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-   -   Chiefs Peter Kings take on Pioli... (https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=268583)

Chief Gump 01-07-2013 09:38 AM

Peter Kings take on Pioli...
 
Quote:

My Take on Pioli ...

Yes, it was inevitable that the Chiefs fired Scott Pioli, whose top three decisions in a four-year Chiefs run (hiring Todd Haley, trading for Matt Cassel, hiring Romeo Crennel) all turned out to be wrong. He trusted Cassel a long time, and by the time he knew he needed to get a quarterback, it was too late. He passed on some good prospects, as did many teams (Andy Dalton, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson); maybe he didn't think outside the box enough at the game's most important position.

And Pioli was too private for his own good in what has become an increasingly public job. When Haley last year implied that Pioli wiretapped his phones, an outrageous and baseless allegation, Pioli let a team statement stand for his response instead of coming out swinging. But the vitriol chasing him out the door was over the top. He's a good man who didn't win enough. The personal attacks I just don't get.

I know Pioli well, and many of you will say, "He's just sticking up for Pioli because he likes him." Well, I have known Pioli for a long time, and yes, I do like him. I like a lot of people I cover. I can see when a man's getting kicked too much, and this is one of those times. Final point for those who believe Pioli left the cupboard bare: Think there's a reason the hottest ex-head coach on the market, Andy Reid, didn't consider any other jobs after he was offered the Kansas City deal?



Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl...#ixzz2HIuxlaaT
Andy Reid took the job because he has the top pick in the draft and will have tons of cap room as soon as he drops Cassel and Jackson. He took it because the Chiefs have an awesome running back who fits his scheme and was here before Pioli ever thought of stepping foot around here. Houston is the only pick Pioli can really take credit for for hitting an out of the park type of player. Berry is the only other player he drafted that has been better then average and he was a 5th pick in the draft. Who would have ****ed that pick up? **** Pioli.

Rausch 01-07-2013 09:39 AM

King-Sized Peter is a joke...

Imon Yourside 01-07-2013 09:40 AM

Too much Killer and no Clown, meh.

siberian khatru 01-07-2013 09:40 AM

OK, enough with the "Team-Killer" stuff. It's making it impossible to read stories.

TinyEvel 01-07-2013 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by siberian khatru (Post 9291427)
OK, enough with the "Team-Killer" stuff. It's making it impossible to read stories.

THIS THIS THIS

siberian khatru 01-07-2013 09:41 AM

Oh, and GFY, Peter King.

Chief Roundup 01-07-2013 09:42 AM

It is time for the team killer shit to go away.

Agent V 01-07-2013 09:42 AM

Funny how King is the only one coming to his defense.

Chief Gump 01-07-2013 09:42 AM

I didn't even notice all that Team Killer crap till after I posted. LMAO

Easy 6 01-07-2013 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by siberian khatru (Post 9291427)
OK, enough with the "Team-Killer" stuff. It's making it impossible to read stories.

THIS

Buehler445 01-07-2013 09:45 AM

**** that noise. He was a complete and total assbag here. Pissoli took over a ****ing shit ass franchise. ****ing shit. And somehow, not sure how, left the goddamn thing worse than when he got here. That is a monumental task.

The failure is one thing, but the tremendous ****baggery that he carried on about here with was really something. There was enough smoke around for there to be fire. **** this shit King. Just let sleeping dogs lie. Everybody here is excited about Reid, nobody else in the NFL gives two ****s about Pissoli. Just let it lie buddy.

TEX 01-07-2013 09:45 AM

But...but...but...THE RAMS! (EVERYTHING GOOD ALL THE TIME)

KCFalcon59 01-07-2013 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by siberian khatru (Post 9291433)
Oh, and GFY, Peter King.

And This!!!

the Talking Can 01-07-2013 09:46 AM

yeah, fans are the assholes...not the worst gm in the league who stole $30 million

king sucks more pioli yam than matt cassel

TEX 01-07-2013 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buehler445 (Post 9291444)
**** that noise. He was a complete and total assbag here. Pissoli took over a ****ing shit ass franchise. ****ing shit. And somehow, not sure how, left the goddamn thing worse than when he got here. That is a monumental task.

The failure is one thing, but the tremendous ****baggery that he carried on about here with was really something. There was enough smoke around for there to be fire. **** this shit King. Just let sleeping dogs lie. Everybody here is excited about Reid, nobody else in the NFL gives two ****s about Pissoli. Just let it lie buddy.

:clap: Exactly this.
Just like to add that King doesn't know what he doesn't know concerning Pioli in KC. He needs to STFU.

htismaqe 01-07-2013 09:49 AM

The reason Pioli never confronted the allegations head on is because most of them were 100% true.

Dude can't trust anybody, that's HIS problem, not everybody else's.

007 01-07-2013 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by siberian khatru (Post 9291427)
OK, enough with the "Team-Killer" stuff. It's making it impossible to read stories.

I prefer to call him Polio. Same result too.

Deberg_1990 01-07-2013 09:52 AM

Well...i used to like Peter King.......What a completely uniformed, bias take this was.


GTFO Peter

Brock 01-07-2013 09:55 AM

He took Peterson's dumpster fire and turned into a mile wide smoking crater. Stop being so hard on him!

Iowanian 01-07-2013 09:55 AM

Well Petah,

Let's look at Pioli's successful draft picks and player acquisitions. Now that we've completed that in 3 seconds, take a gander at what Pioli did with the community and fan relations, how he treated existing Chiefs staff. He brought in a turd quarterback, fought with the coach he brought in, replaced him with a puppet coach and the team did a steady nose dive from the day Pioli arrived.

He's been a prick and unsuccessful.

I spent some time with a friend from Connecticut this week, and found out a lot of people out there refer to anyone in a car with a Mass plate a "masshole".

What a perfect name for Pioli-Americans.

Fire Me Boy! 01-07-2013 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chief Gump (Post 9291420)
Andy Reid took the job because he has the top pick in the draft and will have tons of cap room as soon as he drops Cassel and Jackson. He took it because the Chiefs have an awesome running back who fits his scheme and was here before 'Team-killer' Pioli ever thought of stepping foot around here. Houston is the only pick 'Team-killer' Pioli can really take credit for for hitting an out of the park type of player. Berry is the only other player he drafted that has been better then average and he was a 5th pick in the draft. Who would have ****ed that pick up? **** 'Team-killer' Pioli.

Tyson Jackson says, "Hi."

DeezNutz 01-07-2013 09:59 AM

Gaiz, quit being meen to Scottie! He triz.

Frazod 01-07-2013 10:02 AM

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...sRuYi1VJb3oMJS

the Talking Can 01-07-2013 10:04 AM

Reid took the job because Clark didn't blink when Reid said "total control...7 million"

the idea it had anything to do with pioli's epic failure - 4 years to go from 2-14 to 2-14 - could only be imagined by a 300lb bukakke target

Agent V 01-07-2013 10:05 AM

I mean, what is the point of this? To scold everyone who dislikes him because he's your friend, Peter? He can defend himself if he would like. Reports of his character and personality have been consistently negative since he arrived.

DeezNutz 01-07-2013 10:07 AM

I highly doubt that Pioli tapped anyone's phone. But to focus on this singular outlandish claim is to miss the entire point, which King aptly did.

Pioil created such a ****ed up work environment that otherwise sane people believed Big Brother was literally on their personal phones. That's how toxic Fat Scott made Arrowhead. That's what a ****ing failure that he is.

But he tries, right King? Go **** yourself you worthless POS.

Buehler445 01-07-2013 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeezNutz (Post 9291516)
I highly doubt that 'Team-killer' Pioli tapped anyone's phone. But to focus on this singular outlandish claim is to miss the entire point, which King aptly did.

Pioil created such a ****ed up work environment that otherwise sane people believed Big Brother was literally on their personal phones. That's how toxic Fat Scott made Arrowhead. That's what a ****ing failure that he is.

But he tries, right King? Go **** yourself you worthless POS.

Not to mention there are people SUEING his ****ing **** ass because of age discrimination.

siberian khatru 01-07-2013 10:11 AM

King's not interested in doing any minimal reporting to answer his own question about "personal attacks." He's got Pissoli's side of the story, that's good enough for him.

Pissoli is bigger than KC, KC doesn't matter. What matters is protecting the Pissoli myth and seeing it propagated in another city.

SAUTO 01-07-2013 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeezNutz (Post 9291516)
I highly doubt that 'Team-killer' Pioli tapped anyone's phone. But to focus on this singular outlandish claim is to miss the entire point, which King aptly did.

Pioil created such a ****ed up work environment that otherwise sane people believed Big Brother was literally on their personal phones. That's how toxic Fat Scott made Arrowhead. That's what a ****ing failure that he is.

But he tries, right King? Go **** yourself you worthless POS.

x1

Fire Me Boy! 01-07-2013 10:12 AM

I'm posting this here just because I didn't want to make a thread about it...

I hate the auto-change to "Team-Killer." Almost as much as I hate the smiley for Super-Man. I shouldn't have to intentionally misspell something to keep the damn system from changing what I write; it should be the other way around. If I want to use the Superman smiley, then I can use the tags like every other smiley on this board.

DeezNutz 01-07-2013 10:14 AM

Agreed. The filter was cool for about five minutes.

Deberg_1990 01-07-2013 10:18 AM

Wait until the Chiefs lose a game or they happen to be 4-6 or something...and King will write something like "See, told ya so Chiefs fans....be careful what you wish for, the grass isnt always greener"

Brace yourselves.

HemiEd 01-07-2013 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by siberian khatru (Post 9291427)
OK, enough with the "Team-Killer" stuff. It's making it impossible to read stories.

This, it is tiring. It ceased to be funny after a couple of hours. Please mods, fix it.

RealSNR 01-07-2013 10:19 AM

Where can I contact Peter "Sofa" King?

I have one or two thoughts I want to share with him.

RealSNR 01-07-2013 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HemiEd (Post 9291554)
This, it is tiring. It ceased to be funny after a couple of hours. Please mods, fix it.

Also, bring back Draft Planet to the main Lounge page

dirk digler 01-07-2013 10:20 AM

Hopefully since he is gone some of the employees will speak on the record about what was going on. That would be an interesting read.

DeezNutz 01-07-2013 10:22 AM

Would love to read an extensive interview with Denny Thum about his last days with the Chiefs.

Oh Snap 01-07-2013 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chief Gump (Post 9291420)
Andy Reid took the job because he has the top pick in the draft and will have tons of cap room as soon as he drops Cassel and Jackson. He took it because the Chiefs have an awesome running back who fits his scheme and was here before 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' Pioli ever thought of stepping foot around here. Houston is the only pick 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' Pioli can really take credit for for hitting an out of the park type of player. Berry is the only other player he drafted that has been better then average and he was a 5th pick in the draft. Who would have ****ed that pick up? **** 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' Pioli.

4 of our 5 pro-bowlers this year were here BEFORE 'Team-killer' Pioli came to KC. Bowe, Albert, DJ, Hali, Flowers, and Charles, are our biggest player makers, and they were here before 'Team-killer' Pioli. You could also throw in Carr, but 'Team-killer' Pioli let him walk out the door. In that time, 'Team-killer' Pioli drafted Tyson Jackson (third overall), Donatari Powe, Baldwin, and Berry. Only one of those players he drafted is any "good". And it was because it was one of the most obvious choices in the entire draft. We have the talent we have on this team DESPITE Scott Pioli.

The idea that 'Team-killer' Pioli is responsible for the talent level on this team is absolutely laughable! Getting rid of solid good players (Carr, Waters, etc.) while bringing over crappy players (Cassel alone is enough to invoke vomit) means 'Team-killer' Pioli pretty much made us worse, not better. People like Peter King need to face facts when it comes to fat Scott. He utterly failed as a general manager for this team..

HemiEd 01-07-2013 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirk digler (Post 9291563)
Hopefully since he is gone some of the employees will speak on the record about what was going on. That would be an interesting read.

They are probably all still a little paranoid and it might take them a while to get used to working in a normal work environment. They might even be able to work with the window shades open now.

ModSocks 01-07-2013 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by siberian khatru (Post 9291427)
OK, enough with the "Team-Killer" stuff. It's making it impossible to read stories.

This. It's pretty irritating.

Buehler445 01-07-2013 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeezNutz (Post 9291565)
Would love to read an extensive interview with Denny Thum about his last days with the Chiefs.

I'd love to buy the dude a beer and see what comes up.

Mr. Flopnuts 01-07-2013 10:31 AM

I haven't read the thread, but **** Peter King. Reid didn't want anywhere else because RoboCarl and Herman ****ing Edwards stocked this team for Pioli. Pioli did nothing with it. **** King, and mother**** Pioli!

boogblaster 01-07-2013 10:31 AM

petey knows peties .....

Hammock Parties 01-07-2013 10:33 AM

http://i.imgur.com/AbS1W.jpg

DeezNutz 01-07-2013 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buehler445 (Post 9291574)
I'd love to buy the dude a beer and see what comes up.

NTTAWWT.

Hammock Parties 01-07-2013 10:36 AM

At Pioli's Nuremberg trials, Peter King will be one of the first on the stand to be judged.

ChiefsCountry 01-07-2013 10:36 AM

The team killer shit needs to go.

Shag 01-07-2013 10:38 AM

Someone needs to send King the Pioli doc...

RealSNR 01-07-2013 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoWalrus (Post 9291608)
At 'Team-killer' Pioli's Nuremberg trials, Peter King will be one of the first on the stand to be judged.

Who was the highest-ranking Nazi to stand trial? Was it Goering?

DTHOF 01-07-2013 10:43 AM

The only reason he come to his defense is because he is a big time Patriot Way homer. Look where he came from and lives for crying out loud.

Frazod 01-07-2013 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SNR (Post 9291624)
Who was the highest-ranking Nazi to stand trial? Was it Goering?

Speaking of Nazis, I think somebody needs to make a Hitler parody about Pioli's firing.

bobbything 01-07-2013 10:45 AM

Peter King needs to not write about this...ever. He's obviously too close to the situation and is incapable of writing without interjecting his bias. I mean, bringing up the whole Haley "wire tapping" thing just to take a shot at Todd Haley is lame, at best. It's weak sauce because it's irrelevant to the situation.

If Peter King really wants to tackle that issue, he should talk to the countless Chiefs employees who loathed going into work because they shared, if not the same, similar type fears within the work environment that Scott Pioli fostered. The Haley story isn't anecdotal. I know a few Chiefs employees and they all said that Pioli had created a culture of fear.

Reading this makes me angry. King should know better. I think, as a journalist, what he did was unethical. He got personal and took advantage of his status as a public figure. Jack Harry does this all the time and it's just awful.

King needs to keep his fat mouth shut.

Hammock Parties 01-07-2013 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SNR (Post 9291624)
Who was the highest-ranking Nazi to stand trial? Was it Goering?

It would have to be Goring or Karl Donitz, leader of the Kriegsmarine.

Rudolf Hess was also Deputy Führer.

Highest surviving SS-leader was Ernst Kaltenbrunner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Trials

I don't think we'll ever know anything about the members of Pioli's Arrowhead SS. Those guys are ghosts now.

Hammock Parties 01-07-2013 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frazod (Post 9291637)
Speaking of Nazis, I think somebody needs to make a Hitler parody about 'Team-killer' Pioli's firing.

Welcome to 3 months ago.

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fEsnLeOKyyU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Lzen 01-07-2013 10:47 AM

A Refresher Is In Order
 
Arrowhead anxiety: Turnover off the field causes concern

By KENT BABB

The Kansas City Star

Todd Haley walked into the public relations office at Chiefs headquarters on a Thursday in early December. Four days before he was fired as the team’s coach, he wanted to talk about what life was like inside this organization. But he didn’t know who else might be listening.

Looking up toward the ceiling, he darted into a back hallway before hesitating. Then he turned around, going back through a door and stopping again. Haley suspected that many rooms at the team facility were bugged so that team administrators could monitor employees’ conversations. Stopping finally in a conference room, Haley said he believed his personal cellphone, a line he used before being hired by the Chiefs in 2009, had been tampered with.

Paranoid? The Chiefs have adamantly denied that they tap phones or listen in on conversations. But as the team enters another period of transition after elevating defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel last week to head coach, interviews with more than two dozen current and former employees suggest that intimidation and secrecy are among the Chiefs’ principal management styles — and that Haley wasn’t the only one with paranoid thoughts.

“When you’re mentally abused, you eventually lose it, too,” one former longtime Chiefs executive said.

Since Scott 'Team-killer' Pioli was hired as general manager in January 2009, life for many inside the Chiefs’ front office has been marked by massive staff turnover, fear and insecurity about how closely they are watched. Numerous current and former staffers paint a picture of constant worry — and, in a few cases, of alleged age discrimination. Three former department heads sued the Chiefs in 2011, though the team has denied wrongdoing.

Clark Hunt, the team’s chairman and CEO, rejected the notion that Arrowhead is a difficult place to work, but he said there has been an emphasis placed on responsibility. Change, he said, is often uncomfortable.
“We needed a culture that pursued excellence,” he said. “One that valued honesty and integrity, one where the employees would be held accountable.”

Stability has been another matter. In the last three years, more than half the workforce has turned over, and the vast majority of senior staff members are no longer with the team. As dozens have left the organization, with some of the holdovers and new hires trying to adapt to what many described as a restrictive working environment, dread has permeated the franchise.

“The level of paranoia was probably the highest that I had ever seen it anywhere,” another former high-ranking staffer said. “… If you make the wrong step, you might not be able to pay your mortgage.”

• • •

Three years ago, 'Team-killer' Pioli began ushering in a new culture on Arrowhead Drive. It centered on secrecy, extreme attention to detail and putting an end to the way things had been under longtime general manager Carl Peterson.

“Part of it is not only changing the culture of your football team and your locker room,” 'Team-killer' Pioli told USA Today in August 2009. “It’s changing the culture of all the things that touch your football team and your locker room.”

Some of the first changes involved shutting off access and protecting information. Non-football employees, including those who had worked for the Chiefs for decades, were told that they weren’t allowed on certain floors, or in certain areas of the team facility. Business-side staffers with an office window facing the practice fields were made to keep their shades drawn during practices. The team president was no exception. A security guard made the rounds during practices, sometimes interrupting phone calls and meetings to lower shades.

Chiefs president Mark Donovan said his shade is drawn for the sake of consistency, to give the impression that no business-side employee is trusted more or less than another.

“This is making sure that everybody feels the same,” he said.
'Team-killer' Pioli’s background was with the New England Patriots, a team known for its devotion to privacy and bending the rules. As he promised, the environment changed. Some said it changed too much.

“It’s not Lamar Hunt’s organization anymore,” said Steve Schneider, the former stadium operations director who spent 14 years with the Chiefs before being fired in 2010, he said, for being disorganized.

'Team-killer' Pioli, who was not made available by the team for this story, has said in the past that the changes were about ending a period of entitlement and emphasizing accountability. Those were the things, he repeated often, that lead a team to victories and championships.

During his first year, 'Team-killer' Pioli noticed a candy wrapper in a back stairwell and waited to see how long it took to be picked up. About a week passed, and it remained in the stairwell. He placed the wrapper in an envelope, and during a meeting of department heads, Donovan, then the team’s chief operating officer, brandished the wrapper as evidence of the attention to detail that Chiefs employees had grown to ignore.

“A great coaching moment,” Donovan said.

Some thought the example was overblown. 'Team-killer' Pioli frequently came down hard on minutiae. Some emphases made sense, some staffers said; others, though, seemed over the top. One executive, who’s no longer with the team, was sent to human resources for casually referring to 'Team-killer' Pioli by his last name; the executive said, however, that first names were acceptable. 'Team-killer' Pioli also sent a memo with detailed instructions, including which stairway to use and which doorway to enter, when using the facility’s gym.

After a while, a saying was adopted by top administrators for behavior that didn’t fit the new standards: “That’s so 2-and-14,” they would say, referring to the Chiefs’ win-loss record in 2008. This pertained to matters large and small: Stephanie Melton, who worked 11 years on the team’s operations staff, recalled 'Team-killer' Pioli’s reaction after she and a coworker, after working past midnight on a weekend, had parked a courier van in the unmarked space usually occupied by 'Team-killer' Pioli’s car. The women had forgotten to move it, and 'Team-killer' Pioli was livid the next morning. Melton said she was made to feel for several days that she’d be fired.

“There was an incredible fear of saying and doing the wrong thing,” said a former business-side executive, who was among a group of sources who requested anonymity — in some cases because they still worked for the Chiefs, and in others because they believed their comments might hinder their chances of getting another job in sports.

Some, though, paid little attention to the changes. Mike Davidson, who left the team last year after 22 years as equipment manager, said the new policies never seemed overbearing to him.

“Everybody has a style,” he said, “and it’s your job to figure out that style. I didn’t have any problems.”

A few former employees, though they don’t deny that the working environment was tense, said they believed 'Team-killer' Pioli and Donovan simply carried out changes that Clark Hunt, a graduate of the results-oriented Goldman Sachs training program, had authorized.

“It’s professional football, and I do think that it can be a bit of a pressure cooker,” said Tammy Fruits, who resigned in October as the team’s vice president of sales and marketing. “To attribute that to Scott 'Team-killer' Pioli is unfair.”

Donovan said Hunt’s instructions were clear — and necessary.
“Really focus on integrity and accountability,” Donovan recalled Hunt suggesting. “He felt like we needed to take this place and focus on those two areas.”

But many saw 'Team-killer' Pioli as the face of the new way — and of overreaction. Melton said she frequently took the brunt of 'Team-killer' Pioli’s outbursts on such matters as the temperature in his office, the radio signal in the weight room, and how much the organization spent annually on coffee.

Ray Farmer, the Chiefs’ pro personnel director, said his boss is thorough — sometimes surprisingly so. He said that’s a good thing.

“In some instances,” Farmer said, “you could say that he’s a micromanager to a degree. I think he likes to know what information is and what you’re doing. … Scott wants to know, like as a math teacher, ‘How did you get to your problem; how did you get to the answer of the problem?’ ”
Hunt agreed.

“I believe that good leaders do bring an attention to detail to their leadership roles,” he said. “And something that I think we struggled with before both Mark and Scott got here was attention to detail. If you set an example with attention to detail, I think it spreads through the organization.”

Melton had a different opinion, saying 'Team-killer' Pioli’s fixation on trivial matters seemed misguided.

“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?’ ”

Nothing was emphasized like the commitment to secrecy. 'Team-killer' Pioli was with the Patriots in 2007, when that organization and its head coach, Bill Belichick, were disciplined for the “Spygate” controversy, in which one of the team’s video assistants secretly filmed signals by the New York Jets’ coaches. Belichick, 'Team-killer' Pioli’s mentor and a longtime friend, was fined $500,000 — the maximum-allowed fine by the NFL — for his role in the scandal.

When 'Team-killer' Pioli took over the Chiefs, he seemed determined to eliminate the chance of a competitor spying on his team. This past November, a security guard noticed a sedan stopped on Lancer Lane, a public road that runs adjacent to the Chiefs’ practice fields, as the team’s morning session was beginning. The driver took a photograph on his cell phone, and the guard ran toward him, standing there until the man deleted the picture. As the guard returned to his post, he told a Star reporter that, if the man hadn’t erased the photo, the guard would’ve confiscated the phone.

Donovan said the efforts to control team information have a purpose.
“You may think it’s harmless,” he said when asked about some of the measures, such as lowering window shades. “Other people may think it’s very harmful to our competitive advantage.”

Then he continued.

“It’s about winning.”

• • •

This past year, Haley stopped talking on the phone and repeatedly checked his office for listening devices. After being fired, Haley didn’t respond to interview requests; many former staffers said they signed confidentiality agreements upon being let go.

The Chiefs said there’s nothing to substantiate Haley’s fears, but some believed that anything was possible.

“I don’t think that anything would surprise anyone, really,” said a former employee who worked for the Chiefs for more than two decades. “That’s how Scott wants it.”

A common notion is that employees are constantly being watched. When they arrive and leave, where they’re going within the building and who they’re talking to. Indeed, the technology exists at the Chiefs’ offices, as it does in many corporate settings, to monitor phone calls and emails. But here, some staffers even hesitated before using their cell phones or speaking inside the building, because, like Haley, they suspected that conversations were monitored.

“The capability was definitely there for Big Brother to be watching,” said Schneider, whose job was to oversee maintenance at team facilities.
Added Pete Penland, who worked in operations before retiring: “I just know that some of our bosses had always told us: Be careful what we did, what we said and where we were at in certain parts of the building.”

Donovan denied that conversations are monitored or that the building is bugged. He said that in cases of suspected policy breaches or criminal activity, phone logs have been requested.

“I’m not going to say that we’ve never done it, but it’s not something we do,” Donovan said. “It’s not how we operate this business.”

The capability was installed during Peterson’s tenure, one source said, for the Chiefs to monitor emails, web traffic and call logs. Willie Davis, a current Chiefs scout hired by Peterson, said a former colleague was reprimanded during the previous regime for emails sent to another team’s scout. But a former Chiefs executive, who was familiar with the team’s policies under Peterson, said calls and emails weren’t routinely monitored. The technology was used more for flagging inappropriate material, such as pornographic websites.

But in the last three years, another former staffer said, printouts of emails, some of them months old, were occasionally requested. The former employee said the belief was that the Chiefs were trying to discover who could be trusted and who couldn’t, who was loyal to the cause and who was a liability. 'Team-killer' Pioli pored over former president Denny Thum’s call log, a former high-ranking employee said, before Thum was asked to resign in September 2010 after 36 years with the team.

Thum declined comment when reached by telephone.

Kirsten Krug, the team’s human resources director, said that no current or former employee has shared uneasiness that conversations were monitored. Hunt said no employee, past or present, has broached this concern with him — including Haley.

But the suspicion was prevalent enough that, when some staffers wanted to speak candidly, they set appointments with coworkers to meet outside the building so they could talk face-to-face. Others, trying to skirt an impression that employees shouldn’t fraternize with those from different departments, occasionally left the facility at different times, in different cars, so that team administrators wouldn’t know they were having lunch together.

“I don’t think that’s ever been an issue for me. I know that people have done it,” Farmer said. “They don’t want to be seen going with this person or that person. I understand — I hate to say this — I understand the process that some people felt they needed to take, but again, I never kind of adhered to that behavior.”

Donovan said the widespread suspicions were unfounded.

“I can’t control their beliefs,” he said.

Hunt was more direct.

“It’s not true at all,” he said.

Still, other staffers were nervous that someone might report to administrators that they were at a place with people they weren’t supposed to associate with.

“Every day,” a former longtime staffer said, “you walked into the building like you were going to be put on the witness stand and be cross-examined, and you didn’t know who it was going to be coming from.”

For some, the pressure was more difficult to deal with than others.
“Whether it’s a licensed professional or somebody else,” the employee said, “hell yeah, you’d better talk to somebody. Because you’ll go crazy.”

• • •

In January 2010, the worry was amplified and legitimized by a series of staff cuts. When 'Team-killer' Pioli took over, there were 19 employees in director or vice president positions. Many of them had been with the Chiefs for decades. Three years later, only three — Farmer, video operations director Pat Brazil, and special-events director Gary Spani, a former Chiefs player — are still in executive positions.

“As they term it out there,” Schneider said, “I was the class of ’10.”
A year later, the “class of ’11” was let go. More senior staffers were shown the door, in the form of layoffs, firings and resignations. When the 2008 season began, before 'Team-killer' Pioli arrived, the staff roster in the team’s media guide listed 155 employees, not including coaches and players, working for the Chiefs. More than three years later, 82 of those staffers are gone, though most positions have been filled, in some cases with modified titles.

“Scott did give me a chance to kind of earn my job and do what I’m doing,” Farmer said. “He could’ve parted ways with me. Why he didn’t, I think that’s probably a better question for him. But I would like to think that it’s more based on my work product and what I’m able to accomplish.”
Donovan said the changes were aimed at improving the organization from top to bottom.

“Trying to be the best in the National Football League at what we do,” he said. “So that’s going to come with people who get on board and thrive, and it’s going to come with people who feel like it’s not something they want to participate in, or maybe can’t.”

Sure, the cuts have come during a down economy, and turnover is typical during an organizational change. Donovan said such change, even at the top, is common in sports. But when The Star examined the staff rosters of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, teams that also overhauled their franchises in 2009, it found that those organizations left senior staff mostly untouched. Even the Atlanta Falcons, another team influenced by a former executive from the Patriots’ lineage, have made only a few changes to senior staff in the four years since Thomas Dimitroff became GM. The Broncos and Falcons reached the playoffs this season.

Any Chiefs employee who had once worked for Peterson was on alert.
“I just saw everybody else kind of disappearing,” said a former executive who had been hired by Peterson. “… When you’re on the outside, it’s pretty obvious you’re on the outside.”

The team has had a different public relations chief, the franchise’s conduit to media and fans, in each of 'Team-killer' Pioli’s three years.

Three of the Chiefs’ former high-ranking staffers — former community-relations director Brenda Sniezek, former controller Larry Clemmons and former maintenance manager Steve Cox — have sued the organization for age discrimination. In Sniezek’s suit, filed in December, she alleged that she overheard 'Team-killer' Pioli telling a coworker that he planned to “get rid of everyone who was with Carl Peterson, especially anyone over the age of 40.”

Sniezek, 52, alleged that she asked the team’s PR staff to remove all references to her age on her biography. Reached by The Star late last month, Sniezek said that because of the suit, which sought damages of at least $25,000, she wouldn’t discuss her nearly 29-year tenure with the Chiefs, and how it changed after Hunt put 'Team-killer' Pioli in charge.
“There will be a time, and all of this will come out,” said Sniezek, who was let go last January.

Clemmons’ petition, filed in November, alleged that he was informed upon being asked to retire that, “You’re the last.”

Because of legal restrictions, Donovan said he couldn’t discuss the suits, other than referring to a statement in which he said the claims “are both baseless and ridiculous.”

“The plaintiff’s claims are completely false,” the statement read, “and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves.”

In the Chiefs’ answer to Cox’s petition, the team denied his allegations. Cox’s attorney, Lewis Galloway, said depositions will begin this week.

• • •

Before Christmas, a group of about 20 gathered at a cafe in Independence. They were mostly former Chiefs staffers, although some current employees also attended, and they came together to reminisce. They called it a reunion.

“It didn’t matter which department you were in,” said Cox, who is Melton’s father, “everybody would pull together. It was amazing.”
Now, Schneider said, most employees simply keep to themselves. He said staffers used to volunteer to help coworkers out of a jam. If there was snow in the stadium, colleagues from other departments ran down to help shovel it out. Those days, he said, are gone.

“It got to a point where people just kept their heads down, didn’t want to go outside the box and jeopardize getting in trouble,” Schneider said.
He went on.

“I still get calls from people who are still there,” he said. “All I can say is, ‘I feel for you.’ ”

Several former staffers admitted that it’s difficult being without a job, particularly one in sports. But some said leaving the new Chiefs was more about relief than regret.

“I sleep a hell of a lot better at night,” a former employee said.

The Chiefs said they’re happy now with the team’s direction. But there hasn’t been a significant improvement in the one area that Donovan said the changes were intended to support — the team’s win-loss record. The Chiefs finished 7-9 in 'Team-killer' Pioli’s third season, the team’s second losing season since the changes began. Still, Donovan said the organization is in better shape compared to three years ago.

“There are a lot of people who have been here longer than I’ve been here,” he said, “who will sit there and tell you that it’s a much better place to work today.”

In addition to the more than two dozen independent interviews conducted by The Star, the Chiefs arranged phone interviews with eight current employees. Farmer and Davis were among those, and their interviews were the only two conducted without a Chiefs PR staffer present. Each of the employees spoke favorably about the working environment and the team’s direction. The team emphasized that the employees were not coached on what to say.

One of those was Allen Wright, the team’s equipment manager, who was with the Chiefs when Peterson took over in 1988. Back then, the Chiefs also overhauled the staff: Three years later, 62 percent of the staff had been retained, but seven of 10 department heads had been replaced. The organization was smaller then, but Wright recalled a similar reaction to the changes.

“I remember the same feelings and people saying the same things,” he said. “I was a young kid working in the equipment department, and everybody was talking about how everybody was worried about getting fired. … Any time there’s change, that’s just the feeling that people have.”

• • •

On that Thursday in December, when Haley’s suspicions peaked, the former Chiefs coach said he would be in touch to discuss the working environment — but that it would be from a number you didn’t recognize. Haley’s call never came, but in the time since, others have questioned how productive he could have been if he was so preoccupied with who might be watching him.

“No one could be successful in that environment,” a former director-level employee said.

Melton left the Chiefs in 2010 after arriving at a similar conclusion. More than a year later, she was asked if she could see any benefit from the changes. After a long pause, she answered.

“I’m sure there’s some good that has come out of it,” she said. “I would be hard-pressed to be able to identify that right now, without really thinking about it. I don’t think our football team is any better; I don’t think our fans are being any more well-served.”

She paused again.

“I couldn’t tell you,” she said. “I’m sorry. I’m not very helpful in that regard.”

Melton was at the reunion last month. She said they talked about how much they missed working together. She said they tried not to dwell on stressful times, but there were plenty of things that former staffers said they wouldn’t miss about working for the Chiefs.

“I don’t miss being scared to go in every day,” one former staffer said. “Thinking, ‘Who’s going to yell at me now?’ It’s so sad, because it was a great job. There was a time that it was a great place.”


To reach Kent Babb, call 816-234-4386 or send email to kbabb@kcstar.com. Follow him at twitter.com/kentbabb.
Posted on Sat, Jan. 14, 2012 11:02 PM


http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/14...nover-off.html

siberian khatru 01-07-2013 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobbything (Post 9291639)
Peter King needs to not write about this...ever. He's obviously too close to the situation and is incapable of writing without interjecting his bias. I mean, bringing up the whole Haley "wire tapping" thing just to take a shot at Todd Haley is lame, at best. It's weak sauce because it's irrelevant to the situation.

If Peter King really wants to tackle that issue, he should talk to the countless Chiefs employees who loathed going into work because they shared, if not the same, similar type fears within the work environment that Scott 'Team-killer' Pioli fostered. The Haley story isn't anecdotal. I know a few Chiefs employees and they all said that 'Team-killer' Pioli had created a culture of fear.

Reading this makes me angry. King should know better. I think, as a journalist, what he did was unethical. He got personal and took advantage of his status as a public figure. Jack Harry does this all the time and it's just awful.

King needs to keep his fat mouth shut.


He doesn't care. It's just the Chiefs. Pissoli is bigger.

RealSNR 01-07-2013 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoWalrus (Post 9291640)
It would have to be Goring or Karl Donitz, leader of the Kriegsmarine.

Rudolf Hess was also Deputy Führer.

Highest surviving SS-leader was Ernst Kaltenbrunner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Trials

I don't think we'll ever know anything about the members of 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' Pioli's Arrowhead SS. Those guys are ghosts now.

It wouldn't surprise me to find out a guy we trust like Ray Farmer was responsible for some of the atrocities committed under the 'Team-killer' Pioli regime, but got away.

He'll be hired as the new Argentina team that Goodell will add to stimulate the international appeal of his product.

Rain Man 01-07-2013 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SNR (Post 9291624)
Who was the highest-ranking Nazi to stand trial? Was it Goering?

Yeah, but he killed himself before or during the trial. Other than him it was just a bunch of generals and Speer, including the guy that ran the Reich for about a week after Hitler killed himself. (Man, talk about an unwelcome promotion.)

Hammock Parties 01-07-2013 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SNR (Post 9291650)
It wouldn't surprise me to find out a guy we trust like Ray Farmer was responsible for some of the atrocities committed under the 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' Pioli regime, but got away.

He'll be hired as the new Argentina team that Goodell will add to stimulate the international appeal of his product.

These conversations require 'Hamas' Jenkins. :(

One more day.

RealSNR 01-07-2013 10:52 AM

There was a big deal at one of my musicology conferences where a famous and well-loved advisor to many prominent people in the field, H. H. Eggebrecht, was found to have been responsible for the slaughter of an entire rural community of Polish citizens during the invasion of 1939. He retired shortly after this happened due to age and continued teaching for 30 years with no student's apparent knowledge of what happened during his time in the German army.

That could be Ray Farmer.

crazycoffey 01-07-2013 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy! (Post 9291536)
I'm posting this here just because I didn't want to make a thread about it...

I hate the auto-change to "Team-Killer." Almost as much as I hate the smiley for Super-Man. I shouldn't have to intentionally misspell something to keep the damn system from changing what I write; it should be the other way around. If I want to use the Superman smiley, then I can use the tags like every other smiley on this board.

And when can we change the banner pictures? I don't even want to see pioli's face here anymore....

bobbything 01-07-2013 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lzen (Post 9291645)
After a while, a saying was adopted by top administrators for behavior that didn’t fit the new standards: “That’s so 2-and-14,” they would say, referring to the Chiefs’ win-loss record in 2008.

This is so good.

RealSNR 01-07-2013 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man (Post 9291655)
Yeah, but he killed himself before or during the trial. Other than him it was just a bunch of generals and Speer, including the guy that ran the Reich for about a week after Hitler killed himself. (Man, talk about an unwelcome promotion.)

Ah, Mark Donovan. His execution will be satisfying.

Frazod 01-07-2013 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoWalrus (Post 9291641)
Welcome to 3 months ago.

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fEsnLeOKyyU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

He hadn't been fired three months ago, had he?

Hammock Parties 01-07-2013 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SNR (Post 9291671)
Ah, Mark Donovan. His execution will be satisfying.

LMAO

Fool, Mark Donovan was no Pioli co-conspirator. Indeed, he was instrumental in bringing a known terrorist to justice.

Mark Donovan was an Allied spy deep behind enemy lines. When the Philadelphia Eagles liberated Kansas City, it was he who led the operation.

RealSNR 01-07-2013 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoWalrus (Post 9291689)
LMAO

Fool, Mark Donovan was no 'Team-killer' Pioli co-conspirator. Indeed, he was instrumental in bringing a known terrorist to justice.

Mark Donovan was an Allied spy deep behind enemy lines. When the Philadelphia Eagles liberated Kansas City, it was he who led the operation.

From the Arrowhead Anxiety piece:

Quote:

During his first year, Pioli noticed a candy wrapper in a back stairwell and waited to see how long it took to be picked up. About a week passed, and it remained in the stairwell. He placed the wrapper in an envelope, and during a meeting of department heads, Donovan, then the team’s chief operating officer, brandished the wrapper as evidence of the attention to detail that Chiefs employees had grown to ignore.

“A great coaching moment,” Donovan said.
He certainly did get ass-deep into the part he was playing, now didn't he?

BlackHelicopters 01-07-2013 11:08 AM

Hope King gets the virus.

bobbything 01-07-2013 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter King
Final point for those who believe 'Team-killer' Pioli left the cupboard bare: Think there's a reason the hottest ex-head coach on the market, Andy Reid, didn't consider any other jobs after he was offered the Kansas City deal?

I glossed over this gem apparently.

GMAFB. There is exactly one player that Pioli has brought in that I want to keep, and that's Justin Houston. Four years, one good player. Everyone else he's brought can eat sh*t. 99% of the talent on this team is at least 5 years in the making. Pioli had nothing to do with that.

:shake:

Hammock Parties 01-07-2013 11:10 AM

LMAO

I've heard from at least a couple people that Donovan was instrumental in getting Pioli fired.

Which makes that even more hilarious.

mdchiefsfan 01-07-2013 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frazod (Post 9291504)

Perfect

ReynardMuldrake 01-07-2013 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lzen (Post 9291645)
After a while, a saying was adopted by top administrators for behavior that didn’t fit the new standards: “That’s so 2-and-14,” they would say, referring to the Chiefs’ win-loss record in 2008. This pertained to matters large and small: Stephanie Melton, who worked 11 years on the team’s operations staff, recalled 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' Pioli’s reaction after she and a coworker, after working past midnight on a weekend, had parked a courier van in the unmarked space usually occupied by 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' Pioli’s car. The women had forgotten to move it, and 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' 'Team-killer' Pioli was livid the next morning. Melton said she was made to feel for several days that she’d be fired.

That's a good nickname. Scott "2-and-14" Pi oli.

FAX 01-07-2013 11:47 AM

He may be a slime-ball, but he's my slime-ball.

FAX

COchief 01-07-2013 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReynardMuldrake (Post 9291823)
That's a good nickname. Scott "2-and-14" Pi oli.

I noticed that too and didn't hear much about it when the article came out. How glorious is it that he was mocking the old 2-14s only to take their place on the throne?

What an asshole.

FAX 01-07-2013 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by COchief (Post 9291902)
I noticed that too and didn't hear much about it when the article came out. How glorious is it that he was mocking the old 2-14s only to take their place on the thrown?

What an asshole.

And Mr. milkman claims there's no such thing as Karma.

FAX

KCSPORTSNUT 01-07-2013 12:00 PM

You know they can call him any nickname they want.I CALL HIM GONE DON'T MENTION HIM ANYMORE

Bowser 01-07-2013 12:02 PM

Bowser's official response to Peter King's take....

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DDvaqEQStCY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

COchief 01-07-2013 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCSPORTSNUT (Post 9291941)
You know they can call him any nickname they want.I CALL HIM GONE DON'T MENTION HIM ANYMORE

He needs to be universally hated for many years, he must pay for his sins against us. I want to fly a banner at the opening home game next season that says "We haven't forgotten we still hate you Fat Scott!"

We suffered through four years of Kasl for his moronic ego, he does not get off with a week of hatred.

duncan_idaho 01-07-2013 12:10 PM

My take on Peter King's take (Email sent directly to him):

Peter:

Regarding your continued defense of Scott Pioli, I have a few questions I'd like you to think about.

You mention Andy Reid jumping all over this job, and that Pioli didn't leave the cupboard bare. And yes, there is an attractive core around which a good coach can build a team. But how many of those players are Scott Pioli draft picks, and how many were here when he arrived?

In four years at the helm, Pioli has brought in just 2 players who look to be part of that core: Justin Houston and Eric Berry. All the other key players - Brandon Albert, Dwayne Bowe, Jamaal Charles, Tamba Hali, Brandon Flowers, Derrick Johnson - were already in place when Pioli arrived. This DESPITE multiple early-round picks (that were wasted on players like Tyson Jackson, Dexter McCluster, Javier Arenas, etc.)

The new leadership inherits basically the same exact core that Pioli did - except that four years of their careers are gone.

How much of Andy Reid's desire for this job had to do with his belief in the ownership (And what Dick Vermeil told him about the Hunt family when asked)?

How much of it had to do with the cap room Pioli hoarded while quality players like Brandon Carr (And soon to be Brandon Albert and Dwayne Bowe, had he been allowed to stay) walked elsewhere?

How much of it had to do with the top draft position the Chiefs find themselves in, thanks to Pioli's inability to field a team capable of winning, coached by a man capable of winning in the NFL as the top guy?

Al Czervik 01-07-2013 12:15 PM

King can eat a bag of dicks....

Lets gloss over the fact that the Chiefs are being sued due to his fat ass but instead cry foul cuz the fans were to hard on him....

What a fuktard

Mi_chief_fan 01-07-2013 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Flopnuts (Post 9291590)
I haven't read the thread, but **** Peter King. Reid didn't want anywhere else because RoboCarl and Herman ****ing Edwards stocked this team for 'Team-killer' Pioli. 'Team-killer' Pioli did nothing with it. **** King, and mother**** 'Team-killer' Pioli!

I borrowed your picture.


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