Best of 2012 Senior Bowl … Friday Cup O’Chiefs

That’s DL Melvin Ingram going against OL Jeff Allen during a Super Bowl practice this week.

From Mobile, Alabama

There was a lot of rain, a lot of rumors, a lot of coaching types looking for jobs. And, there was a lot of football as over 100 players prepared for Saturday’s Senior Bowl.

After spending the week watching the North and South squads practice there were some players that simply stood out above the others. It does not mean they will be better NFL players or should be drafted at a higher position.

It just means that this last week their performance rose above their peers.

Here’s my All-Senior Bowl team for 2012.

• Quarterback (South) – Brandon Weeden, Oklahoma State
  

The 27-year old former minor league baseball player seemed to adjust quicker to the conditions of Senior Bowl week than the other quarterbacks. He found out he had to get rid of the ball quickly, because pass protection is very shaky in all-star games where the big boys upfront have no history of playing together. He showed a good arm on deep balls, but really excelled at more short and underneath stuff. If Weeden can put together a good game performance, then Senior Bowl week will have helped his draft stock. Other QBs worthy of mention – none. …Read More!

One-on-One At Senior Bowl … Thursday Cup O’Chiefs

From Mobile, Alabama

Here’s one of the great things about Senior Bowl week – with NFL coaching staffs handling the coaching duties for each of the squads, they tend to gear their practices towards drills and actions that personnel types want to see.

Even media types.

“Coach, tomorrow in practice could you give us as many one-on-ones between DE Quinton Coples and LT Cordy Glenn as you can? We’d like to see more of that,” was the request from a member of the media to South head coach Mike Shanahan.

Shanahan smiled and quickly answered “That’s one thing I can make happen. We’ll get that done.”

Shanahan was true to his word Wednesday afternoon as his South squad got its last heavy work day completed in preparation for Saturday afternoon’s Senior Bowl. There was an extended pass protection/pass rush session and by the time it was over highly-touted talents Coples from North Carolina and Glenn from Georgia had five snaps going head-to-head. …Read More!

On Romeo’s Staff, Emery’s Status

North coach Leslie Frazier of the Vikings gave his team instructions this week for Saturday’s Senior Bowl.

From Mobile, Alabama

The majority of the Chiefs contingent hit the road out of town on Wednesday, heading for the airport and flying back to Kansas City and other locations.

But on Wednesday, director of college scouting Phil Emery was on the field after practice in the morning and he was wearing a shirt with a Chiefs logo. Emery is reportedly one of two finalists for the GM job with the Chicago Bears.

Emery along with New England’s director of pro personnel Jason Licht will have second interviews with Chicago management on Thursday and Friday, reportedly in the Windy City.

While head coach Romeo Crennel says the Chiefs are waiting for a few things to fall into place before finalizing his coaching staff, the question came up – how many coaches are being hired, and thus how many coaches are being let go?

During the Senior Bowl week there were plenty of Chiefs assistant coaches in the stands watching the workouts. Seen at Ladd-Peebles Stadium from the offensive side of the staff Bill Muir, Maurice Carthon, Bernie Parmalee and Jim Zorn. Defensive coaches in the house were Gary Gibbs, Otis Smith, Emmitt Thomas, Anthony Pleasant and Adam Zimmer. All seemed to be wearing their Chiefs gear.

There were four assistants who were not seen: special teams coach Steve Hoffman, offensive assistant Nick Sirianni, wide receivers coach Richie Anderson and assistant offensive line coach Pat Perles.

That does not mean they were not there – the Senior Bowl brings over 800 NFL club employees to town and they could have gone unnoticed. However, people were looking for them.

“Waiting For Some Things To Fall Into Place”

From Mobile, Alabama

Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel was one of the last NFL types to leave Ladd-Pebbles Stadium Wednesday morning after watching the North squad practice in preparation for Saturday’s Senior Bowl.

Crennel sits about midway up the west side grandstand and generally waits until most of the crowd has cleared out. This cuts down his time being buttonholed by coaches looking for jobs, other NFL types trying to find out who he’s considering and the media.

The Chiefs head man has a coaching staff to finalize.

“We are making progress,” Crennel said Wednesday. “We are getting closer.”

Does closer mean this week, next week, the week after?

“We are waiting for some things to fall into place,” Crennel said.

Of course, the head coach wouldn’t detail just what “some things” were. When asked if he was waiting for the completion of the Super Bowl to move forward, Crennel smiled widely and said “I didn’t say that.”

Crennel was wearing sun glasses so there is no way to speculate whether he might have winked as he smiled about the question involving the Super Bowl. The lack of public action on an offensive coordinator and possibly other spots on his staff tells us one of two things – first, the candidate is still coaching (Super Bowl teams New England and the New York Giants) or second, the candidate is still waiting to see how Tampa Bay, Oakland and Indianapolis fill their head coaching vacancies.

The Raiders reportedly have hired Broncos defensive coordinator Jeff Allen as their new head coach, but the club has not confirmed that news as of lunchtime on Wednesday.

As head coach, Crennel’s time has been spent not only working on his coaching staff, but here in Mobile watching and talking with players. Most teams go well past midnight early in the week interviewing players for 20 to 30 minutes. There’s more time for the interviews at the Senior Bowl than there will be at the NFL Combine in late February.

“There’s a lot going on,” Crennel said with a laugh as he walked to his car. “And I can only blame myself.”

Sitting and Watching At The Pro Bowl

From Mobile, Alabama

That’s Chiefs GM Scott Pioli and head coach Romeo Crennel in conversation during a practice at Ladd-Pebbles Stadium in preparation for the Senior Bowl. Sitting to the right of Crennel is tight ends coach Bernie Parmalee.

Action Everywhere … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs

From Mobile, Alabama

Over 100 players to watch on the field, over 800 faces to scan on the sidelines and in the stands – who is that talking with Romeo Crennel up in the bleachers? – Tuesday is always one of the best days at the Senior Bowl.

There was action everywhere at this annual winter convention for NFL movers and shakers, along with the GMs, coaches and personnel types. Twice the crowd gathered at Ladd-Peebles Stadium as the north and south squads practiced in full pads.

Some watched the players intently as the level of competition picked up between the college seniors. Others sat and passed about information off the NFL grapevine on who was going to become the Chicago Bears new GM, who had a shot at th e GM’s job in St. Louis. There are still three head coaching jobs open and that’s brought the assistant coaching world to a halt. Other coaches like Crennel are still trying to fill out their staffs.

Al Saunders and Kevin Ross were on site in their silver and black gear from the Raiders. Oakland has a new GM, but not a head coach. There are several weeks to go on their contracts so Saunders and Ross are in Mobile, looking at players and waiting. “You just keep showing up for work until they tell you not too,” said Saunders.

The work on the field was pretty intense. Here’s what we saw. …Read More!

Muir Plans To Coach In 2012

From Mobile, Alabama

Just a few days after the 2011 season ended, one of the “in-the-know” guys working for the NFL Network wrote that Bill Muir was going to retire.

That’s news to the 69-year old Bill Muir.

“Nobody talked to me,” Muir said Tuesday afternoon at the South squad’s practice session for the Senior Bowl.

“I’m planning to coach, until somebody tells me differently.”

Muir was reticent to say much more about the situation with Romeo Crennel’s coaching staff. He did acknowledge that he’s been told he will not be the offensive coordinator, but Crennel would like him to stay and coach the offensive line.

“It’s just of those things,” said Muir, who has 47 years in coaching and 34 seasons in the NFL. “You go on every day and wait for them to tell you how we are going to move forward or if we are separating. It happens a lot in football.”

For the record coach, you want to continue to coach?  “Yes” Muir said.

Do you want to stay with the Chiefs as offensive line coach?  “Yes.”

Do you have a problem being just O-Line coach and not offensive coordinator?  “No.”

Emery’s Not Gone … Yet

From Mobile, Alabama

Phil Emery, the Chiefs director of college scouting, walked onto the field at Ladd Pebbles Stadium after the North squad’s workout Tuesday morning wearing a Chiefs sweatshirt and jacket.

Somebody asked him if he had been hired yet as general manager of the Chicago Bears; he’s one of the finalists for that job.

Emery smiled and pointed to his chest, where in big block letters it read “Kansas City Chiefs”.

UPDATE: Emery was at Tuesday afternoon’s workout for the South squad still wearing his Chiefs sweatshirt.

I know it’s hard for Chiefs fans to get worked up about whether Emery will stay with the Chiefs or move up the football front-office ladder to take over the Bears. Since he joined the team in the spring of 2009, Emery’s not done a single interview with any Kansas City media organization, save the team’s own website.

Without question 99.99 percent of Chiefs fans couldn’t pick him out of a police lineup. But that has more to do with the secrecy and paranoia of how GM Scott Pioli runs the football-side of the business than it does with Emery’s talents and worth to the Chiefs organization.

With personnel types all over Mobile this week for the Senior Bowl, the GM job in Chicago job ranks No. 1 or 2 among gossip items with scouts, coaches and other GMs. Few are surprised that Emery is a finalist for the job. …Read More!

Soggy Start … Tuesday Morning Cup O’Chiefs

From Fairhope, Alabama

The security guards and local authorities started scrambling around 4 o’clock Monday afternoon at Fairhope Stadium here across the bay from Mobile.

Two black Denalis were trying to drive onto the stadium’s track and nobody was quite sure what to do. The South squad for this weekend’s Senior Bowl was practicing on the soggy natural grass field and the stands were filled with local fans and hundreds of NFL types.

Finally, a gate was opened and the big SUVs pulled inside the gate. The doors opened, several Alabama troopers got out of one car and emerging from the other car to the cheers of the fans in attendance was Nick Saban, coach of the national champion Alabama Crimson Tide. That’s him shaking hands with one of his former players Courtney Upshaw after practice.

Saban did everything but walk on water across the huge puddles left by a serious thunderstorm Monday that kicked off Senior Bowl week. Saban waved to the crowd as he hustled over to do some sort of television interview.

There were five former members of Saban’s 2011 team on the field, getting in their first practice with the Washington Redskins coaching staff and head man Mike Shanahan.

“It was a pretty normal first day,” Shanahan said after the two-hour session wrapped up. “It’s just about making sure you are at the right field, then the right place on the field. You’ve got to crawl before you can walk.” …Read More!

Day No. 2 At The Senior Bowl

From Mobile, Alabama

After parading in front of the NFL in only their skivvies, the participants in the 2012 Senior Bowl got on the field for their first practices of the week leading up to Saturday’s game.

Both the North team working in Mobile and the South team holding practice across the bay in Fairhope had to deal with very soggy fields as Mother Nature dumped several inches of rain on the area Monday morning.

Before they got in their shoulder pads for the first time, the players went through the process of being measure and weighed. It’s an hour-long process that takes place in a ballroom at the Mobile Convention Center. Wearing only their shorts, the players come into the room in front of something like 800 NFL people and media types. They walk up to a stage, are measured for height, then they step on a scale. Their personal numbers are announced so everyone in the room hears them.

Much as anyone would see on a summer day at the beach or swimming pool, there are all kind of different body types parading past. There are small players and tall players, skinny players and fat players. Some look like they could take part in a body building contest, others look like they have been training at the corner bar by lifting large glasses of beer. Show up out of shape and there’s no way a player can hold his gut in long enough so that the league’s prying eyes don’t notice.

The big one award went to Ohio State OT Mike Adams at 6-feet, 7 inches. The tiny guy was Alabama WR Marquis Maze who was measured at 5 inches, 7¾ inches. The heaviest player is OT Cordy Glenn of Georgia at 346 pounds. The lightest player was Houston WR Patrick Edwards at 168 pounds. …Read More!

A Man To Remember and Honor… Monday Cup O’Chiefs

From Mobile, Alabama

Much has been written and said about the life of Joe Paterno since Sunday morning when he passed away in State College, Pennsylvania.

There is so much to say about Joe Pa; 85 years of living, 61 years at Penn State and 46 years as head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions – it’s quite a legacy.

And there’s the last four months of gut wrenching pain and anger over the Jerry Sandusky situation that ended up costing Paterno his job and quite possibly cut short his life.

Should you be looking for an indictment of Paterno, his life and actions, then move along because it’s not going to come here. As heinous as the Sandusky case was, is and will be, it does not wipe away the good things that Joe Paterno did in his life.

I’m not talking about the millions that he and his wife gave to Penn State. I’m not talking about the record number of 409 victories, or the national championships or the conference titles.

If you want to know the greatness of the man and coach, one need simply look at the young men who played football for him.

No other college coach had more players that spent time on the Chiefs roster than Joe Paterno. …Read More!

It’s Patriots vs. Giants Super Bowl Repeat

Lawrence Tynes did it again and he’s going back to the Super Bowl.

Brian Waters is going too, for the first time in his career.

It’s the New England Patriots and the New York Giants headed for Super Bowl 46 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in two weeks. It’s a repeat of Super Bowl 42, four years ago in Arizona when the Giants stopped the Patriots unbeaten season with an upset victory in the Super Bowl.

Tynes’ 31-yard field in overtime gave the Giants their 20-17 victory. It’s a repeat of what Tynes did four years ago in Green Bay when his FG ended that NFC Championship Game and sent them to the title game against the Patriots.

After a dozen years in the league, Waters gets his first trip to the Super Bowl in his first season with the Patriots. Released by the Chiefs in late July, Waters sat out the pre-season and then signed with New England for the opening week of the season.

It all paid off for him and the rest of the Patriots with a 23-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.

“I’m overjoyed,” Waters said after the game. “This is an unbelievable deal.  This is probably the most excited I have been in a long time, since the birth of my children probably.  God knows this has been unbelievable and I have been truly blessed.  I appreciate my teammates and these guys welcomed me here and just gave me an opportunity to do something special.”

NFL Lands In Mobile For Senior Bowl Week

From Mobile, Alabama

It’s the NFL coaching and scouting annual convention. That would be Senior Bowl week here in the lovely city of Mobile.

Arriving NFL types were greeted by fog and muggy conditions, but the temperature was in the mid 70s, so for many of those league types from up north it felt very good. (Same for internet hacks, by the way!)

There will be some 800 NFL personnel credentialed for the week of practices and meetings. Few will stay for Saturday’s game, as they’ll leave town after Thursday’s practices.

That group of 800 would include general managers, head coaches, coordinators, assistant coaches, position coaches, player personnel department types and various others that have a stake in evaluating and selecting talent for the 32 NFL teams.

Ground Zero for Senior Bowl week is the Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel and the adjoining Mobile Convention Center. Players were to report by dinner time Sunday night where they will find out if they are working with the staff of the Washington Redskins led by head coach Mike Shanahan or the staff of the Minnesota Vikings, led by head coach Leslie Frazier.

Here’s a list of the players that will take part in the game. We’ll have more detailed information on what teams they are working with on Monday. That’s the day the players will be measured and weighed and when they will hold their first practices.

Only one local player identified through Sunday evening as taking part in the Senior Bowl.

• Tight end Michael Egnew, 6-6, 245 pounds, Missouri
  

A consensus All-America tight end as a junior, Egnew’s senior season did not live up to expectations as he caught 50 passes for 523 yards and 3 TDs. He had only one breakout game, when he caught 6 passes for 105 yards against Iowa State. Over his career with the Tigers, Egnew caught 147 passes for 1,285 yards and 8 TDs. He earned his bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management in December, finishing his course work in 3.5 years.

All-Star Games Set For Saturday

For any fans that have access to the NFL Network and the new NBC Sports Network, they can get a jump on the 2012 NFL Draft by watching a pair of post-season all-star games on Saturday.

At 3 o’clock Saturday afternoon on the NFL Network is the East-West Shrine Game, the granddaddy of all-star affairs. It’s being played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

At 5 o’clock Saturday on the NBC Sports Network (used to be Versus) is the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl from Carson, California. This is a first-year game begun by the NFL players union. Coaching one of the teams there will be former Chiefs head coach Dick Vermeil. The other head coach is former Raiders head coach and Chiefs QB Tom Flores.

And there are a host of former Chiefs players and coaches taking part in the NFLPA game and serving on the staffs of Vermeil and Flores: Martin Bayless, Billy Long, Steve Ortmayer, Tony Richardson, John Bunting, Ray Crockett, Carl Hairston, Eric Hicks, Priest Holmes, Terry Shea, Bob Saunders and Will Shields.

When it comes to draftable players, the Shrine Game has it all over the NFLPA game. Here are the rosters that will play in St. Petersburg and here’s the link to rosters for the teams that will play in Carson.

Among the local schools there are four players participating in the Shrine Game and two in the NFLPA game. Here’s a look at those players: …Read More!

Lessons of Final 4 … Weekend Cup O’Championships

Until a team holds the Lombardi Trophy above its head there are lessons the 31 other teams can learn from the winner. Sometimes the lessons are subtle and not really visible to the naked football eye. Other times, it’s something more obvious that explains their rise to the top of the league.

It’s Final Four weekend in the NFL as the 32 teams have been chopped to just four – Baltimore and New England in the AFC and the New York Giants and San Francisco in the NFC.

There’s much that teams like the Chiefs can learn while they are sitting at home and watching on the telly. A lot of lessons are not groundbreaking insights, but rather re-confirmation of tried and true methods in the game.

From this year’s Final Four here are some valuable reminders for any player, coach or team owner about of how a team on the outside can get closer to that Super Bowl championship. …Read More!

Record Number of Early Entrants For 2012 NFL Draft

The applications of 65 players have been accepted for early entry into the 2012 NFL Draft.

Heisman Trophy winner QB Robert Griffin III of Baylor and Stanford QB Andrew Luck top the list of young men who are leaving school with eligibility remaining. Under NFL rules, a player can move into the league through the annual Draft or as a free agent when he’s three years removed from high school. At this point, any player who left high school with the Class of 2009 can attempt to play in the league.

Running backs topped the list with 13, including Alabama’s Trent Richardson and LaMichael James of Oregon. Also in that group is Wichita native Bryce Brown (right), who played briefly at both Tennessee and Kansas State.

The 65 players gaining early entry this year topped the previous record of 56 set last season.

The 2012 NFL Draft begins on Thursday, April 26 at 7 p.m. CDT with the first round. The next day, it’s the second and third rounds starting at 6 p.m. CDT with the rest of the draft on Saturday, April 28 starting at 11 a.m.

Over the coming weekend, we will provide more details on these 65 players, since most of them have not been on the draft radar for the last year. Here are the early entrants: …Read More!

Rookies Pay For Paranoia … Thursday Cup O’Chiefs

So the two men that were supposed to be working together to help return the Chiefs to prominence in the NFL didn’t get along. Stuff like that happens in all sorts of businesses. They parted ways and the Chiefs have moved on.

Oh, if it were only that easy.

The ramifications from the dysfunctional relationship that grew between GM Scott Pioli and former head coach Todd Haley can be seen in the autopsy of the 2011 Chiefs season. Pioli’s behind the scenes campaign against his head coach not only kept both men from being on the same page; at the end they weren’t even working off the same book.

Wonder why Tyler Palko was the starting quarterback after Matt Cassel was lost for the season? What choice did Haley have? Ricky Stanzi was even less prepared for the role than Palko, but in some situations a head coach would have put the rookie on the field. But Haley couldn’t afford to do that. He knew Pioli along with team chairman Clark Hunt were looking for any reason to fire him. He thought Palko presented a better opportunity to win than Stanzi. …Read More!

Rookie/Draft Review 2011 – Monday Cup O’Chiefs

As they closed out the 2011 season, the Chiefs had 69 players under their control.

Among that number were 14 rookies, or 20.3 percent of the roster. But only five of those 14 rookies got a chance to play in the regular season, so the rookie class of ’11 remains largely an unknown in the building of the franchise. That’s too bad because given the holes in the roster some among those nine other rookies might have been able to stabilize his position, whether in the season just completed or the next one.

Opportunities were wasted, best exemplified by first-round draft pick Jonathan Baldwin who hampered his own development when he got into a locker room fight with Thomas Jones and ended up missing two months of pass catching. Other rookies took advantage of their opportunities, none more so than OLB Justin Houston. The third-round choice took time getting his feet under him, but by the end of the season, Houston was the most dynamic defensive player on the field for Romeo Crennel’s defense.

Overall, rookies contributed 75 games of play and 14 starts. That’s compared to 113 games last year, with 53 starts from the 2010 rookies. And in 2009, the rookies gave the Chiefs 94 games and 21 starts. Obviously, this year’s group didn’t matchup with the ’10 rookies, but they also didn’t come close to equaling the numbers of the dreadful ’09 rookie group. But then after two years, it should have been harder for the rookies to get into the starting lineup especially.

Here is a look at all 14 rookies and what they got done and didn’t get done in their first NFL season: …Read More!

The Buck Stops With Clark Hunt

We don’t solicit written pieces on this site, but we have some very talented readers who sometimes send us their thoughts. If the story is well written and expresses an opinion then it’s our pleasure to share with all the readers. Here’s another example.

Being the owner of an NFL franchise is a tough job if you choose to do it correctly.

While you are trying to build your franchise, there are 31 other organizations trying to persuade players to leave your team, hire away your good coaches, sign the free agents you want, beat you to the undrafted free agents that you want, figuring out your players’ weaknesses, your coaches’ weaknesses and your weaknesses. All of those organizations who missed the playoffs will be sitting down to make changes in the next few weeks, and they will be looking to steal talent from you, just as you should be looking to steal talent from them.

Clark Hunt has staggered out of the gate in his role as owner of the Chiefs. His teams have four last place finishes and one first-place finish. The Chiefs’ record is 27-54 and they have been outscored by 474 points in the regular season.

The Chiefs have been outscored by more than 100 points in only six seasons in their entire 52-year history and four of them are on his watch. They have been outscored by at least 109 points in 4 of the last 5 years and were outscored by 126 points this year. The 2011 team set a record for the fewest points scored in a full season during their entire history, and many of those seasons were 14 games.

If Clark Hunt was in charge of Clark Hunt, he would have fired himself. Instead, he has fired one general manager, two coaches, a president and most of his other staff at least once, and apparently three or four times in the public relations department. …Read More!

A Few Thoughts From a Football Weekend

What a great weekend for football fans. Four games in two days, only one real blowout with New England’s drubbing of Denver. A lot of great plays, even on defense.

Some thoughts and observations as the NFL heads towards its Final Four.

THE EASIEST WAY TO WIN IN THE PLAYOFFS? HAVE A TOP-NOTCH QB

No sh*^#@t!

It’s just makes so many more things possible for a football team when the quarterback is something special. That’s the case in New York with Eli Manning, and with Tom Brady in New England. Baltimore has Joe Flacco, who so far has not proven to be outstanding, but he doesn’t tend to cost the Ravens games with mistakes. Out in San Francisco, the rehabbed Alex Smith was sensational in beating New Orleans.

It’s easy to forget Smith was the first player taken in the 2006 NFL Draft. Through injuries and a totally dysfunctional franchise that has been the 49ers over the last decade, he somehow has survived and he was the catalyst to the Niners victory over the New Orleans Saints.

The four winning QBs had an average passer rating of 113. The four losing quarterbacks averaged a 63 passer rating. …Read More!

Opening the Toxic Lid … Monday Cup O’Chiefs

Several thoughts on the Kansas City Star finally catching up to the fact that employment with the Kansas City Chiefs these days is working in a toxic environment. The newspaper did so in a front page story in Sunday’s edition, headlined Arrowhead Anxiety. In case you missed it, here’s the link where you can read what they had to say.

First, it’s a good story that shined light on a dark corner of the operations that those that control the Chiefs would rather have been kept quiet. Second, although it’s a lengthy story it only scratched the surface of how dysfunctional the organization is these days. Third, the person most responsible for the atmosphere of fear and anxiety around the organization took the fewest number of verbal arrows – team chairman Clark Hunt.

This story has been under construction for several weeks; maybe a month and the Chiefs were well aware of the details. But in the typical fashion of the way the organization is run these days, they attempted to strong arm the Star, demanding the names of the anonymous sources in the story and threatening a law suit. Not once, but twice the Chiefs took this tact with the local fish wrap in the last few weeks.

Having spent a dozen years getting ink on my hands, including nine of those with the Star, I can tell you what happens when a business, politician or sports team threatens a newspaper. The folks in charge suddenly realize they have a story that’s even bigger than they thought. The reaction of Hunt’s minions simply increased the visibility that the story was going to receive. It showed his people in charge of public relations have no idea how to deal with the media. …Read More!

Hall of Fame Answers – 1/13

Apologies for taking so long to answer questions involving the Hall of Fame; I’ve got a lot of excuses but it should not have taken this long for me to reply to your questions. With Will Shields and Willie Roaf part of the group of 17 finalists, the Hall process will get a lot of attention in the next month.

Let me get right to what you want to know. Thanks to all for taking part.

*********************

PAChiefsFan says: Bob, when a player makes it into the room and the discussion process begins is the selection process just based on the player’s individual accomplishments or is the process influenced by the team that he played on and the success they had as well? Does an outstanding player who played their position extremely well but was on a team that rarely reached the playoffs let alone the Super Bowl get just as much respect as one who was on a team had much higher postseason success? …Read More!

A Trio of Personnel Mistakes … Weekend Cup O’Chiefs

Romeo Crennel said it would be”collaboration” with GM Scott Pioli in putting together his coaching staff for the coming season. This week, Pioli said that the job is Crennel’s and he’ll provide any help the coach asks for, but that the head coach needs to choose his staff.

If true, that’s good news all the way around, because Pioli should not be interviewing assistant coaches. He should be out there turning over every rock on the NFL landscape to find players.

Understand this – the player personnel business in the NFL is seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, 365 days. It never stops … never, ever, ever. If it does, that’s when teams find themselves unable to not only field a talented starting lineup, but to have enough depth to see a team through a rash of injuries that are so much a part of the game.

Pioli likes to talk about how much he and the personnel department work. Effort is assumed; this is the NFL and there are no slackers around the league. Those that might lean in that direction don’t have their jobs very long because there’s always a dozen people who will outwork the lazy guy.

Still, how many hours a chore takes remains unimportant if that time is not used efficiently and leads to a favorable resolution. …Read More!

Merry-Go-Round Spins in NFL … Morning Cup O’Chiefs

It’s the time of year when a scorecard is needed to keep up with all the movements and changes around the league.

In early January, it’s the coaches and GMs. In March it will be the free agents, then in April it will be the draft choices.

Every spin of the merry-go-round and the news cycle brings us changes. Tony Sparano is out in Miami, then lands in New York with the Jets, replacing Brian Schottenheimer who is out from the Big Apple and spent Wednesday talking with Nick Saban at the University of Alabama. That came down a day after his Pops Marty met with the Tampa Bay Bucs about the head coaching job there.

Jeff Fisher reportedly is going to provide an answer on Thursday to both the Dolphins and Rams that want to hire him as head coach. Those teams are not sitting on their hands, as they continue to interview potential coaches. There’s news and many more rumors as the NFL phone lines and e-mail are bubbling with chatter and gossip.

Chiefs fans wait patiently to see what GM Scott Pioli and head coach Romeo Crennel are going to do with the coaching staff, especially the coordinators on offense and defense. If there’s one thing we know about the new regime at Arrowhead it’s that they do nothing in a hurry. They take their time and won’t care if they lose a possible candidate because they were not ready to pull the trigger. …Read More!

Super Bowl IV – 42 Years Ago

It was January 11, 1970 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.

The Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl IV on that Sunday, beating the Minnesota Vikings 23-7.

It’s hard to believe that 42 years later the NFL playoffs still have six games to play before reaching Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, February 5 in Indianapolis.

We know for sure that the Chiefs and Vikings will not have a rematch next month at Lucas Oil Stadium, so here’s a picture of Curley Culp (61) and Buck Buchanan (86) smashing Minnesota’s Dave Osborn.

You Mean There’s A Plan? … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

There were two interesting moments when Romeo Crennel was introduced as the new head coach of the Chiefs on Monday.

Crennel did most of the talking during this affair, but at one point Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt was asked if he had a vision on how he wanted his franchise to operate.

“When I became chairman of the club five or six years ago, what I mentioned at the time was I wanted us to be a team that drafted well and developed the players that we drafted,” Hunt said.

And, that was it, the sum total of Hunt’s vision for his team or at least all that he was willing to share with the media and ticket buying public.

The other moment came when Crennel said: “I think Clark has a vision for building a championship team and the commitment that it takes to get that done. I’m on board with his vision and I want to help him do that.” …Read More!

Romeo Gets Another Shot

From the Truman Sports Complex

His first chance as a head coach in the National Football League did not go well. In four seasons under Romeo Crennel, the Cleveland Browns finished 24-40. He was fired after the 2008 season.

His second chance started a month ago, and Crennel was already sporting a 2-1 record before he was given the official title of head coach. That was announced on Monday as the Chiefs made him the team’s 12th head coach.

Crennel agreed to a three-year contract.

“There are only 32 of these jobs in the world and sitting here and representing the Chiefs I think is very special,” Crennel told an afternoon press conference as he was flanked by team chairman Clark Hunt and GM Scott Pioli. “This job is not always the easiest job to have because I had one before that did not turn out the way I wanted it too. I’m going to work very hard to make this one turnout the way I want it too.” …Read More!

It’s Official – It’s Romeo

The Chiefs have announced Monday morning that Romeo Crennel will be the team’s new head coach.

The announcement will be formalized at an afternoon press conference at the team’s facilities.

Crennel stepped into the role on December 12 when head coach Todd Haley was fired. At the time the team’s record was 5-8 on the season. The Chiefs went 2-1 in the final three games of the season and that ginned up support for Crennel to keep the job.

He becomes the 12th head coach in franchise history. The coming season will be his 31st in the NFL and it’s his second chance as head coach. He led the Cleveland Browns (2005-08). His teams finished 24-40.

How Good A Job Is It Anyway? … Monday Cup O’Chiefs

If the news that’s been flowing down the NFL grapevine over the weekend is to be believed, the Chiefs should be announcing Romeo Crennel as their new head coach sometime this week. This does not come as breaking news, since some have predicted this from the first days that Crennel held the job in place of Todd Haley.

Whether Crennel’s full-time ascension was from the start fait accompli, or GM Scott Pioli and team chairman Clark Hunt really were out there interviewing candidates because they wanted to see if they could find a better head coaching candidate, the pick of Crennel will surprise no one.

That leaves a couple of questions that need to be answered as the team moves into another new era. No. 1: was Crennel the guy from the start and was everyone else that was interviewed compared to him? No. 2, just how good a job is being the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs? …Read More!

Hall of Fame Questions & Answers

One of the items that every year I get more questions about than anything else is the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the rules and prcedures for gaining entry into Canton.

Starting with this post and running through 11 o’clock Monday evening, the door is open for your questions and comments involving the Hall of Fame. Just attach your question as a comment to this post and I’ll try to get answers up as soon as possible, probably sometime Tuesday morning.

As one of the 44 members of the Hall’s Board of Selectors there are some things I can give you an idea or picture that only 43 others can. The flipside is that there are some areas of the process that must remain out of the spotlight at the request of the Hall. I’ll let you know what I can.

Fire away!

Will & Willie Get Hall of Fame Chance

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Saturday the 17 finalists for induction as part of the Hall’s Class of 2012.

Part of that group are former Chiefs offensive linemen Will Shields and Willie Roaf.

By moving into the finalist group, Shields and Roaf get “in the room” which means the merits of their induction will be discussed by the Hall of Fame’s Selection Committee on Saturday, February 4 when the final voting meeting is held in Indianapolis. This is the day before the Super Bowl.

Those finalists who receive enough votes for induction will be announced at 4:30 p.m. that Saturday in a special program on the NFL Network.

This was the first season where Shields was eligible for the Hall, give seasons after his retirement. It’s the second consecutive year where Roaf has been eligible; last year, he was also a finalist. …Read More!

FINAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR 2011 CHIEFS – #26 thru #53

On Friday, we brought you the first half of the Chiefs player rankings, No. 1 through No. 25. For those that missed them, you can find them here.

This list is the rest of the roster, rated in the order we think they stack up after 16 games. The number in () is where they ranked back in early December after 12 games. Not surprisingly, as you read through this group of players you will come to the conclusion I did – the Chiefs need to update and improve the talent level from the bottom up.

Here they are:

26. C/G Rodney Hudson (23) – The second-round choice saw just less than 150 plays in the offense over his rookie season, working at left guard for Ryan Lilja. Hudson performed well against Pittsburgh and Green Bay, but not so good against Chicago. He did not get a chance to perform at center, where he’ll likely find himself in the 2012 season. There appears to be an upside with Hudson. …Read More!

D.J. Earns All-Pro Honors

It’s more than a matter of semantics. So often we’ll hear a player described as an All-Pro, when he’s really a Pro Bowler. There is a difference – a big difference.

All-Pro is a designation that goes to a limited number of players as the best in the game, no matter their conference or team. For the 25 spots (11 defense, 11 offense, 3 special teams) there is only one player and any ties. Pro Bowler is a designation that goes to the initial members of the all-star teams in the AFC and NFC. Pro Bowl doesn’t mean All-Pro.

So when the Associated Press announced Friday the NFL’s All-Pro team for the 2011 season, Chiefs ILB Derrick Johnson received his greatest honor for the season – he was named All-Pro first team defense. Because of a tie in the votes, he was one of three inside linebackers named, joining Patrick Willis and NaVarro Bowman of the San Francisco 49ers.

Johnson becomes only the sixth defensive player for the Chiefs honored with a first-team All-Pro honor in the last 37 seasons. He joins S Deron Cherry, CB Albert Lewis, LB Derrick Thomas, DE Neil Smith and DE Jared Allen.

OLB Tamba Hali earned second-team honors.

Associated Press 2011 All-Pro First team …Read More!

FINAL PLAYER RATINGS FOR 2011 CHIEFS – #1 thru #25

The end of the 2011 season begins a time of reflection for the 20 teams that are not taking part in the NFL playoffs.

With the weekly duties of game planning out of the way, coaches and scouts spent the last week watching tape and passing out final grades.

We did the same this week, although I must admit we did not get as much tape analyzed as the professionals certainly did. But we saw the games live, saw some tape, read our notes, checked without our sources and we’ve come up with our grading of the 2011 Chiefs, from player No. 1 through player No. 53. With each player is his grade the last time we rated the players, and that was a month ago after 12 games had been played.

As you go through the numbers, you’ll see there hasn’t been much movement at the top of the grades. A few players dropped, while a few others moved up a couple rungs on the ladder.

Here are the players we’ve rated No. 1 through No. 25. The rest of the list will come your way on Saturday.

1. OLB Tamba Hali (2) – Although the sacks did not come at a weekly pace, the 2011 season was the most consistent of Hali’s career with the Chiefs. A lot of that was due to his staying away from major injury during the season. In previous season, Hali production would peter out in the fourth quarter of the season because he was always nursing injuries, particularly shoulders, knee and ankle problems. That wasn’t the case this year and that made him a factor for 16 games. Tamba got the big money this summer and he produced on the field.

2. ILB Derrick Johnson (1) – In the 2010 season, D.J. elevated his game. In the 2011 season, he found consistency playing 13 of the 16 games at a high level and only three times was he not the best Chiefs defensive player on the field. That was visible in his statistics, where he led the team in tackles by a wide margin, and added a couple sacks and interceptions as well. His growth was especially visible as the leader of the defense on the field. He did a lot of work getting other players in the right spots. …Read More!

Romeo, Oh No Romeo … Thursday Cup O’Chiefs

It was on this little slice of world-wide web turf some weeks ago that I wrote Romeo Crennel would get the job as head coach of the Chiefs for 2012.

Nothing has happened since to change my mind – when the smoke clears I think Crennel will be the choice.

But I don’t think he should be. While it pains me to say so, I think moving him into the top spot is only going to make for a bigger mess down the road. I’ve seen it before.

Under the category of those that do not study history are doomed to repeat it, let me introduce the Chiefs of 1986-87-88. As dysfunctional a mess as the organization has been in the last year with the poisoned relationship of GM Scott Pioli and head coach Todd Haley, things were even worse 25 years ago.

You think it’s crazy for a team to fire a head coach just a year after he led the team to a division championship and was named coach of the year? Well, it is.

But, how about firing the first head coach to take the team to the playoffs in 15 seasons? …Read More!

Chiefs Interview With Fisher Falls Flat

We’ve learned that last week at the offices of Hunt Sports Group in Dallas, former Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher sat down for an interview with the Chiefs about their open head coaching job.

Scheduled to last all afternoon, the meeting broke up after a bit more than two hours when Fisher said good bye. He later indicated he was not interested in being the head coach of the Chiefs.

Meeting with Fisher were team chairman Clark Hunt, GM Scott Pioli, assistant GM Joel Collier and Ryan Petkopf, a vice of president of something or other with the Hunt Sports Group.

Right now, Fisher appears to be the leading candidate in both Miami and St. Louis to become their next head coach. With the Dolphins he met on Tuesday with owner Stephen Ross, GM Jeff Ireland and former Chiefs President and GM Carl Peterson who is serving as an adviser to Ross.

According to ESPN, the Chiefs will interview Green Bay offensive coordinator Joe Philbin Wednesday evening in an unknown location. Philbin does not call the offensive plays for the Packers; that’s done by head coach Mike McCarthy.

So Much Work To Do … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs

Whether his decisions are good or bad, his assumptions off-base or with some sort of solid informational foundation, there’s one thing you can’t say about Chiefs GM Scott Pioli – he is not a slacker.

When it comes to putting in the hours, Pioli has no problem racking up the 18 to 20-hour workdays. That’s good, because right now he’s got a lot to get done on a lot of different fronts. It’s a time for good work, no matter the number of hours. It’s time to work smart.

And some of them will be among his most important decisions since he arrived at Arrowhead Stadium with the Patriots Way. After three seasons in charge of the Chiefs, Pioli has a lot yet to prove. That feeling of entitlement that came with the three Super Bowl rings in his drawer and his ascension to major football decision maker is gone.

After three years, his record is 21-28. That certainly isn’t something that entitles him the support of the red and gold faithful who have been waiting for so long for another solid shot at the gold ring.

Here’s what has to get done: …Read More!

The Off-Season Has Begun … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

It had the feel of the last day of school.

Players were at their lockers, stuffing industrial sized garbage bags with shoes, hoodies and assorted other paraphernalia that wound up in the space that during the season becomes their office. Glenn Dorsey must have thrown in a half-dozen orthotics that helped his ankles, shins and knees get through the 16-game schedule. “I hate to think what would have happened without those,” Dorsey laughed.

Phone numbers, e-mail addresses and Twitter handles were being exchanged. Plans were being formulated for two weeks, a month, two months down the road. Vegas, South Beach, Scottsdale, So Cal were all being discussed as destinations.

The 2011 Chiefs said good bye on Monday at their facility. For some, it was a true au revoir – they will not be back. For others it was more of a see you later, probably not until March or April when the off-season work will begin again. …Read More!

D.J. Gets DTA; Houston Grabs MLH Award

From the Truman Sports Complex

Head coach Romeo Crennel announced Monday afternoon that linebackers Derrick Johnson and Justin Houston won the two highest honors the Chiefs present to their players.

Johnson, a first-time Pro Bowler and the team’s record-setting tackler, was voted winner of the Derrick Thomas Award as MVP of the 2011 Chiefs. He’s the first defensive player to win the honor as voted by his teammates since 2007 and DE Jared Allen. In fact Johnson and Allen are the only team MVPs on defense in the last dozen years. …Read More!

Chiefs Close Out Season By Beating Broncos

From Sports Authority Field, Denver

Nothing about the 2011 season was easy for the Chiefs. Why would the last chapter of this grinding book be any different?

Caught in a gritty defensive struggle that went down-by-down, series-by-series, blow-by-blow, the Chiefs were able beat the Denver Broncos 7-3 Sunday afternoon.

The victory left the Chiefs 7-9 for the 2011 season, far below their expectations at the beginning of the year. But the victory provided Romeo Crennel with a second victory and with a 2-1 record, another chance to stake his claim to the job on a full-time basis.

The well-publicized game between Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow was pretty much of a dud, as neither one of quarterbacks played well. Denver RB Willis McGahee ran well, finishing with 145 rushing yards. Before he left the game at the end of the second quarter with a neck injury, WR Dwayne Bowe was playing well, with six catches for 93 yards.

The only touchdown was a pretty 21-yard run by RB Dexter McCluster.

Here’s what we found before, during and afterwards with from the Chiefs and Broncos:

• GAME STORY – Chiefs repeat history with victory.
• COLUMN – A painful way to end the season.
• PLAY OF THE GAME – Kendrick Lewis forces fumble.
• REPORT CARD – No A’s, but passing grades for Chiefs.
• SIDEBAR – Chiefs defense kept Tebow uncomfortable.
• SIDEBAR – Romeo racks up 2-1 record as head coach.
• SIDEBAR – Kyle Orton returns and leaves with victory.
• SIDEBAR – Dwayne Bowe finally burns Champ Bailey.
• SIDEBAR – Casey walks away with victory.
• NOTES & QUOTES – Broncos back into playoffs.
• 4 KEYS TO VICTORY/RECAP – Victory comes anyway.
• CHIEFS OPPONENTS FOR 2012 SEASON
• CHIEFS DRAFT SPOT DEPENDS ON FLIP
• GAMEBOOK
• PRE-GAME COVERAGE

Chiefs Start 2012 With Broncos … GameDay Cup O’Chiefs

From Denver, Colorado

If the Chiefs decided to celebrate the New Year at the hotel in the far northwest suburbs of the mile high city Saturday evening, they could have taken two approaches to welcoming in 2012.

They could have enjoyed a libation and toasted the end to 2011 and the disappointment it wrought for a football team that expected so much more. Or, they could have twisted the cap of a long neck and welcomed with open arms the start of a new year, and another chance to go out and chase their dreams and goals.

More than likely, most of the Chiefs were tucked in bed come the clock passing over to the New Year, getting prepared for one last afternoon of performance. The Chiefs face the Broncos at 3:05 p.m. Sunday at Sports Authority Field, formerly known as Invesco Field. TV coverage is on CBS-TV.

“We signed up for 16 games,” said veteran RB Thomas Jones. “This is game No. 16. As a pro, you go out and play and it doesn’t mean anything less.” …Read More!