Deberg_1990
11-11-2013, 10:05 AM
http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/101704/jag_16934098.shtml
Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio doesn't look back fondly on his two seasons in the 1980s as a linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs.
With the Chiefs in Jacksonville to face the Jaguars today at Alltel Stadium, Del Rio was asked this week what he recalls about those two years on a Kansas City team that went 8-23-1 and ultimately fired coach Frank Gansz Sr.
"What do I remember? Not winning many games," Del Rio said, cracking a smile.
Del Rio is known for a lot more than that in Kansas City. In particular, fans there still remember Del Rio's role in what is considered one of the ugliest incidents of both the 1987 players strike and in Chiefs history.
It's still viewed that way because of the level of violence involved and, most of all, because of who was on the receiving end of Del Rio's fury that day: franchise icon and Chiefs Hall of Fame member Otis Taylor.
Barely three days into the strike, Del Rio -- who had joined the Chiefs a month earlier after being released by New Orleans -- was picketing the main entrance of Arrowhead Stadium as teammates Dino Hackett and Paul Coffman protested nearby.
How intense were the feelings at the time? At one point that afternoon, reports said that unloaded shotguns were brandished from the back of a player's truck in the parking lot.
Taylor, a Chiefs receiving great and star of their Super Bowl IV victory over Minnesota in 1969, was a scout for the team at the time, and was bringing in potential replacement players for workouts.
According to reports in The Kansas City Star, when one of the replacement candidates accused Del Rio of slashing the tires of his car, Taylor stepped in and tried to break up the argument.
Del Rio reportedly called Taylor "a dirty scab and a lowlife," then slammed the then-45-year-old retired player into the ground. Violence ensued for three minutes before Hackett could break up the fight, and Taylor came away with a bloodied face, the reports said.
"I couldn't believe it was happening," Hackett told The Kansas City Star at the time. "Here's Jack and Otis Taylor, a Chiefs linebacker and a Chiefs legend, wrestling around there on the ground. It was unbelievable."
Del Rio claimed he was defending himself, but Taylor later filed a police complaint and a lawsuit against Del Rio that was settled out of court two years later.
Del Rio wishes the subject would go away ("That's old news that I don't care to get into or talk about," he said this week), but it remains relevant because Del Rio admits his fiery side is still a big part of his personality.
The incident also is relevant because several Jaguars say Del Rio has reminded them on more than one occasion of what their predecessors in 1987 went through during that 24-day strike.
The work stoppage shortened that year's schedule by one game and produced some of the benefits -- unrestricted free agency was by far the biggest -- that today's players have come to consider almost a birthright.
Not only does Del Rio refuse to apologize for his emotional side, but that intensity was among the main reasons given by Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver last year for hiring Del Rio over several other more experienced candidates.
In fact, Del Rio considers his emotional side one of the attributes that helped him succeed as a player long after his athletic skills started to fade. The record appears to bear that out: Del Rio made his first career Pro Bowl with Minnesota in his 11th and final NFL season.
"I'm emotional by nature," Del Rio said last month. "That's how I'm wired."
Del Rio's nature got him into trouble that day in Kansas City, but the record show it has worked in his favor ever since.
Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio doesn't look back fondly on his two seasons in the 1980s as a linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs.
With the Chiefs in Jacksonville to face the Jaguars today at Alltel Stadium, Del Rio was asked this week what he recalls about those two years on a Kansas City team that went 8-23-1 and ultimately fired coach Frank Gansz Sr.
"What do I remember? Not winning many games," Del Rio said, cracking a smile.
Del Rio is known for a lot more than that in Kansas City. In particular, fans there still remember Del Rio's role in what is considered one of the ugliest incidents of both the 1987 players strike and in Chiefs history.
It's still viewed that way because of the level of violence involved and, most of all, because of who was on the receiving end of Del Rio's fury that day: franchise icon and Chiefs Hall of Fame member Otis Taylor.
Barely three days into the strike, Del Rio -- who had joined the Chiefs a month earlier after being released by New Orleans -- was picketing the main entrance of Arrowhead Stadium as teammates Dino Hackett and Paul Coffman protested nearby.
How intense were the feelings at the time? At one point that afternoon, reports said that unloaded shotguns were brandished from the back of a player's truck in the parking lot.
Taylor, a Chiefs receiving great and star of their Super Bowl IV victory over Minnesota in 1969, was a scout for the team at the time, and was bringing in potential replacement players for workouts.
According to reports in The Kansas City Star, when one of the replacement candidates accused Del Rio of slashing the tires of his car, Taylor stepped in and tried to break up the argument.
Del Rio reportedly called Taylor "a dirty scab and a lowlife," then slammed the then-45-year-old retired player into the ground. Violence ensued for three minutes before Hackett could break up the fight, and Taylor came away with a bloodied face, the reports said.
"I couldn't believe it was happening," Hackett told The Kansas City Star at the time. "Here's Jack and Otis Taylor, a Chiefs linebacker and a Chiefs legend, wrestling around there on the ground. It was unbelievable."
Del Rio claimed he was defending himself, but Taylor later filed a police complaint and a lawsuit against Del Rio that was settled out of court two years later.
Del Rio wishes the subject would go away ("That's old news that I don't care to get into or talk about," he said this week), but it remains relevant because Del Rio admits his fiery side is still a big part of his personality.
The incident also is relevant because several Jaguars say Del Rio has reminded them on more than one occasion of what their predecessors in 1987 went through during that 24-day strike.
The work stoppage shortened that year's schedule by one game and produced some of the benefits -- unrestricted free agency was by far the biggest -- that today's players have come to consider almost a birthright.
Not only does Del Rio refuse to apologize for his emotional side, but that intensity was among the main reasons given by Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver last year for hiring Del Rio over several other more experienced candidates.
In fact, Del Rio considers his emotional side one of the attributes that helped him succeed as a player long after his athletic skills started to fade. The record appears to bear that out: Del Rio made his first career Pro Bowl with Minnesota in his 11th and final NFL season.
"I'm emotional by nature," Del Rio said last month. "That's how I'm wired."
Del Rio's nature got him into trouble that day in Kansas City, but the record show it has worked in his favor ever since.