Chiefs Gretz: Another Veteran WR Arrives … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

**Tribal Warfare** · 09-15-2009, 01:11 PM

Another Veteran WR Arrives … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs
September 15, 2009 - Bob Gretz |
The time to sign veteran wide receivers was in March, April & May.

That’s how Bobby Engram came to the Chiefs; he was one of the first receivers acquired by Pioli/Haley in their re-make of the team’s roster. Engram was signed for his ability after 14 NFL seasons to play in the slot and catch passes on third down. He wasn’t viewed in the spring, or viewed now as an every offensive down receiver.

When at team is trying to add experienced pass catchers in August and September it’s pretty good evidence of a rash of injuries or the fact that somebody seriously over-estimated the talent on the roster. With the Chiefs, it’s not a problem with injuries, although they did lose Devard Darling for the season with a torn ACL in his left knee.

Sometime today the Chiefs will announce the signing of 28-year old WR Bobby Wade (right), who will be playing in his seventh NFL season. To make room for Wade, the Chiefs will have to move somebody off the active roster.

Wade is the third veteran receiver that Pioli/Haley have brought in since the start of training camp in hopes of improving the talent level at the position. Amani Toomer and Ashley Lelie came and departed before the season opener.

The duo in charge of the Chiefs has said they will continue to add players to their team if he’s an upgrade in talent. Whether Wade qualifies as an upgrade remains to be seen. Over his career he’s caught 208 passes for 2,491 yards and seven touchdowns. He was a starter in Chicago for the 2004 season, but then lost the job the next year. He started 26 games the past two seasons in Minnesota. In between the Bears and Vikings he spent time with the Titans.

Wade was released by the Vikings last week, even after he cut in half his pay for the ‘09 season to help the team’s salary cap situation. If Wade is in shape, if he arrives with a good demeanor and if he plays like he has something to prove, then he’ll come in and immediately be the second best receiver on the roster.

Of course, that says more about the receivers on the roster than it does Wade. Right now, Mark Bradley is in the starting lineup, but he found Haley’s doghouse on Sunday when he failed to pick up a first down on a third down catch where he had vision and a run at the sticks. That’s the type of mental blunder that sticks in the head coach’s craw.

There is opportunity for Wade with the Chiefs. He’s even returned punts and kicks in his past, with a career average of 8.8 yards on punts and 23.9 yards on kickoffs.

Another aspect of Wade’s game is fumbles; he’s never gone a season without coughing up the ball at least once. In 2005, he fumbled 10 times while with the Bears. In 90 NFL games, Wade has fumbled 20 times. That works out to a fumble ever 16.7 times he touches the ball. That’s not good.

Yet it’s an improvement for the Chiefs and brings us back to Pioli/Haley and their decisions, or non-decisions in the off-season. If a team wanted veteran receivers with some level of talent the window to sign them was when the NFL free agency period began in late February. Certainly the receiver market was not deep and you always overpay for those types of players, guys like Laveranues Coles, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Devery Henderson.

But it’s not like the Chiefs did not have the salary cap room to make the moves. And any one of those three receivers would have elevated the position coming into the season, and certainly added more than Toomer, Lelie and likely Wade brought to the offense.

But Coles went from the Jets to Bengals, while Housh went from the Bengals to the Seahawks and Henderson stayed with the Saints.

And the Chiefs are trying yet again to find a shiny nickel in the NFL scrap heap of receivers.

WHAT HALEY HAD TO SAY

The head coach doesn’t meet with the media on Monday, but he spoke on the Chiefs Radio Network and while there were no great revelations, here’s some of what he said:

- ON CHIEFS PHYSICAL CONDITION: “Our team has to be in condition to compete the way we have to and win games. We didn’t have any IVs after the game. Sometimes there are 10 or 11 guys after a game like that (with IVs). We came out relatively clean.”

- ON HIS TEAM UNDERSTANDING WHAT DIDN’T GET DONE: “We’ve got to be able to finish. We had a chance. We had the score tied. We have to get off the field and give the ball back to the offense. I thought we were winning the game that we were going to come out on top. Very disappointed that it ended the way it ended. It was a quiet airplane ride home. That was good. They understand that losing will not be accepted.”

- ON PERFORMANCE OF BRODIE CROYLE: “If you had told me we scored 24 points, I would have believed we’d win the game. Brodie played well enough to give us a chance to win. Brodie did a commendable job, in a difficult situation. Throughout the week we didn’t know for sure who was playing. We took it right down the wire whether Matt would play or not, we felt the best direction to go was with Brodie. He did a solid job for us.”

- ON STATUS OF MATT CASSEL FOR THIS SUNDAY’S GAME: “It’s encouraging when you have a player that wants to play and does everything possible to get out there. When he’s a tough player, it speeds up the healing process. He was really disappointed. He was in here all day, doing everything he can that he can go this week. We will see where he is on Wednesday. When you have a guy doing everything necessary, it gives you hope.”

THE GUYS WHO GO OUT FOR THE COIN TOSS

We found out who the Chiefs had voted as their captains for this season on Sunday in Baltimore: Mike Vrabel and Mike Brown on defense, Matt Cassel and Brian Waters on offense and Jon McGraw on special teams.

There were some former Chiefs who earned the big “C” on their jersey. In Buffalo, LB Kawika Mitchell is one of the Bills defensive captains, while C Casey Wiegmann is an offensive captain in Denver. With the Steelers, LB Keyaron Fox is a captain for the special teams.

SIGNINGS, INJURIES & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE

* BEARS – placed LB Brian Urlacher on the injured-reserve list (wrist); signed LB Tim Shaw.
* BENGALS – activated OT Andre Smith to the active roster; released RB DeDe Dorsey.
* BUCCANEERS – signed DE Tim Crowder and G Sean Mahan; released CB Kyle Arrington and DE Maurice Evans.
* CHARGERS – promoted DE Andre Coleman from the practice squad; released RB Gartrell Johnson.
* EAGLES – signed QB Jeff Garcia.
* FALCONS – re-signed RB Vernon Haynes.
* JAGUARS – DE Reggie Hayward suffered a broken leg in Sunday’s game against Indianapolis and is done for the season.
* JETS – released CB Marquice Cole; DE Shaun Ellis re-joined the team after serving a one-game NFL suspension.
* PANTHERS – signed QB A.J. Feeley; placed QB Josh McCown on the injured-reserve list (foot).
* RAIDERS – released DT William Joseph; activated DL Richard Seymour.
* SEAHAWKS – re-signed LB D.D. Lewis; released DE Derek Walker.

FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY

On September 15, 1968, the Chiefs lost to the New York Jets 20-19 at Municipal Stadium. A then record crowd of 48,871 saw the Jets defense control the Kansas City offense, as the Chiefs scored just 201 yards and no touchdowns. New York QB Joe Namath threw a pair of touchdown passes to WR Don Maynard of 57 and 30 yards. The Chiefs only TD came on an 80-yard punt return by Noland Smith. K Jan Stenerud had three field goals. Namath hit 17 of 29 throws for 302 yards; MLB Willie Lanier picked off a pass.

On September 15, 1974, the Chiefs beat the New York Jets 24-16 in the season opener at Arrowhead Stadium. Jets QB Joe Namath threw a pair of first half touchdown passes, but before intermission he threw one pass too many. Just before the end of the second period, Marvin Upshaw snagged a Namath screen pass and rumbled 52 yards for a touchdown. Combined with an earlier two-yard TD run by RB Ed Podolak and the Jets led 16-14 at halftime. The Chiefs scored the only points of the second half, as K Jan Stenerud h it from 27 yards and CB Emmitt Thomas picked off Namath and returned it 38 yards for a score. In all the Chiefs grabbed four interceptions from Broadway Joe. Overall, the Jets had six turnovers on the afternoon

On September 15, 1996, the Chiefs beat the Seattle Seahawks 35-17 at the Kingdome. The Chiefs led 21-10 at half-time and controlled the game from the start. QB Steve Bono threw three touchdown passes, including two to WR Chris Penn and one to Dale Carter for 46 yards, as the cornerback got some snaps on offense. In fact, Carter caught three passes for 61 yards. RB Marcus Allen had scoring runs of one and two yards. The Kansas City defense had an interception from S Mark Collins and seven sacks, topped by DT Joe Phillips who had two.

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …

Born on September 15, 1971 in Ft. Riley, Kansas was G Will Shields. He was selected in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft out of Nebraska. Shields became a 12-time Pro Bowler with the Chiefs, playing 14 seasons (1993-2006), appearing in 224 games with 223 consecutive starts. Those 224 games are the most played in franchise history. Shields never missed a game during his NFL career and played 223 at right guard and one at left tackle. In the ‘98 season, he caught a pass for four yards. He retired before the 2007 season and will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2013.

Red Dawg · 09-15-2009, 01:36 PM

This is a good signing. Definitely an upgrade to our roster, Role player and piece to the puzzle.

Mr. Laz · 09-15-2009, 02:26 PM

I wonder who we will release.

Cut lawrence and then sign him to the PS maybe

Micjones · 09-15-2009, 02:28 PM

Why on Earth would we keep Copper over Lawrence?

BigChiefFan · 09-15-2009, 02:31 PM

I thought he played pretty well in Minny. I'm glad they brought him in-let's hope he produces.

Halfcan · 09-15-2009, 02:58 PM

the bobby twins

chiefscafan · 09-15-2009, 03:17 PM

Heck I'd sign the Dee. Dee Dorsey kid

TheGuardian · 09-15-2009, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Very disappointed that it ended the way it ended. It was a quiet airplane ride home. That was good. They understand that losing will not be accepted.”

That's the kind of stuff I like to read right there.

Paniero · 09-15-2009, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tribal Warfare

Another Veteran WR Arrives … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

On September 15, 1968, the Chiefs lost to the New York Jets 20-19 at Municipal Stadium. The Chiefs only TD came on an 80-yard punt return by Noland Smith. K Jan Stenerud had three field goals.

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …[/I]

Born on September 15, 1971 in Ft. Riley, Kansas was G Will Shields. He was selected in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft out of Nebraska. Shields became a 12-time Pro Bowler with the Chiefs, playing 14 seasons (1993-2006)

Hi. My name is simple math. 9+7= 16. Yay! Jan had 4 field goals that game.
As for Will, hard to play for ten years without being drafted.

I don't normally read this guys articles, because when I take the three minutes to do so on occasion, I find quite a few errors which undermine the effort the the writer.

Hog's Gone Fishin · 09-15-2009, 04:14 PM

Woohoo! A receiver with a big reputation for fumbling the ball.

**DaneMcCloud** · 09-15-2009, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hog Farmer

Woohoo! A receiver with a big reputation for fumbling the ball.

I don't think that's going to happen with Haley as his coach. Otherwise, the guy won't last a week.

Hog's Gone Fishin · 09-15-2009, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I don't think that's going to happen with Haley as his coach. Otherwise, the guy won't last a week.

True That !

Micjones · 09-15-2009, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hog Farmer

Woohoo! A receiver with a big reputation for fumbling the ball.

Calm down. He had 1 season where fumbles were a problem.

09-15-2009, 01:11 PM
Tribal Warfare Man of Culture Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $-2977187	Gretz: Another Veteran WR Arrives … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs Another Veteran WR Arrives … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs September 15, 2009 - Bob Gretz \| The time to sign veteran wide receivers was in March, April & May. That’s how Bobby Engram came to the Chiefs; he was one of the first receivers acquired by Pioli/Haley in their re-make of the team’s roster. Engram was signed for his ability after 14 NFL seasons to play in the slot and catch passes on third down. He wasn’t viewed in the spring, or viewed now as an every offensive down receiver. When at team is trying to add experienced pass catchers in August and September it’s pretty good evidence of a rash of injuries or the fact that somebody seriously over-estimated the talent on the roster. With the Chiefs, it’s not a problem with injuries, although they did lose Devard Darling for the season with a torn ACL in his left knee. Sometime today the Chiefs will announce the signing of 28-year old WR Bobby Wade (right), who will be playing in his seventh NFL season. To make room for Wade, the Chiefs will have to move somebody off the active roster. Wade is the third veteran receiver that Pioli/Haley have brought in since the start of training camp in hopes of improving the talent level at the position. Amani Toomer and Ashley Lelie came and departed before the season opener. The duo in charge of the Chiefs has said they will continue to add players to their team if he’s an upgrade in talent. Whether Wade qualifies as an upgrade remains to be seen. Over his career he’s caught 208 passes for 2,491 yards and seven touchdowns. He was a starter in Chicago for the 2004 season, but then lost the job the next year. He started 26 games the past two seasons in Minnesota. In between the Bears and Vikings he spent time with the Titans. Wade was released by the Vikings last week, even after he cut in half his pay for the ‘09 season to help the team’s salary cap situation. If Wade is in shape, if he arrives with a good demeanor and if he plays like he has something to prove, then he’ll come in and immediately be the second best receiver on the roster. Of course, that says more about the receivers on the roster than it does Wade. Right now, Mark Bradley is in the starting lineup, but he found Haley’s doghouse on Sunday when he failed to pick up a first down on a third down catch where he had vision and a run at the sticks. That’s the type of mental blunder that sticks in the head coach’s craw. There is opportunity for Wade with the Chiefs. He’s even returned punts and kicks in his past, with a career average of 8.8 yards on punts and 23.9 yards on kickoffs. Another aspect of Wade’s game is fumbles; he’s never gone a season without coughing up the ball at least once. In 2005, he fumbled 10 times while with the Bears. In 90 NFL games, Wade has fumbled 20 times. That works out to a fumble ever 16.7 times he touches the ball. That’s not good. Yet it’s an improvement for the Chiefs and brings us back to Pioli/Haley and their decisions, or non-decisions in the off-season. If a team wanted veteran receivers with some level of talent the window to sign them was when the NFL free agency period began in late February. Certainly the receiver market was not deep and you always overpay for those types of players, guys like Laveranues Coles, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Devery Henderson. But it’s not like the Chiefs did not have the salary cap room to make the moves. And any one of those three receivers would have elevated the position coming into the season, and certainly added more than Toomer, Lelie and likely Wade brought to the offense. But Coles went from the Jets to Bengals, while Housh went from the Bengals to the Seahawks and Henderson stayed with the Saints. And the Chiefs are trying yet again to find a shiny nickel in the NFL scrap heap of receivers. *WHAT HALEY HAD TO SAY* The head coach doesn’t meet with the media on Monday, but he spoke on the Chiefs Radio Network and while there were no great revelations, here’s some of what he said: - ON CHIEFS PHYSICAL CONDITION: “Our team has to be in condition to compete the way we have to and win games. We didn’t have any IVs after the game. Sometimes there are 10 or 11 guys after a game like that (with IVs). We came out relatively clean.” *- ON HIS TEAM UNDERSTANDING WHAT DIDN’T GET DONE:* “We’ve got to be able to finish. We had a chance. We had the score tied. We have to get off the field and give the ball back to the offense. I thought we were winning the game that we were going to come out on top. Very disappointed that it ended the way it ended. It was a quiet airplane ride home. That was good. They understand that losing will not be accepted.” *- ON PERFORMANCE OF BRODIE CROYLE:* “If you had told me we scored 24 points, I would have believed we’d win the game. Brodie played well enough to give us a chance to win. Brodie did a commendable job, in a difficult situation. Throughout the week we didn’t know for sure who was playing. We took it right down the wire whether Matt would play or not, we felt the best direction to go was with Brodie. He did a solid job for us.” *- ON STATUS OF MATT CASSEL FOR THIS SUNDAY’S GAME:* “It’s encouraging when you have a player that wants to play and does everything possible to get out there. When he’s a tough player, it speeds up the healing process. He was really disappointed. He was in here all day, doing everything he can that he can go this week. We will see where he is on Wednesday. When you have a guy doing everything necessary, it gives you hope.” *THE GUYS WHO GO OUT FOR THE COIN TOSS* We found out who the Chiefs had voted as their captains for this season on Sunday in Baltimore: Mike Vrabel and Mike Brown on defense, Matt Cassel and Brian Waters on offense and Jon McGraw on special teams. There were some former Chiefs who earned the big “C” on their jersey. In Buffalo, LB Kawika Mitchell is one of the Bills defensive captains, while C Casey Wiegmann is an offensive captain in Denver. With the Steelers, LB Keyaron Fox is a captain for the special teams. *SIGNINGS, INJURIES & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE* * BEARS – placed LB Brian Urlacher on the injured-reserve list (wrist); signed LB Tim Shaw. * BENGALS – activated OT Andre Smith to the active roster; released RB DeDe Dorsey. * BUCCANEERS – signed DE Tim Crowder and G Sean Mahan; released CB Kyle Arrington and DE Maurice Evans. * CHARGERS – promoted DE Andre Coleman from the practice squad; released RB Gartrell Johnson. * EAGLES – signed QB Jeff Garcia. * FALCONS – re-signed RB Vernon Haynes. * JAGUARS – DE Reggie Hayward suffered a broken leg in Sunday’s game against Indianapolis and is done for the season. * JETS – released CB Marquice Cole; DE Shaun Ellis re-joined the team after serving a one-game NFL suspension. * PANTHERS – signed QB A.J. Feeley; placed QB Josh McCown on the injured-reserve list (foot). * RAIDERS – released DT William Joseph; activated DL Richard Seymour. * SEAHAWKS – re-signed LB D.D. Lewis; released DE Derek Walker. *FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY* On September 15, 1968, the Chiefs lost to the New York Jets 20-19 at Municipal Stadium. A then record crowd of 48,871 saw the Jets defense control the Kansas City offense, as the Chiefs scored just 201 yards and no touchdowns. New York QB Joe Namath threw a pair of touchdown passes to WR Don Maynard of 57 and 30 yards. The Chiefs only TD came on an 80-yard punt return by Noland Smith. K Jan Stenerud had three field goals. Namath hit 17 of 29 throws for 302 yards; MLB Willie Lanier picked off a pass. On September 15, 1974, the Chiefs beat the New York Jets 24-16 in the season opener at Arrowhead Stadium. Jets QB Joe Namath threw a pair of first half touchdown passes, but before intermission he threw one pass too many. Just before the end of the second period, Marvin Upshaw snagged a Namath screen pass and rumbled 52 yards for a touchdown. Combined with an earlier two-yard TD run by RB Ed Podolak and the Jets led 16-14 at halftime. The Chiefs scored the only points of the second half, as K Jan Stenerud h it from 27 yards and CB Emmitt Thomas picked off Namath and returned it 38 yards for a score. In all the Chiefs grabbed four interceptions from Broadway Joe. Overall, the Jets had six turnovers on the afternoon On September 15, 1996, the Chiefs beat the Seattle Seahawks 35-17 at the Kingdome. The Chiefs led 21-10 at half-time and controlled the game from the start. QB Steve Bono threw three touchdown passes, including two to WR Chris Penn and one to Dale Carter for 46 yards, as the cornerback got some snaps on offense. In fact, Carter caught three passes for 61 yards. RB Marcus Allen had scoring runs of one and two yards. The Kansas City defense had an interception from S Mark Collins and seven sacks, topped by DT Joe Phillips who had two. SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY … Born on September 15, 1971 in Ft. Riley, Kansas was G Will Shields. He was selected in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft out of Nebraska. Shields became a 12-time Pro Bowler with the Chiefs, playing 14 seasons (1993-2006), appearing in 224 games with 223 consecutive starts. Those 224 games are the most played in franchise history. Shields never missed a game during his NFL career and played 223 at right guard and one at left tackle. In the ‘98 season, he caught a pass for four yards. He retired before the 2007 season and will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2013.
Posts: 43,452

09-15-2009, 01:36 PM	#2
Red Dawg Going home eventually Join Date: Dec 2002 Casino cash: $1252858	This is a good signing. Definitely an upgrade to our roster, Role player and piece to the puzzle. __________________ If you're not first you're last!
Posts: 33,170

09-15-2009, 02:26 PM	#3
Mr. Laz Don't Tease Me Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: KS Casino cash: $11047037	I wonder who we will release. Cut lawrence and then sign him to the PS maybe __________________
Posts: 95,626

09-15-2009, 02:28 PM	#4
Micjones Whose house? Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: KCMO Casino cash: $10005180	Why on Earth would we keep Copper over Lawrence? __________________ It's like when I'm right I'm right, when I'm wrong I could been right, so I'm still right cause I coulda been wrong.
Posts: 15,344

09-15-2009, 02:31 PM	#5
BigChiefFan MVP Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: In the Top 10 Casino cash: $9924205	I thought he played pretty well in Minny. I'm glad they brought him in-let's hope he produces. __________________ A 35 year drought can make you thirsty.
Posts: 15,777

09-15-2009, 02:58 PM	#6
Halfcan In Search of a Life Join Date: Aug 2005 Casino cash: $7327995	the bobby twins
Posts: 43,200

09-15-2009, 03:17 PM	#7
chiefscafan Veteran Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: manhattan beach, CA Casino cash: $9688215	Heck I'd sign the Dee. Dee Dorsey kid
Posts: 4,425

09-15-2009, 04:14 PM	#10
Hog's Gone Fishin Fish are scared of me Join Date: Nov 2001 Casino cash: $-1529523	Woohoo! A receiver with a big reputation for fumbling the ball.
Posts: 40,649