Tribal Warfare
10-20-2010, 11:21 PM
Cassel needs to talk a good game, too (http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/20/2337000/cassel-needs-to-talk-a-good-game.html)
SAM MELLINGER COMMENTARY
The Kansas City Star
The room is mostly empty, so it’s not a coincidence that Matt Cassel is smiling. This room can be tough. It’s where the Chiefs hold most all their news conferences, and say what you want about Cassel’s pocket presence, some of the quarterback’s most tense moments in Kansas City come in this room.
At this moment, he is sitting in a metal folding chair, the same one used by reporters asking why he isn’t better by now. It’s just he and I in this room. I make a joke, then ask whether he’s comfortable up there. He looks at the lectern and microphone and shakes his head.
“I’m working on it, man,” he says. “It’s hard. Sometimes it feels like the firing squad.”
This was four weeks ago today, and give the guy credit, he’s getting a little better. He’s improving, growing into everything that being an NFL starting quarterback entails, but there’s more to be done.
Cassel still has to meet everyone halfway.
Because as much as Cassel needs to play better — he’s just 20th in passer rating, even after two good games in the last three — there is an image problem as much as a performance problem.
Cassel and his coaches are on their own fixing the performance problem.
Lucky for him, the image part is much easier. All he has to do is read this column: free, unsolicited PR advice that will make him better-liked by Chiefs fans and success here a little easier.
•••
The most frustrating part is seeing a limp quarterback scuffle through a game on Sunday, then talk on Wednesday like everything’s good.
Coach Todd Haley likes to say he sees “nothing but improvement from Matt” and that “Matt’s arrow is pointing up” and those words are usually hard to reconcile with what we all see during the games.
Cassel takes his cues from the coach, and usually talks around direct questions and generally gives the impression that he’s content with his performance. It’s the image he thinks he should be projecting, but it’s doing more harm than good.
Everything he says sounds too much as if he’s trying to maintain, rather than improve. This is incredibly aggravating.
Here’s what Cassel is saying:
“I’m happy with the way I’ve played. I’m seeing the field well, I know where I want to go with the ball. I’ve been throwing the ball accurately. When I make my decision, I know where I want to go.”
That’s gotta stop immediately, and coming off one of his most productive games statistically — 20 for 29 for 201 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions against Houston — is the perfect time to start.
We’re a reasonable bunch here in Kansas City. We don’t expect Cassel to be Peyton Manning. We’d settle for Eli Manning, or even a step below.
But what we don’t have much patience for is the person in the city’s most high-profile job — sorry, Mayor Funkhouser, but that ain’t you — acting too much like mediocrity is OK.
So here’s what Cassel should be saying:
“I need to get better. I know that. Kansas City has smart and passionate football fans, and they can see that, too. We’re all trying to get better, and I know that I need to be a big part of that.
“But you know why I’m standing here with some confidence? Because I know I’m working hard to get better and am starting to see results. Not the kind of results I want a year from now or two years from now, but there are little and important things that are maybe hard to miss, like not taking sacks and not forcing passes.
“Look, this organization is giving me a lot of money and a lot of responsibility, and I take that very seriously. I’m not going to make any excuses. But I also know that we’re leading our division right now, which only makes me more excited about what will happen as I and my teammates continue to improve.”
You tell me: which of those two quotes would inspire more positive feelings toward Cassel?
•••
Cassel is doing some of these things. He is getting better in how he presents himself to Chiefs fans. He appears slightly more at ease, though still perhaps not what you’d expect from a 28-year-old who majored in communications at USC.
He did his weekly talk with the media on Wednesday, and made a couple jokes — about a block he threw in the backfield: “That was pretty vicious, wasn’t it?” — and even took responsibility for a loss in which his offense scored 31 points because it came up one third-down conversion short.
I asked whether he considered it important how the fans perceive him, and he said “of course,” before highlighting his work ethic and saying that if the Chiefs win, then everybody’s happy. That’s fine and all, but there still is virtually zero recognition that he needs to improve.
This is the disconnect that drives both fans and the organization nuts.
The Chiefs are 3-2 with a very good shot at the playoffs in what we all thought to be another rebuilding year, yet even after good statistical games or team wins, the quarterback takes heat from fans.
The Chiefs’ power structure is frustrated by this, whether they admit it publicly or not. They think Cassel is being treated unfairly, that Kansas City fans and media are being too tough on the quarterback.
They’re wrong about that, but here’s what they need to realize: We wouldn’t be as tough on Cassel if we got the feeling he was tougher on himself.
We’ve seen a lot of mediocrity over the years in this town. We just want to know the teams we follow aren’t happy with it.
SAM MELLINGER COMMENTARY
The Kansas City Star
The room is mostly empty, so it’s not a coincidence that Matt Cassel is smiling. This room can be tough. It’s where the Chiefs hold most all their news conferences, and say what you want about Cassel’s pocket presence, some of the quarterback’s most tense moments in Kansas City come in this room.
At this moment, he is sitting in a metal folding chair, the same one used by reporters asking why he isn’t better by now. It’s just he and I in this room. I make a joke, then ask whether he’s comfortable up there. He looks at the lectern and microphone and shakes his head.
“I’m working on it, man,” he says. “It’s hard. Sometimes it feels like the firing squad.”
This was four weeks ago today, and give the guy credit, he’s getting a little better. He’s improving, growing into everything that being an NFL starting quarterback entails, but there’s more to be done.
Cassel still has to meet everyone halfway.
Because as much as Cassel needs to play better — he’s just 20th in passer rating, even after two good games in the last three — there is an image problem as much as a performance problem.
Cassel and his coaches are on their own fixing the performance problem.
Lucky for him, the image part is much easier. All he has to do is read this column: free, unsolicited PR advice that will make him better-liked by Chiefs fans and success here a little easier.
•••
The most frustrating part is seeing a limp quarterback scuffle through a game on Sunday, then talk on Wednesday like everything’s good.
Coach Todd Haley likes to say he sees “nothing but improvement from Matt” and that “Matt’s arrow is pointing up” and those words are usually hard to reconcile with what we all see during the games.
Cassel takes his cues from the coach, and usually talks around direct questions and generally gives the impression that he’s content with his performance. It’s the image he thinks he should be projecting, but it’s doing more harm than good.
Everything he says sounds too much as if he’s trying to maintain, rather than improve. This is incredibly aggravating.
Here’s what Cassel is saying:
“I’m happy with the way I’ve played. I’m seeing the field well, I know where I want to go with the ball. I’ve been throwing the ball accurately. When I make my decision, I know where I want to go.”
That’s gotta stop immediately, and coming off one of his most productive games statistically — 20 for 29 for 201 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions against Houston — is the perfect time to start.
We’re a reasonable bunch here in Kansas City. We don’t expect Cassel to be Peyton Manning. We’d settle for Eli Manning, or even a step below.
But what we don’t have much patience for is the person in the city’s most high-profile job — sorry, Mayor Funkhouser, but that ain’t you — acting too much like mediocrity is OK.
So here’s what Cassel should be saying:
“I need to get better. I know that. Kansas City has smart and passionate football fans, and they can see that, too. We’re all trying to get better, and I know that I need to be a big part of that.
“But you know why I’m standing here with some confidence? Because I know I’m working hard to get better and am starting to see results. Not the kind of results I want a year from now or two years from now, but there are little and important things that are maybe hard to miss, like not taking sacks and not forcing passes.
“Look, this organization is giving me a lot of money and a lot of responsibility, and I take that very seriously. I’m not going to make any excuses. But I also know that we’re leading our division right now, which only makes me more excited about what will happen as I and my teammates continue to improve.”
You tell me: which of those two quotes would inspire more positive feelings toward Cassel?
•••
Cassel is doing some of these things. He is getting better in how he presents himself to Chiefs fans. He appears slightly more at ease, though still perhaps not what you’d expect from a 28-year-old who majored in communications at USC.
He did his weekly talk with the media on Wednesday, and made a couple jokes — about a block he threw in the backfield: “That was pretty vicious, wasn’t it?” — and even took responsibility for a loss in which his offense scored 31 points because it came up one third-down conversion short.
I asked whether he considered it important how the fans perceive him, and he said “of course,” before highlighting his work ethic and saying that if the Chiefs win, then everybody’s happy. That’s fine and all, but there still is virtually zero recognition that he needs to improve.
This is the disconnect that drives both fans and the organization nuts.
The Chiefs are 3-2 with a very good shot at the playoffs in what we all thought to be another rebuilding year, yet even after good statistical games or team wins, the quarterback takes heat from fans.
The Chiefs’ power structure is frustrated by this, whether they admit it publicly or not. They think Cassel is being treated unfairly, that Kansas City fans and media are being too tough on the quarterback.
They’re wrong about that, but here’s what they need to realize: We wouldn’t be as tough on Cassel if we got the feeling he was tougher on himself.
We’ve seen a lot of mediocrity over the years in this town. We just want to know the teams we follow aren’t happy with it.