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

[BigChiefFan]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

You mean DV's decision to go for percolating team chemistry over injecting new blood.

Carl still has the final say and he signed off on Vermeil's plan as you say.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by BigChiefFan

Carl still has the final say and he signed off on Vermeil's plan as you say.

And Lamar hired Carl.

Perhaps if you're angry with Peterson, you should direct your frustration at Lamar Hunt, since that's who hired him. Carl isn't going to fire himself...

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by BigChiefFan

Carl still has the final say and he signed off on Vermeil's plan as you say.

He's supposed to hire this guy for the magic he brings AND countermand him on a bedrock principle behind the magic?

[BigChiefFan]

Originally Posted by Rausch

And Lamar hired Carl.

Perhaps if you're angry with Peterson, you should direct your frustration at Lamar Hunt, since that's who hired him. Carl isn't going to fire himself...

16 years in a row of failure. I'll leave it at that.

[BigChiefFan]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

He's supposed to hire this guy for the magic he brings AND countermand him on a bedrock principle behind the magic?

He's already done so. Every hear of Larry Johnson?

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by BigChiefFan

He's already done so. Every hear of Larry Johnson?

What bedrock principle of DV's did that countermand?

[BigChiefFan]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

What bedrock principle of DV's did that countermand?

The point is Carl has already superceeded what Vermeil's wishes were when we drafted LJ against DV's wishes. Capice?

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by BigChiefFan

The point is Carl has already superceeded what Vermeil's wishes were when we drafted LJ against DV's wishes. Capice?

You see no difference between countermanding a draft day decision and countermanding a bedrock philosophy?
Countermanding him on letting the chemistry percolate would be the equivalent of insisting he change his practice regimen, or forbidding him from meeting with the players socially, or vetoing his choice of Green at QB.
I see the decision on LJ to be a much smaller invasion, yet see how much that little invasion has grated DV.

[BigChiefFan]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

You see no difference between countermanding a draft day decision and countermanding a bedrock philosophy?
Countermanding him on letting the chemistry percolate would be the equivalent of insisting he change his practice regimen, or forbidding him from meeting with the players socially, or vetoing his choice of Green at QB.
I see the decision on LJ to be a much smaller invasion, yet see how much that little invasion has grated DV.

I do see a difference, however the point was that Carl has the power to veto anything DV may or may not want. That's the whole point-he has the final say. Communication between the coach and GM is vital and I'm sure those two are no exception. They correlated a plan TOGETHER and it has failed miserably. A GM that wanted to win it all, may have suggested, hey these players aren't working out, let's go another avenue. Carl needs to be part of the equation, too if they are going to be held to the fire.

[Logical]

Originally Posted by tk13

Well I don't know if there's been anyone recently, but at the beginning of the season I remember seeing that number floated around.... heck at one point back in April or so I thought we might have up to 10 million in space after we let Tait walk. I don't think Gretz just made that up, somebody somewhere said those numbers,...

Your memory is not failing, however Carl explained the disparity in September when he let go in an interview that the Chiefs had just over 5 million in dead money which lowered the unused cap amount to the 5 million to 6 million (at the time) range.

[KCTitus]

Originally Posted by BigChiefFan

Also on Bob Gretz- Chiefs Operation Director Bob Gretz is an award-winning sportswriter and broadcaster.

Looks like you are WRONG!!! I don't expect you to admit it though.

OMG LOL!!!!

Bob Gretz is the Chiefs Operation Director? What exactly does that job entail?

I think I need to email Gretz and see what it is, because it's clear you are sans clue on most everything with regard to this club.