Underdogs with Chiefs get a reward

[Coogs]

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1592480.html

Underdogs with Chiefs get a reward
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star

Todd Haley was talking again Tuesday about the detailed process — and the many unseen steps it takes — of rebuilding the Chiefs into a relevant part of the NFL conversation.

Haley has described how talent can be overshadowed by hard work, and how a player’s name and presumed job security don’t mean much when he plays for a team that has won five of its last 35 games.

He has said that the Chiefs need players who want to pursue greatness instead of wait for it, and finding those who might develop into something that once seemed unlikely.

“That’s how you become a consistently good team all the time,” he said. “You find players that maybe aren’t so obvious to the general eye.”

This wasn’t so obvious: Jovan Belcher’s job is to play football, but he’s a wrestler deep down. He went to college at Maine and told himself he had a shot at the NFL. He wasn’t drafted this year, and his football ceiling once seemed to be knocking opponents out of the way on kick returns.

After Sunday, Belcher has the Chiefs’ attention. He has intrigued them enough that they think there’s more there than they had thought.

Belcher is an outside linebacker, and if he didn’t make the biggest play Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, it certainly was the timeliest. With Pittsburgh facing third and 2 in overtime, Belcher stopped running back Mewelde Moore for a 3-yard loss. The Chiefs won in part because of unlikely players such as Belcher, linebacker Andy Studebaker and defensive end Wallace Gilberry.

As the Chiefs move forward in Haley’s process, something important has begun to show itself: Players who once seemed relegated to the back of the roster are now working toward the front of the line.

“It’s a sign that we’re doing a good job of getting the right kind of players in here,” Haley said.

Some of those players have climbed the NFL’s ladder the hard way. Studebaker is a converted defensive end from Wheaton, a small college in Illinois. Gilberry was undrafted last year out of Alabama. Belcher, before he played football at Maine, was a high school wrestler.

Just him, another man and the mat. That’s the way he liked it. He learned balance. He learned leverage. He learned to rely on himself. That’s the way for a wrestler, long hours and unforgiving nights. Belcher said he spent evenings jogging the roads of West Babylon, N.Y., cutting weight and preparing for his next match. Football was fun. Wrestling was life.

“My sport,” he said, “it’s just you. You don’t have somebody pushing you. It builds your mental toughness.”

Belcher was an All-American wrestler three times in high school. He said he was best at 171 pounds. But football offered two things that wrestling did not: a chance to compete in college and a life without having to obsess over weight.

Belcher gave up wrestling to play college football. Success wasn’t a one-on-one event anymore, and he was no longer trapped in a 171-pound shell. During his junior year, Belcher played defensive end at 235 pounds.

He signed with the Chiefs after the draft came and went, and he joined the team as a special-teams long shot. He was quick and sturdy, and coaches kept noticing a few skills that were more noticeable in Belcher than the other Chiefs defenders: leverage, balance and a knack for takedowns.

“I always like to think anything is possible,” he said.

The Chiefs hope they’ve found something in Belcher and several others that they didn’t count on. Haley said that’s essential for a team to make the kind of progress it’ll take for Kansas City to eventually complete its turnaround.

“The more positions you have good, healthy competition at, the better,” Haley said. “That makes the frontline guys better, that makes the guys fighting to try to get in that spot better. It in turn makes your team better overall.”

If nothing else, players such as Belcher, Studebaker and Gilberry have earned more chances. They give the Chiefs options that they didn’t have a few months — or even a few weeks — ago. Those players’ success also drives home a point that Haley doesn’t mind his players absorbing: Regardless of a player’s path, hard work and the right approach could mean playing time.

“He told us that when he got here,” Gilberry said of Haley. “He’s been a man of his word.”

Belcher said he still misses wrestling sometimes. He said it forced him to learn a kind of discipline that made him into the football player he is now. The Chiefs hope that others see what might be possible, unlikely as it might seem.

“The more help we can get from everyone,” Belcher said, “the better off we’ll be.”

[T-post Tom]

Belcher still needs a lot of work, but it's easy to root for him and guys like him.

[stevieray]

they told us if were expecting big name players, we'd be disappointed.

[Coogs]

Belcher is a MLB isn't he?

[KCUnited]

"That’s the way for a wrestler, long hours and unforgiving nights."

That read like a cheap novel.

[rockymtnchief]

Originally Posted by T-post Tom

Belcher still needs a lot of work, but it's easy to root for him and guys like him.

I agree. At least, as a rookie, he's equal to or better than some of the junk plugged in at LB the last few years. I'm hoping he has plenty of upside and is better than average down the road. Same goes for Studebaker.

[rambleonthruthefog]

“He told us that when he got here,” Gilberry said of Haley. “He’s been a man of his word.”

One of the main reasons the players will continue to follow Haley.

[MichaelH]

Originally Posted by T-post Tom

Belcher still needs a lot of work, but it's easy to root for him and guys like him.

He could be this seasons Maz.