I hope this guy ir prominently on the Chiefs radar.

[Frankie]

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chi...ry/575943.html.


Family matters force USC lineman Rachal into the NFL draft
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
As many as 12 players from the University of Southern California could be selected in next weekend’s NFL draft.

Chilo Rachal did not want to be among them.

But Rachal, a junior right guard, had little choice. His mother, Veronica Pickett, has a sizable tumor in her abdomen and no medical insurance. His father, Charles Rachal, is 64, works in construction, has had two hernias and tendinitis in his knees and has no insurance.

The family needs a breadwinner, so Rachal decided to make himself eligible for the NFL draft and is expected to be a second- or third-round pick.

“I had an opportunity, and I had to go,” Rachal, a fourth-year junior, said at the NFL scouting combine. “I would have loved to have played another year under coach (Pete) Carroll. At the same time, I had to do what’s best for my family.”

Rachal estimated the size of his mother’s tumor was that of a six-month-old child but was unsure whether it was malignant or benign. He said his mother was receiving publicly funded treatment at her Compton, Calif., home, “but without the good insurance, you can’t get the treatment you really need.

“Knowing the status of my dad, I don’t like him working like that with the injuries he’s dealing with. But at the same time, he’s the one making money to take care of my mother.”

Pickett, 39, did not tell her son the extent of her condition until after the final regular-season game against UCLA.

“My mother didn’t want to tell me during the season because she thought it would take me off my game,” Rachal said. “Once I knew, I had to make the decision that was best for her.

“I love my mother, and I’m going to do the best thing I can to put her in a better situation. She’s my motivation every day I wake up.”

Rachal, an All-Pacific-10 guard last season, did not consult Carroll before making his decision. Rachal was afraid that Carroll, who has a pretty good record of keeping players through their senior seasons, would try to dissuade him.

“If a coach has a good player that wants to leave, of course, the coach is going to try to convince him to come back,” said Rachal, who is one semester short of a degree in sociology. “At the same time, my situation is bad, so I had to do what’s best for my family.

“It took me a while to think about what I wanted to do because there was a lot I wanted to do at USC. I wanted to get my degree. I wanted to become an All-American.”

Rachal’s teammates understood his decision.

“Family comes first,” said offensive tackle Drew Radovich, one of 11 USC seniors invited to the NFL combine. “I support him 100 percent in his decision. It surprised me at first, but I wish him the best of luck with his career.”

Rachal’s family problems began before his parents took ill. He said two of his older brothers were killed in street violence. But his mother’s steady hand kept him from a similar life.

“My mom raised me differently from them,” Rachel said. “My mom and my dad did a good job of sheltering me from that stuff. Me knowing the path that they took, and how they ended up, definitely motivated me.”

At USC, Rachal started 12 games at right guard as a redshirt sophomore in 2006, and 10 games last season before a knee injury cost him three games. Last season, Rachal, a 6-foot-5, 315-pounder, was credited with 77 knockdown blocks, including nine touchdown-resulting blocks and did not allow any quarterback pressures or sacks.

“No doubt that Chilo has a chance to be a great football player,” Carroll said. “He has all the necessary attributes to become a dominating one — the right attitude, the right work habits, the right physical skills.

“He’ll be one of those players who just keeps getting better and better. He knows what he wants, and he’s going to reach that goal.”