Whitlock on Hali

[milkman]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/football/nfl/kansas_city_chiefs/14462595.htm

Work ethic makes him a good pick
JASON WHITLOCK
The Kansas City Star

You might think Tamba Hali owes Larry Johnson Sr., Hali’s position coach at Penn State and the father of the Chiefs’ star running back, for the good fortune of being a first-round pick.

But actually, Ryan Sims, Junior Siavii, Eddie Freeman and Eric Downing are far more responsible.

When it comes to drafting defensive linemen high in the draft, Carl Peterson won’t be wasting any more picks on “potential” stars with lots of upside and questions about their character.

In Hali, the Chiefs feel they may have grabbed the highest-character player in the draft. They certainly believe that Hali’s work ethic and commitment will never be an issue.

Moments after tabbing Hali with the 20th pick, Peterson and coach Herman Edwards gushed so much about Hali’s work ethic that you got the feeling Hali might pull overnight shifts at QuikTrip during the season.

The Chiefs fans who had gathered at the practice facility for a draft party were less enthusiastic. There were a few boos mixed with applause when Hali’s name was announced.

Hali wasn’t really on the radar. Most draft experts had him pegged as an early second-round pick. A slow 40 time (4.84) hurt Hali’s draft stock. The Chiefs were supposed to pick a corner (Tye Hill) or a defensive end (Manny Lawson or Mathias Kiwanuka). Hill went to the Rams at No. 15. Lawson went two picks after Hali. And Kiwanuka was the final pick of the first round.

You could argue the Chiefs reached by taking Hali at 20. You could also argue that Peterson, Edwards and defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham must feel really good about Hali.

Some of their comfort can be credited to Larry Johnson Sr. He and Peterson developed a relationship during Larry Jr.’s turbulent first two years with the Chiefs. Peterson acknowledged that Larry Sr. helped sell the Chiefs on Hali.

But KC’s love of Hali goes deeper than a strong recommendation from his position coach.

Edwards compared Hali to two of the NFL’s best defenders in recent years — Warren Sapp and Dwight Freeney.

The comparison has to do with Hali’s “relentless” playing style. Sapp was the game’s top defensive tackle in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Freeney is an undersized defensive end who is the league’s most feared pass rusher.

As far as comparisons go, we haven’t heard one this outrageous since Dick Vermeil and Al Saunders compared Trent Green to Joe Montana and Dan Fouts. And while Green isn’t going to the Hall of Fame, he’s proved to be well worth the first-round pick the Chiefs surrendered to the Rams to get him.

Hali might be worth it, too.

A native of Liberia, Hali and his dad fled the civil-war-torn country when Tamba was 10 years old. Tamba hasn’t seen his mother since. She still lives in the country, and Tamba hopes to bring his mother to America.

Hali truly cherishes American freedom. He brings a different attitude to the football field from a typical American kid. Things you and I might take for granted, Hali doesn’t.

In previous drafts, the Chiefs have been burned by defensive linemen who stack up well physically and on the stopwatch but who give inconsistent efforts.

In Hali, Edwards tabbed a player mature enough to play right away. I like the pick and expect to see Hali in the starting

[StcChief]

E. Hicks/ C.Hall gone or backup.

[milkman]

E. Hicks/ C.Hall gone or backup.

Maybe we can package 'em for a 4th round pick.









:banghead:

[Simplex3]

Maybe we can package 'em for a 4th round pick.









:banghead:
We're the only team dumb enough to take Hicks and we don't have a 4th.

[milkman]

We're the only team dumb enough to take Hicks and we don't have a 4th.

ROFL

[Simplex3]

Here's my take on Hali:

He's a man who's seen REAL hardship and experienced REAL sacrifice. He won't be swayed by bulls**t stories about how Sims had such a hard life because he was 12 before he got an XBox or Air Jordans. I would be confident that he's not going to fall into the bad habits of our current crop of losers.

Now, will his attitude help Sims et al? Maybe, though I doubt it. Allen didn't help those losers, so Hali probably won't. On the plus side it gives Allen a linemate to hang with who won't ruin him.

[Skip Towne]

Here's my take on Hali:

He's a man who's seen REAL hardship and experienced REAL sacrifice. He won't be swayed by bulls**t stories about how Sims had such a hard life because he was 12 before he got an XBox or Air Jordans. I would be confident that he's not going to fall into the bad habits of our current crop of losers.

Now, will his attitude help Sims et al? Maybe, though I doubt it. Allen didn't help those losers, so Hali probably won't. On the plus side it gives Allen a linemate to hang with who won't ruin him.
The only way to help Sims is to stick Julius Peppers beside him.

[NaptownChief]

Hali is an excellent pick I believe. He is a football player. At the end of the season most thought he would be a top 10 pick based on what they saw on the field...Then he ran a slower 40 time than they expected and he started dropping. I don't care how well he would do running sprints for the US Track and Field team all I want him to do is play football which he proved he was one of the best....and possibly even better than Mario Williams.

For similar reasons is why I would have loved Derrek Hagan in the 2nd round. At the end of the season based on what he did on the field many thought he was the best WR in the country...He had a bad week at the Senior with a case of the drops and he started falling. It is foolish to let one week zero out what a guy did over his college career in a real team setting. Fools that put more stock in combine style workouts and a week at a All Star game end up with turds like Mike Mamula and Ryan Sims. I confess that I use to finding myself doing that too much but not anymore. Give me the Tama Hali's, Derreck Hagan's, Dat Nyguen's and Zach Thomas' of the football world and everyone else can have their Mike Mamula's and Ryan Sims types that only show up for the parade week.

[Ultra Peanut]

Surely Big Sexy is aware that Kiwi would have been a much bigger "reach" than Hali...

The only way to help Sims is to stick Julius Peppers beside him.Great idea! Let's trade our fifth-rounder to Carolina for Peppers!

[the Talking Can]

Fools that put more stock in combine style workouts and a week at a All Star game end up with turds like Mike Mamula and Ryan Sims. I confess that I use to finding myself doing that too much but not anymore. Give me the Tama Hali's, Derreck Hagan's, Dat Nyguen's and Zach Thomas' of the football world and everyone else can have their Mike Mamula's and Ryan Sims types that only show up for the parade week.


amen...we won't see the results of this for a couple of years, but if we stick with it we'll be a better, tougher team...

[GMitch]

amen...we won't see the results of this for a couple of years, but if we stick with it we'll be a better, tougher team...
Disagree. I think this makes us better at DE on day one. Now if Hali's work ethic could rub off on Sims and Siavii...

[htismaqe]

We can always hope that his attitude will rub off. If it does, we could finally have a real defense.

[NaptownChief]

Because of this exact reason is also why I would be very happy to get Dummervil from Louisville...He is clearly a football player that got it done on the football field. Even though we already drafted a DE I would be very happy to spend our 5th rounder on him. You can't have too many players that know how to get it done on the field despite not having the combine measurables.


Drafting on big upside potential that hasn't shown itself to already being a very productive football player in college is foolish. If they have so much "upside potential" then why in the world didn't that upside potential dominate at the college level? If it didn't dominate at the college level it is extremely unlikely to do anything when the game gets much tougher at the NFL level.

A buddy of mine mentioned this just yesterday...If investing in the biggest "upside potential" was the smart thing to do then if you had a pile of cash you would invest it all in lottery tickets rather than Microsoft or other quality companies cause no other investment has "bigger upside potential" than a lottery ticket. You can't invest a dollar in MSFT have a chance of it becoming a hundred million dollars.

Building a football team is the same way. Build your foundation on high quality proven stuff and maybe once in a blue moon when you are bored flip a dollar or two over on the Powerball. But for far too many years Carl Peterson has been the redneck green toothed fool that cashes his paycheck on Friday at 5:00pm and by 5:30 he has spent half of it on a couple cases of beer and a handful of lotto tickets.

[Ultra Peanut]

I don't care that he's named Elvis... Dumervil would be a great pick, if he fell to us.

A buddy of mine mentioned this just yesterday...If investing in the biggest "upside potential" was the smart thing to do then if you had a pile of cash you would invest it all in lottery tickets rather than Microsoft or other quality companies cause no other investment has "bigger upside potential" than a lottery ticket. You can't invest a dollar in MSFT have a chance of it becoming a hundred million dollars.

Building a football team is the same way. Build your foundation on high quality proven stuff and maybe once in a blue moon when you are bored flip a dollar or two over on the Powerball. But for far too many years Carl Peterson has been the redneck green toothed fool that cashes his paycheck on Friday at 5:00pm and by 5:30 he has spent half of it on a couple cases of beer and a handful of lotto tickets.That is so sad and true.

[htismaqe]

Because of this exact reason is also why I would be very happy to get Dummervil from Louisville...He is clearly a football player that got it done on the football field. Even though we already drafted a DE I would be very happy to spend our 5th rounder on him. You can't have too many players that know how to get it done on the field despite not having the combine measurables.


Drafting on big upside potential that hasn't shown itself to already being a very productive football player in college is foolish. If they have so much "upside potential" then why in the world didn't that upside potential dominate at the college level? If it didn't dominate at the college level it is extremely unlikely to do anything when the game gets much tougher at the NFL level.

A buddy of mine mentioned this just yesterday...If investing in the biggest "upside potential" was the smart thing to do then if you had a pile of cash you would invest it all in lottery tickets rather than Microsoft or other quality companies cause no other investment has "bigger upside potential" than a lottery ticket. You can't invest a dollar in MSFT have a chance of it becoming a hundred million dollars.

Building a football team is the same way. Build your foundation on high quality proven stuff and maybe once in a blue moon when you are bored flip a dollar or two over on the Powerball. But for far too many years Carl Peterson has been the redneck green toothed fool that cashes his paycheck on Friday at 5:00pm and by 5:30 he has spent half of it on a couple cases of beer and a handful of lotto tickets.

Great post.

[dirk digler]

We can always hope that his attitude will rub off. If it does, we could finally have a real defense.

yep... I love this pick more and more

[the Talking Can]

Because of this exact reason is also why I would be very happy to get Dummervil from Louisville...He is clearly a football player that got it done on the football field. Even though we already drafted a DE I would be very happy to spend our 5th rounder on him. You can't have too many players that know how to get it done on the field despite not having the combine measurables.


Drafting on big upside potential that hasn't shown itself to already being a very productive football player in college is foolish. If they have so much "upside potential" then why in the world didn't that upside potential dominate at the college level? If it didn't dominate at the college level it is extremely unlikely to do anything when the game gets much tougher at the NFL level.

A buddy of mine mentioned this just yesterday...If investing in the biggest "upside potential" was the smart thing to do then if you had a pile of cash you would invest it all in lottery tickets rather than Microsoft or other quality companies cause no other investment has "bigger upside potential" than a lottery ticket. You can't invest a dollar in MSFT have a chance of it becoming a hundred million dollars.

Building a football team is the same way. Build your foundation on high quality proven stuff and maybe once in a blue moon when you are bored flip a dollar or two over on the Powerball. But for far too many years Carl Peterson has been the redneck green toothed fool that cashes his paycheck on Friday at 5:00pm and by 5:30 he has spent half of it on a couple cases of beer and a handful of lotto tickets.

and this is what Edwards has said his draft philosophy is...so far, I like it

[FAX]

I think it's remarkable that Hacklock cannot write an article on any given subject without demeaning someone else in the process.

FAX

[dirk digler]

Because of this exact reason is also why I would be very happy to get Dummervil from Louisville...He is clearly a football player that got it done on the football field. Even though we already drafted a DE I would be very happy to spend our 5th rounder on him. You can't have too many players that know how to get it done on the field despite not having the combine measurables.


Drafting on big upside potential that hasn't shown itself to already being a very productive football player in college is foolish. If they have so much "upside potential" then why in the world didn't that upside potential dominate at the college level? If it didn't dominate at the college level it is extremely unlikely to do anything when the game gets much tougher at the NFL level.

A buddy of mine mentioned this just yesterday...If investing in the biggest "upside potential" was the smart thing to do then if you had a pile of cash you would invest it all in lottery tickets rather than Microsoft or other quality companies cause no other investment has "bigger upside potential" than a lottery ticket. You can't invest a dollar in MSFT have a chance of it becoming a hundred million dollars.

Building a football team is the same way. Build your foundation on high quality proven stuff and maybe once in a blue moon when you are bored flip a dollar or two over on the Powerball. But for far too many years Carl Peterson has been the redneck green toothed fool that cashes his paycheck on Friday at 5:00pm and by 5:30 he has spent half of it on a couple cases of beer and a handful of lotto tickets.


Excellent post Naptown. Trezelle Jenkins anyone?

[MahiMike]

While other kids drafted this weekend were busy figuring out which house, cars and jewelry to buy, Hali was busy hiring a lawyer to help get his mom out of their country into the U.S.

Suffice it to say there will be no issues with his work ethic.

fwiw, cracks me up that they even time defensive linemen in the 40 yd dash. They should be timed in the 4 yd dash (to the QB).

[Moooo]

Building a football team is the same way. Build your foundation on high quality proven stuff and maybe once in a blue moon when you are bored flip a dollar or two over on the Powerball. But for far too many years Carl Peterson has been the redneck green toothed fool that cashes his paycheck on Friday at 5:00pm and by 5:30 he has spent half of it on a couple cases of beer and a handful of lotto tickets.

I never thought of the Chiefs as being a risk-taing team on draft day. I mean the Chiefs are conservative as all hell on draft day in comparison to Oakland (who drafted a KICKER in the first round once), Chargers (who just drafted a guy who's been injured a whole year), and Denver (a third on Clarett is always insanity, before or after the fact).

I think the biggest problem is on day one of draft day people think whoever they get in the first round is going to be the next HOFer. I wouldn't expect Tamba Hali to be anything more than a solid DE, maybe as good as Jared Allen, maybe not. Chances are, he's not gonna be the next Neil Smith, yet I know people out there are already dreaming of him going to the Pro Bowl...

Moooo

[siberian khatru]

Because of this exact reason is also why I would be very happy to get Dummervil from Louisville...He is clearly a football player that got it done on the football field. Even though we already drafted a DE I would be very happy to spend our 5th rounder on him. You can't have too many players that know how to get it done on the field despite not having the combine measurables.


Drafting on big upside potential that hasn't shown itself to already being a very productive football player in college is foolish. If they have so much "upside potential" then why in the world didn't that upside potential dominate at the college level? If it didn't dominate at the college level it is extremely unlikely to do anything when the game gets much tougher at the NFL level.

A buddy of mine mentioned this just yesterday...If investing in the biggest "upside potential" was the smart thing to do then if you had a pile of cash you would invest it all in lottery tickets rather than Microsoft or other quality companies cause no other investment has "bigger upside potential" than a lottery ticket. You can't invest a dollar in MSFT have a chance of it becoming a hundred million dollars.

Building a football team is the same way. Build your foundation on high quality proven stuff and maybe once in a blue moon when you are bored flip a dollar or two over on the Powerball. But for far too many years Carl Peterson has been the redneck green toothed fool that cashes his paycheck on Friday at 5:00pm and by 5:30 he has spent half of it on a couple cases of beer and a handful of lotto tickets.


That's the post of the weekend so far.

[Lzen]

Here's my take on Hali:

He's a man who's seen REAL hardship and experienced REAL sacrifice. He won't be swayed by bulls**t stories about how Sims had such a hard life because he was 12 before he got an XBox or Air Jordans. I would be confident that he's not going to fall into the bad habits of our current crop of losers.

Now, will his attitude help Sims et al? Maybe, though I doubt it. Allen didn't help those losers, so Hali probably won't. On the plus side it gives Allen a linemate to hang with who won't ruin him.

Ummm, I don't think the Xbox was even invented yet when Sims was 12.



U know, just sayin'........:D



Seriously, I'm so happy that we got a DE to replace Hicks. PBJ

[banyon]

Does it bother anybody else that Carl got the "inside info" from a personal source that this was a good pick?

What does that remind me of...*cough*..Bunting..*cough*..

[Demonpenz]

i would like peterson alot better if he did infact buy lotto tickets and drink beer

[keg in kc]

They should be timed in the 4 yd dash (to the QB).They do. Not 4 yards, but 10. Herm said yesterday that Hali was as fast (or would that be quick?) as any DL in the draft through the first 10.

[keg in kc]

Does it bother anybody else that Carl got the "inside info" from a personal source that this was a good pick?

What does that remind me of...*cough*..Bunting..*cough*..I didn't realize Doug Franz posted here.

[banyon]

I didn't realize Doug Franz posted here.

Is that who I share an opinion with? :Lin: I retract. :)

[keg in kc]

Oh yeah. It was like you were channeling 610 sports from yesterday afternoon. ROFL

[Iowanian]

It would be a pretty good motivational tool for the coaches.

"Get that QB or we'll be putting your unemployed ass on a slow boat to Liberia"


Hali, bombaye!

[Spicy McHaggis]

Here's my take on Hali:

He's a man who's seen REAL hardship and experienced REAL sacrifice. He won't be swayed by bulls**t stories about how Sims had such a hard life because he was 12 before he got an XBox or Air Jordans.

Can you imagine a conversation between the two?

Sims: "Ah man, when I was 12 I fell off my bike and cut my knee!"

Hali: "When I was twelve, people shot at me when I went the the market for a loaf of bread."

Sims: "Um, it was a really bad cut though. It bled a little and I couldn't go to the pool for a couple days."

Hali: "That's really too bad. The idea of having a body of water purely for the purpose of swimming in it and looking at girls is one that seems very wasteful and isn't even dreamed of back in my home."

Sims: "Um, I have to go to McDonalds now..."

[OnTheWarpath15]

While other kids drafted this weekend were busy figuring out which house, cars and jewelry to buy, Hali was busy hiring a lawyer to help get his mom out of their country into the U.S.

Suffice it to say there will be no issues with his work ethic.

fwiw, cracks me up that they even time defensive linemen in the 40 yd dash. They should be timed in the 4 yd dash (to the QB).

A very good pick, IMO.

Sounds like a great kid, great work ethic, and a hell of a player.

Carl actually did a good job this year IMO.

[banyon]

Mathias Kiwanuka's family has had a hard go of it too apparently:

Mathias Kagimu Kiwanuka, born March 8, 1983...enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences with a major in communications...proudly displays a Ugandan flag in his dorm room as a reminder of his African heritage and in memory of his late grandfather, Benedicto Kiwanuka, who was elected Uganda's first prime minister in 1961 and assassinated in 1972 by Idi Amin.

http://bceagles.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/kiwanuka_mathias00.html

[Tribal Warfare]

fwiw, cracks me up that they even time defensive linemen in the 40 yd dash. They should be timed in the 4 yd dash (to the QB).

that's the 10 meter sprint they use for intial burst. Does anyone have that clocked time, because it would be interesting to see how Hali compares with the other DE's with this drill

[Rain Man]

I don't care that he's named Elvis... Dumervil would be a great pick, if he fell to us.

That is so sad and true.

The Dumervil thing is killing me. It feels like an acre of rain forest has been destroyed.