GRETZ: Trent Green Watch

C-Mac · 08-31-2005, 08:18 AM

GRETZ: Trent Green Watch
Aug 31, 2005, 8:13:36 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

It was cool and crisp as I left the house in the darkness of early morning. Jumping in the car, I turned the key and began that futile attempt to clear the windshield of the morning dew. What’s the best way to do this, do you blast it with cool air from the air conditioner, or turn up the warm air in defrost mode?

Anyway, I reached over, turned up the volume of my radio and was verbally assaulted.

“I’m telling you this is serious, this is something big, the Chiefs are hiding the facts here, I think this guy has some sort of disease or something. This is serious.”

The speaker’s name is not important; the shrill screams of sports talk radio all sound the same anyway. “This guy” is important. He’s Chiefs quarterback Trent Green.

It’s the dog days of summer and Green and his numb right pinky toe have given the football-crazed media of this town an early Labor Day present. From now, through the Chiefs pre-season finale on Friday against St. Louis, the yakkers, hairdos and ink-stained wretches can mail it in. Green and his physical problems are a ready made story, something that allows for everyone to become a later day Marcus Welby, M.D. (kids, ask your parents), without putting in the four years of school and who knows how many years as a resident.

Since there is no quarterback controversy and Dick Vermeil hasn’t cooperated and created the running back controversy the media was so hoping for, Green’s health becomes topics No. 1, 2 and 3. Expect some local TV news crew to report later this week on Joe Smith, who lives in Gladstone, had the same problem with foot numbness and cured the malady with a cold compress of lilac, Missouri River mud and the eye of a newt.

There’s nothing unusual here. It’s the same everywhere when it comes to the starting quarterback. No matter what uniform he wears, if the starter gets a pimple on his behind, it’s time to interrupt network programming for a news flash. That’s the status, that’s the importance of the position. That’s why they are paid so many millions of dollars … so we in the media and the fans can dissect every physical malady that comes around.

Of course, separating fact from fiction is the hardest part of trying to understand Green’s situation. The Chiefs have not said much, largely because they don’t have much to say. Here’s what we know:

Last week, Green started experiencing some slight pain and numbness in his calf that went down the leg into the outside of his foot. It was annoying more than anything else and massaging his leg and foot seemed to relieve the discomfort. On Friday, when the Chiefs went through their last workout before the pre-season game with Seattle, Green was fine.

But it kicked up again in pre-game warm-ups. Obviously, it’s not a debilitating problem, given that Green was five-for-five in the touchdown scoring drive that opened the game against the Seahawks. It also bothered him during Thursday’s practice when he threw just one incompletion and Dick Vermeil said it was his best practice performance of the pre-season.

Later in the first quarter Saturday night, Green’s foot was stepped on by tackle Willie Roaf, ripping off his shoe. A guy like Roaf steps on your foot and that’s going to cause a mark, but it was nothing serious given the fact that Chiefs medical personnel did not spend any time working on the foot when Green came to the sidelines.

With these two situations and with quarterbacks No. 2 and 3 in street clothes because of their maladies (Todd Collins/hand and Damon Huard/concussion), the decision was made to protect Green and end his evening of play.

Tests were done in the next few days, including Tuesday when Green was not at practice. As of Tuesday evening, the Chiefs said there was no obvious reason for Green’s problem.

Those are the facts. Anything else is some tin throat trying to be Ben Casey (kids, ask your parents again.) Bet on this: when the Chiefs finally have some information, many in the media will scream cover-up, that the team is hiding the real reasons for Green’s problems.

Everyone in the sports media should send Trent Green’s pinky toe a thank you card, as it made the slide into Labor Day that much easier.

08-31-2005, 08:18 AM	Topic Starter
C-Mac Lurker Extraordinaire Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Wally World Casino cash: $1963699	GRETZ: Trent Green Watch GRETZ: Trent Green Watch Aug 31, 2005, 8:13:36 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ It was cool and crisp as I left the house in the darkness of early morning. Jumping in the car, I turned the key and began that futile attempt to clear the windshield of the morning dew. What’s the best way to do this, do you blast it with cool air from the air conditioner, or turn up the warm air in defrost mode? Anyway, I reached over, turned up the volume of my radio and was verbally assaulted. “I’m telling you this is serious, this is something big, the Chiefs are hiding the facts here, I think this guy has some sort of disease or something. This is serious.” The speaker’s name is not important; the shrill screams of sports talk radio all sound the same anyway. “This guy” is important. He’s Chiefs quarterback Trent Green. It’s the dog days of summer and Green and his numb right pinky toe have given the football-crazed media of this town an early Labor Day present. From now, through the Chiefs pre-season finale on Friday against St. Louis, the yakkers, hairdos and ink-stained wretches can mail it in. Green and his physical problems are a ready made story, something that allows for everyone to become a later day Marcus Welby, M.D. (kids, ask your parents), without putting in the four years of school and who knows how many years as a resident. Since there is no quarterback controversy and Dick Vermeil hasn’t cooperated and created the running back controversy the media was so hoping for, Green’s health becomes topics No. 1, 2 and 3. Expect some local TV news crew to report later this week on Joe Smith, who lives in Gladstone, had the same problem with foot numbness and cured the malady with a cold compress of lilac, Missouri River mud and the eye of a newt. There’s nothing unusual here. It’s the same everywhere when it comes to the starting quarterback. No matter what uniform he wears, if the starter gets a pimple on his behind, it’s time to interrupt network programming for a news flash. That’s the status, that’s the importance of the position. That’s why they are paid so many millions of dollars … so we in the media and the fans can dissect every physical malady that comes around. Of course, separating fact from fiction is the hardest part of trying to understand Green’s situation. The Chiefs have not said much, largely because they don’t have much to say. Here’s what we know: Last week, Green started experiencing some slight pain and numbness in his calf that went down the leg into the outside of his foot. It was annoying more than anything else and massaging his leg and foot seemed to relieve the discomfort. On Friday, when the Chiefs went through their last workout before the pre-season game with Seattle, Green was fine. But it kicked up again in pre-game warm-ups. Obviously, it’s not a debilitating problem, given that Green was five-for-five in the touchdown scoring drive that opened the game against the Seahawks. It also bothered him during Thursday’s practice when he threw just one incompletion and Dick Vermeil said it was his best practice performance of the pre-season. Later in the first quarter Saturday night, Green’s foot was stepped on by tackle Willie Roaf, ripping off his shoe. A guy like Roaf steps on your foot and that’s going to cause a mark, but it was nothing serious given the fact that Chiefs medical personnel did not spend any time working on the foot when Green came to the sidelines. With these two situations and with quarterbacks No. 2 and 3 in street clothes because of their maladies (Todd Collins/hand and Damon Huard/concussion), the decision was made to protect Green and end his evening of play. Tests were done in the next few days, including Tuesday when Green was not at practice. As of Tuesday evening, the Chiefs said there was no obvious reason for Green’s problem. Those are the facts. Anything else is some tin throat trying to be Ben Casey (kids, ask your parents again.) Bet on this: when the Chiefs finally have some information, many in the media will scream cover-up, that the team is hiding the real reasons for Green’s problems. Everyone in the sports media should send Trent Green’s pinky toe a thank you card, as it made the slide into Labor Day that much easier.
Posts: 5,637