Whoever sent the BedPan, he got it. Boomer Diary.

[DeepSouth]

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2005/08...omer_grigsby4/
Rookie Diary - Entry 1 - Entry 2 - Entry 3
Entry 4 – August 15, 2005


Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written, but things were a little busy here over the weekend with the game and all. I’ve got lots to fill you in on.

The game was an incredible experience. There’s over two weeks of build up and all you’re hearing about is how when it comes to game time the bullets will fly and it’s a grown man’s game. They weren’t kidding, all the big guys are big and the little guys are fast. Everyone is out there trying to hurt each other and trying to make his team. People are fighting for their lives and their families. To finally take everything we’ve learned and put it into a game situation was great.

We got a police escort all the way from the dorms here in River Falls to the front gate of the Metrodome in Minneapolis. That was big time for me, coming from a small school.

To be in a stadium playing against the best players in the world was kind of unreal. Before the game we were warming up in the end zone and Daunte Culpepper ran by me. So I’m thinking, “Wow, here’s my opportunity to tell him how I really feel about him.” But I was trying to figure out whether or not you’re supposed to talk trash before the game or if you’re not supposed to give them any more ammunition than they already have, or if he’d even hear me. I’ll figure it out pretty quick I’m sure.

But being on that field surrounded by thousands of fans was one of the biggest rushes you could ever feel. To look up into the stands and see all those people that came to be entertained, you really feel like you’re living the dream.

When I first came to Kansas City I promised the fans I would be a crazy country boy running down on kickoffs. I tried to come through with that against the Vikings, but I’m not sure that really worked in my favor. I pretty much ran into a wedge that consisted of Napoleon Harris and a couple other guys. I really don’t think I hit them as hard as they hit me.

All I know is that my helmet and head rattled and it shook all the way to my toes. Then as I’m peeling myself off the turf I think one of them was speaking to me. He might have been talking some junk, I don’t know. All I could do was kind of pick the one in the middle to say something which probably made no sense. I probably said something like, “Asphalt and turfgrass pizza.” That was probably my comeback at the moment as scatterbrained as I was.

I thought great, my first NFL game and I’ve knocked myself out on the second play. Congratulations. Even back on the sidelines I think I drifted off to Never Neverland for a minute. There I was, hanging out with Peter Pan and Captain Hook. But I pulled myself together and it ended up working out great.

I got in during the second quarter and I think on my first play I got to make a tackle. Once I got into the game I realized that it’s still the same sport I’ve been playing since I was a little kid. It’s still 11-on-11 football. It’s just bigger and faster guys. Our Chiefs offense is so complex with all the shifting and moving, that when I got to see Minnesota’s offense, it almost seemed simple because they don’t do all that moving the way Kansas City does.

I also got to live a dream play in the game when I went over the top and cracked heads in midair with a running back at the goal line. It was a good play, though not a great play because a minute later they ended up scoring. But at that moment it was pretty sweet. I think that’s a dream of any linebacker at any level, and I was really excited to get to do that.

I feel like I learned so much in the matter of one game. I gained so much confidence and learned that I really do belong. I always thought that way, but sometimes you second-guess yourself. I proved to myself that this is what I was born to do.

On top of that, I heard that I ended up leading the game in tackles. I’m excited about that, but in my opinion, I’m the middle linebacker and I should lead the team in tackles. I don’t think that means that I’m great or anything, I don’t expect a cookie or a crown for it. It just means that I’m in the position to make tackles and it’s my job to bring down the ball carrier.

I’ve got one other interesting story to tell you before I sign off. It started with an interview that I did about training camp. I made a comment that ended up in the Kansas City Star about having to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. In the dorms it’s a pain because you have to put your flip flops on and walk down the hall, and by that time you’re wide awake again.

So I’m walking into the dorm one day and I see a package with my name it. I’m thinking it might be a care package with something to help get through camp. You know, some cupcakes or a DVD or even some nice shampoo.

Nope. Instead I received a bedpan.

Someone had read the article and went to all the trouble of priority shipping me a bedpan. So thank you to the folks that sent it to me. I appreciate the thought and the humor. There was no note with it and they weren’t asking for an autograph or anything. Just a bedpan.

You gotta love Chiefs fans.

Boomer