People keep saying this as if it must be true. I know it's not true in at least two instances. I think you're making a seriously wrong assumption in playing the disgruntled employee card.

LMAO

Which two? How do you know that? Details, please.

LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO

In the interview to which I was referencing in my prior above previous post, Babb seemed to downplay the statements by the ex-employees, Mr. dallaschiefsfan. Although he did say that he thought there was more to it than mere disgruntlement, he didn't indicate what that "more" was exactly.

There does seem to be some weird stuff going on. For example, the prohibition on conversations between department personnel is strange ... very strange, in fact. Yet, nobody seems to want to provide any supporting facts other than they "felt" uncomfortable.

If you have some fact stuff, I'd love to hear some, though.

FAX

Watergate meets Arrowhead, allegedly

Posted by Mike Florio on January 16, 2012, 10:28 PM EST

Getty Images
On one weekend every year, four highly-significant football games land on the NFL’s center stage. This year, as we were still digesting the epic Saints-49ers finish and a Broncos-Patriots game that never really got started, and while we were anticipating Texans-Ravens and Giants-Packers, the Kansas City Star nearly slipped a potential four-alarm story through the national five hole.

According to Kent Babb of the Star, former Chiefs coach Todd Haley believes that the team bugged rooms at the facility and “tampered with” Haley’s phone.

That’s the most compelling takeaway from a lengthy article that details many of the actual and/or perceived idiosyncrasies of the Scott Pioli regime. Much of the information comes from former employees who naturally aren’t happy with the changes that were made, no matter how unreasonable or reasonable or necessary or unnecessary they may have been.

But the most potentially powerful nugget, as culled by Peter King in his latest Monday Morning Quarterback, comes from Haley’s allegation of wiretapping.

Like Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men, it’s unwise to accuse the Nathan Jessups of the world of serious misconduct absent, you know, facts. If Haley believes that the Chiefs are bugging rooms and/or tapping phones, Haley needs to provide chapter-and-verse evidence.

If he’s right, people won’t simply lose their jobs; they’ll possibly land in jail, and for good reason.

The allegation is so inherently troublesome that we think the league should launch an immediate investigation. This is a far bigger issue than brazenly videotaping defensive coaching signals during games, the foundation of the “Spygate” scandal in New England. If Haley is right, the Chiefs have been violating state and federal law in the name of truly spying on their employees.

That’s why accusations of this nature shouldn’t be tossed around recklessly.

We’ll give Haley the benefit of the doubt and assume that he’s not embellishing, exaggerating, and/or fabricating. If the league reacts the same way, the investigation will have already begun.



getnickwrightnick wright

Good job by Florio. Calls for league investigation. He's right RT @ProFootballTalk Watergate meets Arrowhead literally http://wp.me/p14QSB-KQ4

It would be freakin' sweet if Pioli got tossed in jail.

Surely Clark can pin the blame on him.

After all, there was no wiretapping before Pioli arrived!

Sodomized by a 400 lb man, a fitting punishment for trading for Matt Cassel.

SEE YOU IN HELL, SCOTT

MikeSilver Michael Silver
If Scott Pioli was reading all my texts to Todd Haley... well, all I can say is, IT IS WHAT IT IS... @kentbabb

Pioli going to jail lol yeah right. It's more likely that Haley's paranoia about being bugged came from alcohol withdraw.

Pioli is from the "Spygate" era of New England.

The national media is way more on this than the local KC hacks. But there is no story there at all, right? LMAO

You trust Kevin Keitzman to talk about something other than his golf game?

Chiefs hoping the sunlight melts that snowball that's gathering speed, rolling downhill.

Company provided cell phone, just one of the perks we offer should you choose to come on as Offensive Coordinator.

Seriously, no one worth a **** is going to want to be a part of this perceived disaster.

From Deadspin;

The Kansas City Chiefs Might Have The Worst Workplace In America

The Kansas City Star came out with a story that paints a provocative, troubling picture of life in the Chiefs offices under Scott Pioli. To ensure no one would notice, they published it on Saturday night. But we're more than happy to dive in to the tales of a workplace gone mad with paranoia and secrecy—a place where Todd Haley is convinced his personal cell phone is being tapped, and comes off as a sympathetic figure. Think Airstrip One, just off I-70.

It all started when Pioli was hired away from the Patriots in 2009, after a decade of success and a major role in the Spygate scandal in New England. It had only been three years since Lamar Hunt's death, and the Chiefs were trying to chance the culture of the place. That meant splitting up the duties of business operations and football operations, and that wasn't what Scott Pioli wanted. If he was going to take the Chiefs job, he would insist on total control. In the end, he received it.

More here ...

http://deadspin.com/5876426/the-kans...ace-in-america

FAX

Good press. Piol...err...Scott (sorry, bud!!) should be proud.

Disaster of a PR year for that fat ****. Wish we could ship him back to NE.

And the team has done nothing PR wise about it. They could try to squash it real quick but they are just playing right along with it. That's the craziest part.

Maybe Clark is waiting for Pioli to fall on his sword and resign so he doesn't owe him shit.

What we have here is a failure to cmunicate

Upper management in KC is not very savvy in this regard, apparently.

Watch Scotty do something dumb and throw gasoline on the flames

What the **** is going on in here?

Seriously, Pioli could never work as a GM ever again if there are legal repercussions to this.

That would be ****ing awesome.

Fraud.

Its stupid on their part but they would rather strike fear over a candy wrapper instead of what the fan base and city thinks of them.

I'd be willing to bet nothing happens and this is nothing more than media sensationalism.

Why would that be awesome?

Because I hate him, and wish suffering upon him.

Seriously, what coordinator worth a shit is going to take the gig after this atrocity? Real or Not, Arrowgate is very very bad for this franchise.

I understand those feelings, but I'm just not there with Pioli. I want to see how all of this plays out before I overreact to anything.

There is, without a doubt, some truth to this in my mind. But I also think there are some major over exaggerations as well.

And you may very well right, but, would you take a job at a place that this kind of stuff is being accused of? Real or not, if you are talented at what you do (Football coach in this case), would this place be where you chose to work or would you either stay where you are or take another offer? I wouldnt work for a radio station that had questionable ethics, treating employees poorly, especially if I had choices.

I just dont see this as being a recruiting tool for a talented OC for KC. This is bad, exaggerated or not.

Yeah a GM getting arrested for committing a felony would be great for this franchise.

Yeah, it really feels like we are ****ed.

It would be ****ing awful.

The best thing that could come from this is Pioli sticks to the NFL side and Clark loosens up a bit on the other side.

That stadium next year is going to be a ghost town.

It would be awesome. Two less years to wait.

Yeah...no crazy additional revelations except that since I know two of Babb's interviewees, it's hard for me to take the "disgruntled employee" assumption seriously. The age-discrimination lawsuit people are a different story (unless the lawsuit has validity)...but the people I know are anything but bitter or in revenge mode. If anything, they're thankful for their time at Arrowhead.

At this point, I'd welcome a investigation by the NFL. I'd like to believe the Chiefs would be cleared of any wrongdoing, but if felonies were committed then those folks need to pay for their actions even if goes directly to Clark.
My personal opinion is that Haley was just flat out crazy. Why else would he continue to start Tyler Palko? Seriously, notice the speech differences from 2009 pressers compared to the 2011 editions. I'm not in the head-shrink profession, but I've been around enough folks with problems to know that's a sign of mental illness.
To the question of the employees. Yes, you're not going to look on someone favorably if you've been canned. The organization under Peterson had become a country club atmosphere where butts in the seats were the prime goal, not winning championships. Yes, change in that culture had to come and if you aren't on board, then get off the train.

I'll wait until April when you're back to sucking the BALLA ASS GM's dick.

SHICK,SHICK,BANG! SHICK,SHICK,BANG!

So my initial thought that the FO is just plain nuts! Yup, I was right!

This is getting out of hand.

KC brass needs to come out and say they do not do this.

And they need to clean up their act.

All we have heard for 3 years is how dysfunctional this front office is.

No one will come here to work at the rate this is going.

Sell,sell,sell

I am all ready to hate him too. I am close, but I am waiting to see what he does this offseason. I fully expect him to stick with Cassel, and when he does, it will be the final straw. That being said, I am going to give him that chance, even if the odds are very small he makes me happy.

I can't see how some don't see even the simple allegations of these facts to be the least bit damaging.

Honest question: who legitimately thinks this will not affect hiring for any position in the entire organization?

A story like this is bound to foster serious concerns in any reasonable, good-thinking, professional, NFL coach.

Assuming, of course, we contact any reasonable, good-thinking, professional, NFL coaches.

FAX

Hopefully Pioli is thinking of a way to pin all this on Matt Cassel.

I was going to point out that Al Davis got people to work for him but then I saw your qualifiers of reasonable, good-thinking, and professional.

Now it's on profootballtalk. Great

Because the Patriots know EXACTLY what it looks like when teams are spying...

If you think someone is bugging your office and personal phone, why not just go buy one of those "throwaway" phones at your local gas station/mini-mart?

That would be too easy...

I work for a Fortune 5 company. We take "governance" training 1 time per month. We monitor web access, company cell phones, and the whole 9 yards.

We also don't monitor the length of employee lunch breaks, who they're conversing with inside and outside of the workplace, or anything of the sort.

See, my company measures employees by their PERFORMANCE.

SUCCESSFUL companies don't operate the way you think they do. They certainly don't operate the way the Chiefs have been operating.

There's no place for logical or reasonable behavior, now is there?

It's hard to think clearly when you're CRAZY.

And why not workout before or after work so you aren't ridiculed for which stairwell you're seen in going to the facility gym? Just eat lunch by yourself so you don't have to worry about who your seen leaving with. It's quite simple really.

I agree that it's simple.

But should they REALLY have to focus on those things?

Wouldn't you rather employes of a football team are focusing on, oh I don't know...FOOTBALL?

Wouldn't a janitor's performance be judged by trash left on the floor for a week?

Normally, the manager would pick up a gum wrapper and ask the janitor about it in a weekly one-on-one or performance review.

A good manager wouldn't make a public spectacle of it.

Littered candy wrappers are just a sign that employees aren't getting their TPS reports in on time.

Sorry, I was being sarcastic. I think it's a joke.

Luxury sedan - check
Button down, slacks - check
401k - check
gas station throw away phone - check

Yesterday, Nick Wright played a portion of Pioli's interview with Fescoe where Pioli admits he has "a million" different jobs to assist the organization. It was quite revealing.

What the story didn't say was that written inside the wrapper was "A 2nd for Cassel?? WTF??"

It was actually CASSEL'S wrapper.

How was it made a public spectacle?

I'm not saying Pioli can do no wrong but the gum wrapper story is just someones butt hurt.

Found some funny/interesting tweets over this.

Uh oh...

The pressure to win & win now is like the heat of a 1000 suns
Peyton Manning is going to be wooed like the last woman alive

This is going to be a 100 page thread when this is all said and done. Pioli must be shitting the bed right now, even if the story is true or not.

C'mon, man, you're better than this.

I think you misunderstood my comment.

When I said "public" I meant the whole of the KC Chiefs INTERNAL management staff, not the public as in the media and fans.

A good, effective manager would have picked up the wrapper (probably immediately) and mentioned it to the janitorial employee at a 1-on-1 or something.

Instead, Pioli leaves it there and waits to see if someone picks it up - it's "bait" at that point. THAT activity right there is a good indication of Pioli's personality, but I digress.

After waiting for a good period of time, he picks it up, puts it in an envelope and then brings it out at an EXECUTIVE meeting, as if to say "see the lazy good for nothing people we have working here?"

That's not effective management and it's a hilariously silly way to run a company, let alone a football team.

Stephanie Melton said it best in the article:

“He was so focused on what seemed like unimportant details for the general manager of a football team,” she said. “We all had to step to the beat of his drum, but we all kept questioning: ‘How is this building a better football team?’

Better than what?

The reason the Patriots are so paranoid about people taping their practices is because THEY did it.

GTFO with this.

Things will really get ugly if (when?) Cassel is the starter next and he struggles.

Maybe he will get a new qb to take attention away from this

The Patriots were penalized for openly filming games from the sideline, not for secretly taping other teams' practices. Even the allegations about the walkthrough were found to be baseless and resulted in the accusing paper making a complete retraction. My mistake, though. You USED to be better than this. That's apparently no longer the case.

"He left it there" what does that mean really? I figure he walked past it and thought "My crack clean up crew will be along to police this area anytime now." or something like that. But after a couple of days when it was still there he thought "Where's my cleanup crew? Then at the end of the week he was like "WTF?" So he used it as a tool to get his point across to all the department heads not just the guy responsible for trash pickup. And since the wrapper was there for a week someone wasn't doing their job very well. I just don't see this as a deal.

If I was the new GM I'd want to get everyone to step to the beat of the same drum. And since I would be the GM it would be my drum so :shrug:

This certainly isn't going over well with the fans but just wait until a little over a month from now when it's announced Cassel will be the starter for 2012.

Yep. My take is Pioli is passive/aggressive, and those are the worst people to work for or to be in a relationship with. I bet his wife is miserable.

He's not passive aggressive, he's aggressive and ego-maniacal to the max.

That's why he lost his shit over someone accidentally occupying his parking space.

You'd be pissed too if Clark Hunt made you pay $30 a day to park!

We need more details from the people who are saying these things.

This means nothing without some details. How was this person mentally abused?

Unless people step forward with some stories supported by facts all this stuff is just butt hurt to me.

I'd like to hear what happened to make people think their phones are tapped or the rooms are bugged. Saying they feel that way with no contributing story or evidence is just a bunch of BS. It could be true but where's the evidence?

Wow, that's crazy. Guess Fatlock was right bout EGOli.

He also made them feel for days that he was going to fire them without truly talking to them about it and then letting it go (At least thats how the article made it out to be). Passive/Aggressive...Not picking up the wrapper and waiting for someone to do it and seeing how long it would take instead of picking it up and speaking to jhis janitor and employees about it, thats also passive/aggressive behavior. However, I do agree with you that hes ego-manical as well