GRETZ: Urban Chiefs Legends

[nmt1]

Of course we all know that Gretz is just a shill for the organization but I found this column interesting.

GRETZ: Urban Chiefs Legends
Dec 01, 2004, 6:01:28 AM by Bob Gretz

It’s only natural given the Chiefs position at the bottom of the AFC West standings that the blame game is being heavily played by the fans and media. Expectations were high; production has been low, so off with their heads!

This always leads to a gestation process that creates great urban legends surrounding the Chiefs. Several of these have been bounced around lately by the tin-horn voices that control the sports talk airwaves, in this case both the hosts and the callers. Sometimes they get help from national media types who have 15 seconds to report something that requires two minutes to put into perspective.

Stand back and sometimes you can see these snippets of rumor and information go from a fire the size of a match, to that of a blazing inferno, complete with cover-ups, payoffs and black helicopters patrolling the area around Arrowhead Stadium.

For instance:

ITEM: CBS-TV cameras caught Priest Holmes munching on nachos in a private box during the game with the Chargers. URBAN CHIEFS LEGEND #1: Holmes no longer cares about the team or his teammates and has already packed it in for the 2004 season.

REALITY: Believe me, if Holmes was done for the season, he would be back home in San Antonio with his children and family; he wouldn’t be hanging at Arrowhead eating those nasty stadium nachos. That Holmes watched the Chargers game from a box and was not on the sidelines is nothing new. He did the same thing in the New England game, and in fact, ABC cameras showed him there. He wasn’t eating nachos, so apparently that’s what raises the ire of some fans. Holmes has always done this. Back in the 2003 pre-season when he was being handled gingerly after his hip injury and surgery, he would take his few plays in the first quarter and then disappear into the locker room. Again nothing was made of it then. Holmes has not quit on his team or this season.

ITEM: The Chiefs had several practice field fights in the days before their Monday night game with New England. URBAN CHIEFS LEGEND #2: The Chiefs locker room is a powder key ready to explode with teammates fighting each other.

REALITY: The Chiefs had several practice field fights in the days leading up to their Monday night game in Baltimore. This received little or no attention outside of Arrowhead Stadium. Inside the team, the activity was actually welcomed by some of the coaches and players. The Chiefs were 0-3 at the time and needed to raise their intensity level. It paid off with a nice victory over the Ravens, one of the few high marks of the season.

The fights that came down the week before the New England game involved defensive backs and wide receivers. The scout team DBs had been told by a member of the Chiefs offensive coaching staff to be physical with the wide receivers coming off the line of scrimmage because that’s what they would face against the Patriots. So the DBs did what they were told, several receivers objected and there was plenty of pushing and shoving.

Folks it happens all the time on the practice field. If it doesn’t, then the coaching staff better start worrying about the intensity level of the team. For this to be reported on a national TV pre-game show, as it was on the Fox network, is a joke.

ITEM: The Chiefs are, pick one: (1.) $6 million (2.) $8 million, or (3.) $10 million under the NFL salary cap this year. URBAN CHIEFS LEGEND #3: This is proof positive that all Lamar Hunt and Carl Peterson are worried about is the bottom line and they are hurting the football team by not using all of the cap money in 2004.

REALITY: As of early this week, the Chiefs were approximately $4.7 million under the league salary cap figure of $80.5 million. Last year at this time, they were $5.2 million under the cap. Funny, but nobody complained at this time last year when they were 10-1.

Their current state is not unusual; there are a lot of NFL teams in the same position. Will that $4.7 million go to waste? No. The Chiefs have already used up some of that total by extending the contract of center Casey Wiegmann. Some of that total will be eaten up by incentive bonuses that players earn in 2004. With what’s left over, they will structure incentive bonuses for players that will not be earned this year. Those monies will then be carried over into the 2005 salary cap as credits.

The fact is the Chiefs have spent more than the salary cap this year on personnel. When you factor in signing bonuses and so forth, they’ve spent $86 million on players. When you are talking about cash and cap, the Chiefs are over the number.

Sooner or later, Chiefs fans need to understand that when it comes to making the cap work, their team is one of the best in the league. Now, who that money is spent on, is certainly open for criticism and questioning.

ITEM: Former Chiefs linebacker Donnie Edwards ends former team’s hopes with late-game interception. URBAN CHIEFS LEGED #4: Edwards is playing for the Chargers because the Chiefs didn’t want to pay him big money.

REALITY: The only reason Edwards is not wearing a Chiefs uniform today is a guy named Greg Robinson. The fact is the Chiefs were quite confident they could sign Edwards to a new deal at a financial number that was good for him and the team. Edwards didn’t want to leave and just about everyone around Arrowhead did not want to lose him.

Robinson was the exception. He felt Edwards’ play did not conform to his defensive system and style during the 2001 season. The defensive coordinator did not want him, and against the better judgment of many people inside Arrowhead, Edwards was allowed to walk away. Funny thing, but the Chiefs spent more money in 2003 signing free agent LB Shawn Barber, than it would have taken to keep Edwards.

Now, Edwards is the defensive leader of the division leading Chargers, Barber is on IR for the rest of the year with a knee injury and Robinson is getting ready for a bowl game with the Texas Longhorns.

Source