Whitlock: Peterson drowning in river of denial

[tk13]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...s/11445941.htm

Peterson drowning in river of denial

JASON WHITLOCK

You don't have to be Mel Kiper Jr. to figure out why the Kansas City Chiefs struggle in the draft.

Carl Peterson is no different from you or me. Denial and a lack of discipline make him prone to repeat the same mistake.

Peterson is no different from the overweight man or woman who hops on the Internet, researches the top fad diets, learns everything he/she needs to know about shedding 20 or 30 pounds and then quickly fails to execute once the menu is passed around at The Peach Tree.

Seriously, when you think of Peterson camped inside the “war room” this Saturday contemplating the 15th pick in the draft, think of your kind, gold-hearted friend who hits the basement of Mi Cocina on a Saturday night only hours after crying about getting used by groupies and playas.

“I just like to dance,” your friend says while passing out a phone number to everyone except the busboy.

Yes, Carl Peterson likes to dance on draft day. It's the Super Bowl for NFL general managers and team presidents. The problem for Chiefs fans is Peterson dances like no one's looking. He's in total denial that the Chiefs have a problem on draft day.

Wednesday afternoon, Peterson and his longtime, primary dance partner Lynn Stiles met with the media and discussed Miami cornerback Patrick Surtain, Saturday's draft and, most interestingly, for a brief moment whether Peterson was aware that Chiefs fans were dissatisfied with the way he and his scouting department perform on Super Bowl Saturday.

“You know something, we have 72,000 season-ticket holders,” Peterson said. “We've renewed 95 percent of those people again this year. I haven't had a letter or a fax or a phone call from any of those people. And I haven't, honest to goodness, I haven't had any letters from outside of that, if you want to say, sphere of what I consider real Kansas City Chiefs fans, because they step up each year and put their money down and say, ‘I'm here to see the Chiefs.'

“So, candidly, the criticism comes from some of the media,” Peterson went on. “I've even got it at this point (after) 16 years, and I don't consider it criticism. I consider it speculation. And that's what they get paid to do, speculate. And I respect that.”

Here's some more media speculation: Peterson is lost in denial. There are boatloads of Kansas City Chiefs fans irate about his inability to perform on draft day, and he's convinced himself that because they still buy tickets they're unaware of his draft failure.

Hey, people read my newspaper column. Therefore, I'm not 5 to 6 pounds overweight. Problem solved. You follow?

It's like your cousin who swears he doesn't have a drug or alcohol problem because he hasn't missed a day of work in five years. Never mind the fact that he has two out-of-wedlock, one-night-stand kids whom he yells at for no reason when he's hung over.

What makes matters so frustrating when it comes to Peterson is he's been through years and years of counseling. He knows what to do on draft day. He spends months traveling the country preparing for his annual Super Bowl. He's been burned so many times — Trezelle Jenkins, Ryan Sims, Junior Siavii, Eddie Freeman, Greg Hill, Sylvester Morris, Harvey Williams, Kawika Mitchell — that he really has no excuse for screwing up.

The Chiefs generally get burned in the first two rounds of the draft when Peterson chooses to go with potential over production. Stiles fell in love with Jenkins' wingspan and 6-foot-8 frame. The Chiefs should forbid Stiles from ever using a measuring tape.

“Personally, I look at production,” Peterson said when asked how he balances a prospect's potential versus his college production. “… Potential can get you into trouble.”

You see? Peterson knows what to do. He gets in the war room and panics. There's a lot of pressure in the war room. It's no different from stepping to the free-throw line with only a few seconds on the clock and the game hanging in the balance.

The college production of Sims, Siavii and Freeman never matched their talent. Should we be surprised that they have experienced or are experiencing the same problems here?

But, again, the Chiefs are in denial. On Wednesday Peterson defended the play of Sims and Siavii, suggesting it's much too early to call either a “bust.” It's not too early to suggest that neither player helped the Chiefs last season. At one point Stiles basically said the only problem with last year's draft was that Kris Wilson got hurt and the coaching staff didn't put Samie Parker on the field early enough.

Stiles could be right. But it doesn't explain why a team with such horrifying defensive talent wasted picks on two offensive players a year ago. See, when you're trapped in denial, even when you do something right, it turns out to be wrong.

Let me show Carl Peterson the way. Hi, my name is Jason Whitlock, and I'm a recovering Gates-aholic. It's been two days since my last presidential platter.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by C-Mac

Guys..... the real fan and media blame comment was tounge and cheek...you know humor.
Give the guy a break, he was just having fun with the media. It is humorous to see many here believing that those are his true thoughts.

You're making the same mistake that I did. He did have a little tongue-in-cheek bit with jason, but he also had a pretty long little statement about how the real fans in Arrowhead don't complain, that's it's only the media. I missed that yesterday, somehow, but I've heard it at least a half dozen times today and it didn't sound to me like he was joking there. It was offensive, frankly.

[the Talking Can]

Originally Posted by C-Mac

Guys..... the real fan and media blame comment was tounge and cheek...you know humor.
Give the guy a break, he was just having fun with the media. It is humorous to see many here believing that those are his true thoughts.

umm, no...it you heard it, the intent was clear...he wasn't joking

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

kcchiefs email

I thought that was an inbox that just provided entertainment for the admin of that addy?

[the Talking Can]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

I thought that was an inbox that just provided entertainment for the admin of that addy?

oh...I've never used it..you may be right

[Edubs]

Originally Posted by Big Chief Homer

Anyone got an address where i can send a letter or email to Peterson.Im alittle insulted by the "real fan" comment.While I live to far away to go to every home game and probably coudnt afford season tickets(trying to raise a family).

I spend my fair share on the kansas city chiefs.I find that comment extremely insulting.Between the nfl sunday ticket,team memorbilia,jerseys,hats,cards and countless hours of my life i know feel wasted following this team.I consider my self a REAL FAN.I would love to be at Arrowhead on every opportunity,but its just not feesable.I on the other hand DO attend games that are within a good driving distance,but i guess fair whether fans like myself should just stay home.

http://www.kcchiefs.com/contact/ .......Obviously this will not go directly to Carl but I have sent a few messages to the orginiztion letting them know what I think.

I really wish it all stemmed from the owner of this orginization. Lamar has no idea what the hell goes on with this team. All he knows is that the seats are filled every game. That's all they really care about. I do think Carl want's to win but it's obvious he has no idea how to get it done.

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

oh...I've never used it..you may be right

There's a whole thread about it. It's hilarious.

[C-Mac]

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

umm, no...it you heard it, the intent was clear...he wasn't joking

Then he obviously has contradicted himself for just a few weeks ago he was on the talk radio listing to the complaints of the callers.
Thus the differentiating of real fans and those extreme whinny Jerry Springer types.

[KCTitus]

Originally Posted by jspchief

The landscape of professional sports has changed since the 70s and 80s IMO. Fans are more demanding, and teams are more likely to pack up and move.

And why do we have to take the franchise to the dumpster to get positive change? If you owned a restaraunt, and were getting complaints about the food, would you ignore those complaints? Would you wait until you had no customers for lunch and dinner before trying to get a better chef? Would you tell the customers that complained to eat somewhere else if they didn't like it? Or maybe you'd tell them about the delicious steak that you cooked for them 11 years ago.

I'm not one of those people that sees black helicopters whenever CP's name is mentioned. I don't think he "doesn't care about winning" or buy into any of that other absurd crap. I just think he's a bad GM. He's not that good at that part of his job.

True it has changed, but if Carl said that, it's clearly the litmus test in his eyes. I dont get your analog, my eyes pretty much glazed over about half way through.

I would disagree on your assertion that he's bad at his job, quite the contrary. Somehow he gets people to continue to sell the place out while providing some rather disappointing results. It's quite clear, in the contrast from the 90's to today, just how much of a role the coaching staff plays in acquiring the players.

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by Edubs

http://www.kcchiefs.com/contact/ .......Obviously this will not go directly to Carl but I have sent a few messages to the orginiztion letting them know what I think.

If you're not a season ticket holder, you're wasting your time.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by KCTitus

I would disagree on your assertion that he's bad at his job, quite the contrary. Somehow he gets people to continue to sell the place out while providing some rather disappointing results.

This is rehashing an old argument, I know, but I'd say he's had success as a president, yes. However, as a GM in charge of football operations, looking at the last seven years, if you pair the consistently poor quality of the drafts with the 57-55 record over the period, which included just two seasons above .500 and only one playoff appearance, I think you'd have to characterize the period as a clear failure. Again on the football side, his duties as GM.

I think a change in the organization in the team, with the separation of the President and General Manager tags is long overdue, but I know that's a pipe dream.

It's quite clear, in the contrast from the 90's to today, just how much of a role the coaching staff plays in acquiring the players.

And this is just an opinion, but I wholeheartedly believe time is running out in terms of keeping the stands filled. If we keep losing, people will continue to become disheartened and lose interest. I believe we're already seeing signs of it.

I think that's a fair comment. However, he's ultimately the man on the top rung of the ladder. He needs to take action to resolve whatever issues there are. We've seen no indication that he even thinks there's an issue, much less taken any steps to correct anything. Of course, we might not even be aware of such action. Hopefully Saturday's results will mark a watershed.

[TEX]

Whlitlock nailed it. But I wouldn't put Sylvester Morris in the same class with all the other BUSTS (but I would add Mike Cloud) he listed. Nor would I give up on Saivii yet. Just my take.

[Brock]

Almost anyone on chiefsplanet could have written that article and done a better job. Whitlock is a hack who repeats himself year after year.

[Brock]

Originally Posted by KCTitus

It's quite clear, in the contrast from the 90's to today, just how much of a role the coaching staff plays in acquiring the players.

I don't think so. They have nearly always drafted poorly in the first three rounds, regardless of who's coaching.

[Edubs]

Originally Posted by badbobby

If you're not a season ticket holder, you're wasting your time.

I am. It's kind of funny that a guy who sits next to me at work is somewhat related to CP. Carl's wife is my coworkers wife's Aunt.....ummmm boy that sounds funny. He actually sit's up with Carl in the suite one game a year. I always give him a few nuggets to give to Carl but I don't think he ever passes it along. I always say, "Tell Carl he is an idiot and if he raises ticket prices again without a Super Bowl I will kick his a$$!" He says that Carl want's to win more than anything in the world. I still think he is a boob. He is 2 f-ing stubborn and he blames everything on the media.

I say we have a preseason vote. Do the Chiefs make the playoffs? If they do make the playoffs do they win a f-ing game int he playoffs? $hit I hope so. I have never jumped so high in the air when Dante ran that ball back against the Colts. I think I am going to cry. I hate football.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Brock

They have nearly always drafted poorly in the first three rounds, regardless of who's coaching.

That's true to a degree, but the difference is that in the early- to mid-nineties we at least had an occasional success, whereas under Vermeil we haven't had success with a single first day pick. I suppose you could argue that Sims is a success since he starts, but we're certainly not getting the kind of production that would tempt you to trade up to #6. Johnson may eventually be a success. But so far, nothing. Downing, Minnis and Freeman and gone, while Mitchell, Battle, Siavii, Wilson and Fox haven't delivered anything notable.

Ugh. It hurts to think about it.