Answer Bob

From Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

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

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

Offensive line questions from Blake and Patrick.

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

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

• Igorash asked  who I thought might replace him.  Initial speculation has fallen quickly on NFLPA lawyer types, but I can’t see the player reps electing a suit.  I think they’ll want one of their own.  I think Tom Condon would be a great candidate,  but I’m not sure Tom wants the job given how successful he’s been as a player agent.  Another name I’ve heard  mentioned is Clark  Gaines, former NFL running back who once did time with the Chiefs.  He’s been a union executive for several years.  There is no obvious heir apparent.

Several comments and questions concerning our review of the linebacker position.

• TiminKC wondered why Chiefs didn’t go after Jets LB Jonathan Vilma in the off-season.  Tim, there are a couple things involved  with this.  One, the Jets were asking too much at the time.  They eventually got the second-round pick and as  you correctly stated, that would have meant no Brandon Flowers.  Two, Vilma has had some recent injury problems and that’s not something the Chiefs want to get involved with.  If the Chiefs were two more years down the road on their rebuilding project, then I could see Vilma as a stop gap.

Several questions from Thursday Morning’s Cup O’Chiefs.

• From PVChiefsfan: yes Darren McFadden can return kicks but I find it hard to believe the Raiders will have him doing any of that.  He’s going to be a big part of their offense if he stays healthy.  If they have any kind of offensive line put together, McFadden could be Adrian Peterson-like.
• MarkinTexas asked  where I find the historical notes each day.  Mark, that’s just good old fashion digging.  Over the years, I’ve collected a copy of the play-by-play for every game  in club history.  I’ve also got an extensive collection of newspaper clippings and notes which include the start of the franchise in Dallas and from the Pro Football  Hall of Fame’s collection.  It’s time consuming to do, but it’s always fun to find little tidbits.  I’m a history buff, because I truly believe that old line that he who does not study the past is doomed to repeat it.
• BO wonders about the evaluation of the ‘06 Draft and the players as starters and would they start for a championship team.  I think Hali, Pollard and Page would start for teams that were not  overloaded with veterans.  For instance, I think Pollard and Page  would have started last year for the New York  Giants, but not the New England Patriots.  I can see Hali being part of a rotation at defensive end with the Giants, but probably not the Patriots.  Plus here’s one more factor that long-time Chiefs fans will appreciate: how  many times in recent history did the Chiefs select a player and it was years before he got on the field and played?  It happend way too many times.  One thing Herm does is he gets this young guys on the field, so everyone can find out much faster whether they can play or not.  All of them will not be starters; no team hits for that high a percentage.  But the faster they play, the faster  you can replace the bad ones. This year the Chiefs should have 16 Edwards’ draft picks starting or making big contributions.

Numerous comments on Usain Bolt and whether he could play football.  Seemed the majority of you thought I stupid for even bringing up the idea. Whether or not any team goes after him remains to be seen, but there’s a big difference between Bolt and previous Olympic sprint champions who did eventually try pro football.  In those days, the track guys really couldn’t make all  that much money in track.  Today, Bolt will be a millionare with endorsements and appearance fees.

Bolt has no background in football, so he would be starting from scratch.