The 45-year-old was charged with two felony counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance after Illinois State Police found nearly 6 grams of cocaine in his Hummer and 0.2 grams of Ecstasy, Tazewell County State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz said.

Maas was also charged with a misdemeanor count of unlawful use of a weapon after police found a loaded handgun in the vehicle, Umholtz said. A hearing date has been set for Oct. 10.

State police asked to search Maas' Hummer after he appeared nervous during a July 6 safety check along Illinois Route 116, authorities have said.

A passenger in the Hummer, Sarah J. Murphy - who, like Maas, is a resident of Lee's Summit, Mo. - faces the same drug charges, but the 27-year-old does not face any weapons charges, Umholtz said.

If convicted on all counts, a judge could sentence Maas to up to three years in prison, Umholtz said.

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The Chiefs felt they no longer could go with struggling kicker Justin Medlock and agreed to terms of a two-year contract with Dave Rayner today.

Rayner will kick for the Chiefs in Sunday’s game against the Bears in Chicago.

Medlock struggled in the preseason and then missed a 30-yard field goal attempt in Sunday’s loss in Houston. He later made a 27-yard attempt.

But the Chiefs felt they could no longer wait for Medlock, their fifth-round draft pick, to come around.

The Chiefs planned to put Medlock on their practice squad if he cleared waivers.

Rayner handled kickoffs for the Colts and was the Packers kicker last season. He made 26 of 36 field goal attempts.

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That wasn’t the case Sunday for quarterback Damon Huard or the Chiefs.

Huard’s numbers were far from eye-opening, but they weren’t bad either — 22 of 33 for 168 yards. But the two interceptions were a black eye, as was the 53.6 quarterback rating.

In addition, Huard was hampered by several dropped passes.

“When you stop the run — which they did for the most part — we become pretty one-dimensional,” Huard said. “That makes it tough on us. They didn’t blitz a whole lot. We just didn’t execute.”

The Chiefs’ sluggish running attack didn’t make matters easier for Huard. Nor did several dropped passes, or watching veteran receiver Eddie Kennison go out because of a hamstring injury on the first offensive play from scrimmage.

“We moved the ball, but we didn’t put it in the end zone,” Huard said. “We made mistakes, had bad field position ... we just didn’t get the job done.”

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Perhaps that’s only because the Chiefs had no other kicker on their roster.

“He’s our kicker,” Edwards said, though his words sounded unconvincing.

It’s hard to see how the Chiefs can stay with Medlock with their offense finding it difficult to score points.

The Chiefs have their list of possible replacements ready after last week’s round of veteran auditions. Their favorite among the bunch appears to be Nick Novak, who was impressive on field goals and kickoffs in his workout.

Novak has kicked in regular-season games for Arizona and Washington.

They made no move for Novak on Sunday, but that could change soon. Medlock later made a 27-yard field goal, but by the time he attempted that one, the Chiefs trailed 17-0.

“I was dying,” Medlock said, referring to the time between his failed field goal in the first quarter and his successful one late in the third. “I really needed to get back out there.”

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Derrick Johnson says he’s got “the most talent of any linebacker in the league.” The problem, he admits, is that he hasn’t shown it.

At least not yet.

“Chiefs fans haven’t seen what I can do,” Johnson said. “But they will. I can promise you that.”

Two years after Kansas City selected him with the 15th overall pick in the 2005 draft, Johnson has fallen a bit short of the expectations that were placed on him when he entered the pro ranks.

It’s not that Johnson has played poorly. He started all 16 games as a rookie and finished third on the team in tackles a year ago. Still, in his mind, Johnson should be leading the Chiefs’ playoff charge instead of running with pack.

“The third year is supposed to be the charm,” Johnson said. “If I can stay healthy, I’ll pass all the tests with flying colors.”

Health, you may remember, played a key role in stunting Johnson’s progress in 2006. A high ankle sprain forced him to miss four games midway through the season. Even when he returned, Johnson wasn’t the same.

“There are no excuses for last year,” Johnson said. “But I went through a lot. It may not have seemed like a big deal to some people. But that injury last year … that hurt me. That set me back big-time.

“I couldn’t move as well. I could run straight ahead, but other things were tough. I was good enough (to get into the game), but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t me. When I’m out there I want to be helping more than I was.”

Injuries certainly won’t be a problem when Johnson takes the field in Sunday’s season opener at Houston. Johnson said he’s as healthy as he’s been in his entire career — and, mentally, he couldn’t be any more pleased with his improvement. Full story

Almost as if the Chiefs are bound by a sense of habit, Samie Parker will take his usual place as a starting wide receiver when the season begins Sunday against the Texans in Houston.

How long that continues is another matter. The Chiefs left the distinct impression that anything less than dramatic improvement would eventually land Parker on the bench.

It’s more a matter of when first-round draft pick Dwayne Bowe is ready, and less about what Parker does.

While the Chiefs aren’t saying those exact words, the implication is there. Strongly.

“It’s just a matter of Dwayne Bowe developing,” offensive coordinator Mike Solari said. “He’s a playmaker. We’ve got to take advantage of that. He presents a problem on the football field (for opposing defenses) because of his size.”

Eddie Kennison and Parker are the scheduled starters Sunday, but coach Herm Edwards said Bowe and Jeff Webb would play. Some of their snaps will come in the three-receiver offense and some in place of Kennison. Full story

It didn't surprise Herm Edwards a bit to see Jon McGraw, Brian Waters and Donnie Edwards elected team captains in balloting by their Kansas City Chiefs teammates.

"I had those guy penciled in,'' the Chiefs coach said. "We had a straw poll going (among the coaches) and I said these were going to be guys, no question.''

"Some of them didn't even know who he was when they voted for him,'' Edwards said, only half in jest. "They say, 'Who's that 47?' and then they vote for him.''

But Edwards knows all about the Kansas native who in his first year in Kansas City joined the universally-respected Waters and long-admired Donnie Edwards as leaders of their respective units this year.

The Chiefs coach can cite chapter and verse of McGraw's life story. It's the tale of a small-school standout at Riley County High who walked-on at Kansas State and eventually became a second-round draft pick for Edwards' New York Jets in 2002.

But as sold as he is on McGraw's ability as a backup safety and headline special teams player, Herm Edwards is an even bigger fan of Jon McGraw's character, along with that of his Manhattan-native wife, Gretchen. Full story

He doesn’t change what he eats for breakfast, and forget about switching shoes or picking up pennies in the parking lot.

Superstitions have never been part of Justin Medlock’s routine.

Instead, whenever he misses a kick or finds himself in a slump, Medlock remembers what the legendary Al Del Greco told him during a recent conversation about life in the NFL.

“He just reminded me that a lot of kickers get off to a rough start when they enter the league,” said Medlock, a Chiefs rookie. “He said the best thing for a young kicker is to show patience.”

Medlock vows he can do just that.

But can the Chiefs?

With Sunday’s season opener at Houston less than a week away, the team summoned six kickers to Kansas City for a workout Monday afternoon. No one ended up with a contract, but the audition was enough to indicate the Chiefs may be losing confidence in Medlock, a fifth-round pick in last spring’s draft. Full story

As if kiss cams, military flyovers and a gantlet of grills weren’t enough, Chiefs coach Herm Edwards has thought of a new way to enhance the game-day experience at Arrowhead Stadium.

Fan participation.

Each time running back Larry Johnson touches the football, Edwards wants fans to drape a numbered sign over the upper-deck facade — kinda like the K’s Red Sox fans used to hang after each Roger Clemens strikeout.

When Johnson’s tally begins to near 20, Edwards will summon the crowd for advice.

“We’ll have hand signals,” Edwards said Tuesday. “Thumbs-up means ‘We want more carries.’ Thumbs-down means ‘No more.’ We try to be the best hosts we can.”

Edwards was joshing, of course.

Ever since the end of a 2006 season that saw Johnson carry an NFL-record 416 times, Edwards has vowed the All-Pro’s touches would decrease.

That should especially be the case during Sunday’s season opener at Houston, when Johnson will be limited after missing almost all of the preseason.

“He’s going to be on a little bit of a leash early,” Edwards said. “He has to get his legs underneath him. (Backup) Michael Bennett is healthy, and that’s good. It gives us another runner. It’s not all on LJ. He did a yeoman’s job last year.”

Edwards said he and Johnson have discussed the situation and that Johnson seems fine with it — especially during the first few weeks of the regular season. After all, Johnson missed all of training camp in River Falls before agreeing to a new contract on Aug. 21. Full story

But, come on. Two touchdowns in four exhibition games? Four winless exhibition games?

Is this the offense the Kansas City Chiefs will trot out in Sunday's season opener in Houston?

"I don't think they should be worried,'' said right guard John Welbourn. "You have to remember, we kept everything pretty vanilla. We didn't really do anything. We showed about 10 percent of our arsenal.''

Perhaps, but not one aspect of the offense showed any flow or consistency in losses to New Orleans, St. Louis, Miami and Cleveland.

Second-year quarterback Brodie Croyle, handed an opportunity to win the job, failed. His three turnovers elevated Huard, a career-long backup who played well in eight starts last year in place of departed Trent Green.

The running game, with Pro Bowler Johnson working out in Arizona during a contract dispute, was terrible. The only big play on offense all summer was a long run by rookie Kolby Smith.

Rookie first-round draft pick Dwayne Bowe made one good catch at wide receiver, but dropped another ball and failed to crack the starting lineup.

The offense scored only two touchdowns, and rookie kicker Justin Medlock struggled so much the Chiefs had six kicking prospects in camp on Monday.

Johnson, who has broken the team rushing record each of the past two years, is back now. So is left tackle Damion McIntosh, who practiced on Monday for the first time since injuring his knee on Aug. 1. Backup tight end Jason Dunn, a terrific blocker who had been held out with an injury, also returned Monday.

For the record, Monday was the first time the Chiefs had all 11 offensive starters on the field together since minicamp.

"It's nice to have your running back again,'' said Welbourn, who has moved from tackle to guard, his more natural position. "I'm sure we'll take a little bit of time, but we're not worried. Preseason is a poor indicator. How many times have you seen a team go 4-0 in the preseason and then go 5-11? I don't put much stock in the preseason.''

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Though his roster remained fluid at its lowest levels, Herm Edwards saw his starting lineup solidify Monday as his Chiefs began preparations for Sunday's season opener in Houston.

Kansas City welcomed left tackle Damion McIntosh back to practice for the first time since he injured a knee Aug. 1 in training camp. The former Kansas State left tackle, the first free agent signed by the Chiefs this year, is hoping to play against the Texans, Edwards said.

Edwards also confirmed that Kyle Turley would open at right tackle, though he could still split time with Chris Terry.

Settling in at the right tackle spot seems to have worked well for Turley.

His attempt to come back from almost two years of football inactivity following career-threatening back surgery was hindered last year by his reduced weight (275 pounds) and the team's desire to move him to left tackle, not his natural position. The suddenly undersized Turley played the first two games at left tackle and five more at right tackle, but was injured and inactive for five others. The Chiefs released him at the end of the season, but re-signed him in the summer for another shot.

"He got his weight up (to 306) for one,'' Edwards said of the improvements Turley made over the past year. "He's not flipping and flopping between right and left tackle now, either. Last year he came in wanting to play tight end, but that's Turley. That's why I like the guy.''

Edwards also announced Monday that young veteran Jimmy Wilkerson will open at right defensive end when Jared Allen serves the first game of his two-game league suspension. Full story

The first practice dedicated to Sunday’s season opener at Houston brought cause for celebration for Chiefs offensive coordinator Mike Solari.

The Chiefs had all 11 starters together on the practice field Monday for the first time since training camp started in late July. Finally, six days before the start of the season, the Chiefs could prepare in earnest.

“It’s a starting point,” said Solari, who welcomed back left tackle Damion McIntosh (out since early in camp because of a sprained knee) and quarterback Damon Huard (out for the last two weeks because of a sore calf muscle).

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, a lot of work, and we need to get better every day. We haven’t had enough time to get the first unit working together. We’d like to be further along at this point, but because the guys weren’t all able to be together, it’s hampered our ability to be consistent.”

The Chiefs are also mixing in running back Larry Johnson and another important component, blocking tight end Jason Dunn. Both missed all of camp, Johnson with his contract holdout and Dunn because of an ailing back.

They hoped by this point to be gearing up for the Texans — but, on offense at least, they’re still fitting the pieces together.

“We have to be smart with what we ask them to do when we get to Houston,” Solari said. “We understand that Larry won’t be able to carry the ball as many times until he gets into shape and gets into condition. Michael Bennett is ready to help.” Full story

It could change by the end of the week, said coach Herm Edwards, who is holding true to his vow to remake a veteran team that hasn't won a playoff game since the 1993 season.

While the roster is dotted with starters who are 30 or older, Edwards is confident his program is bearing fruit. As of Monday, the roster contained 11 first-year players, including third-team quarterback Bobby Thigpen, who was claimed off the waiver wire.

"I first stood here (last December) and talked about it and now it's come to fruition," Edwards said. "That's where we're headed. We have a youthful group with a lot of energy and some veteran guys who provide leadership for us. It's a pretty good blend, and now we've got to put it all together. We set out our road map today for what we want to accomplish this season. It starts opening day on the road."

The best news on the first day of practice at the end of a winless preseason was on the offensive line. Left tackle Damion McIntosh, out for several weeks with a knee injury, was able to work. Whether he'll be ready for Sunday's opener at Houston remains in question. But his backup, Will Svitek, struggled, and the sooner he can get back, the better for an offense that had trouble moving the ball all summer.

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In Herm Edwards’ perfect world, the Chiefs would have another couple of weeks of practice and another two preseason games. The extra time would allow Damon Huard to get more work, Larry Johnson to get into football shape, Damion McIntosh to rebound from his knee injury and Justin Medlock to find himself.

“I wish we were ahead of where we are right now, but we’re not,” Edwards said. “You can’t do anything about it. You’ve got to line up, and you’ve got to go play.”

Ready or not, the Chiefs begin the regular season Sunday against the Texans in Houston. By many indications — and their 0-4 preseason record is only a small part of it — the Chiefs aren’t ready.

That would be nothing new for Edwards’ teams. The Chiefs also had a disjointed preseason last year in their first season under Edwards, then scored a total of only 16 points in the first two games, both losses.

Edwards was notorious for having slow-starting teams in five seasons with the New York Jets. Four of those teams lost more games than they won in the early weeks of the season.

That Edwards has coached four playoff teams is a testament to how his teams have improved as the seasons wear on. But two of his Jets teams couldn’t dig out of those early-season holes. Full story

The Chiefs got another shot at Thigpen over the weekend, and this time, they took it. Kansas City claimed Thigpen off waivers from Minnesota, and he will replace the recently-released Casey Printers as the No. 3 quarterback.

The Chiefs appear to have no interest in Byron Leftwich, who was released Saturday by Jacksonville.

To make room for Thigpen, the Chiefs released wide receiver Bobby Sippio but planned to add him to their practice squad if he cleared waivers.

The 6-foot-1, 223-pound Thigpen is an intriguing developmental prospect. He didn’t play quarterback in high school because his team ran the single-wing.

He wanted to play quarterback in college, and the only school that would have him at that position was Division I-AA Coastal Carolina.

The Chiefs researched Thigpen before the draft and thought enough of him to have him for a visit.

“I felt at the time like they might draft me,” Thigpen said Sunday before boarding a flight from Minneapolis to Kansas City.

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If you see someone sitting in the stands at either of the next two games cheering for the Chiefs and looking a lot like Jared Allen, it’s probably him.

All sorts of things have occurred to Allen as he attempts to kill his upcoming two-game, NFL-imposed suspension. Among them: fly to Houston and Chicago on his own, buy his tickets and join whatever Sea of Red there might be with the Chiefs on the road.

“I’m debating with myself whether to go and watch these games or not,” he said. “My original thought when the suspension was four games was to go to Arizona and I might not even turn the TV on.

“But the suspension is two games now, and it’s selfish to think just about myself. Maybe I can give the guys some support if I go to the games. Even if I have to sit in the stands, I want to be there before the game and let them know I’m with them. This isn’t just about me. I feel bad that I’ve put my teammates in this situation.”

Allen is eligible to return for the Chiefs’ Sept. 23 home opener against the Vikings. In the meantime, he can’t practice or play but he can do virtually everything else, including attending team meetings. Full story

The Chiefs didn’t just say they kept their best 53 players when they made their final roster cuts on Saturday. They might have done it, too.

Their lopsided roster attests to that. The Chiefs retained four halfbacks, and Priest Holmes wasn’t one of them. He was placed on the non-football injury list, meaning he can’t practice or play for the season’s first six weeks.

The Chiefs could choose to activate Holmes at that point.

Derrick Ross, who during training camp appeared to have fumbled his way off the roster, is one of the halfbacks, joining Larry Johnson, Michael Bennett and rookie Kolby Smith. Ross impressed the Chiefs with his ability to break tackles during the preseason.

The Chiefs kept 10 defensive backs, including rookie free agent Tyron Brackenridge, and six wide receivers, including mid-camp arrival Bobby Sippio, a former Arena League star.

But the Chiefs left themselves short by keeping only two quarterbacks. Casey Printers and Jeff Terrell were released.

“You’d like to have three quarterbacks, but in our situation right now because of some other positions, we have to go into the game with only two,” coach Herm Edwards said. “We will have a disaster quarterback in mind if something should happen, but hopefully there won’t be any disasters. That’s just how we have to do it right now.”

The Chiefs have only seven defensive linemen. That doesn’t count starting end Jared Allen, who is suspended for the first two regular season games because of a violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy. Source

The spin doctors were out in force — some might say out of control — even before the Chiefs' dismal 0-4 preseason mercifully ended Thursday night in St. Louis.

Team president Carl Peterson, speaking on Chiefs Television Network in the waning minutes of the lifeless 10-3 loss to the Rams, invoked a coaching legend and fuzzy facts in making the point that preseason won-lost records mean nothing.

"I don't want to diminish things," Peterson continued. "Obviously, I wish we'd done better on offense. But the combined record of the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts last preseason, the two teams in the Super Bowl, was 1-7. People don't remember the preseason."

Good thing, too. For anyone who does will recall that while the NFL champion Colts were 1-3 last year in exhibition play, the Bears were a more respectable 2-2.

But then, nothing added up for the Chiefs in four games in which they scored a league-low 32 points — 9 on defense. Kansas City also went scoreless in the first quarter (when its offensive regulars played), had a team passer rating of 54.0 and averaged 224 yards per game.

Even if those numbers were better, coach Herm Edwards said in his spin session, his team's record would still be 0-0 today, one week from Sunday's season opener in Houston. Full story

Chiefs President Carl Peterson announced on Saturday that the club has made 21 transactions in order to comply with today’s NFL mandatory roster cutdown to 53 players. NFL teams can designate an eight-man practice squad beginning on Sunday, September 2nd.

Kansas City placed RB Priest Holmes on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury List (NFI). The Chiefs released WR Brad Ekwerekwu, S Marlon Fair, DT Kiki Gonzalez, WR Chris Hannon, FB Gilbert Harris, DE Michael Heard, G Rob Hunt, DT Patrice Majondo-Mwamba, DE Montez Murphy, T James Newby, RB Marcus O’Keith, CB Justin Phinisee, CB Will Poole, QB Casey Printers, WR Ean Randolph, LB Nick Reid, LB Rich Scanlon, G Tre Stallings, QB Jeff Terrell and TE Keith Willis

Holmes (5-9, 213) has started 61 games for the Chiefs, rushing 1,275 times for a club-record 5,933 yards (4.7 avg.) with 76 TDs and catching 246 passes for 2,360 yards (9.6 avg.) with seven scores. He originally joined the club as an unrestricted free agent from Baltimore in 2001. He has played in 109 regular season contests (80 starts), carrying the ball 1,734 times for 8,035 yards (4.6 avg.) with 86 TDs and catching 334 passes for 2,945 yards (8.8 avg.) with eight TDs.

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Steve Sabol knows how much Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson burns to one day be mentioned in the same conversation with Hall of Fame runners such as Jim Brown and Earl Campbell.

After signing a five-year, $43.2 million extension that made him the game's highest-paid running back, Johnson mentioned his appreciation for Sabol, the NFL Films president, during an Aug. 21 news conference.

"I always joked about this, but Steve Sabol is like my second father because that's who I learned the game from," Johnson says.

Johnson's father, Larry, Sr., a Penn State defensive line coach, raised his son on Sabol's NFL Films collection of great running backs such as Brown, Campbell, Marion Motley, Gale Sayers, Eric Dickerson and Walter Payton.

Johnson visited the NFL Films studios in Mount Laurel, N.J., in April 2006 to study the masters of his craft alongside Sabol.

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When he was drafted by the Chiefs four months ago, DeMarcus “Tank” Tyler was known for a highly publicized bar fight and for spitting on a college referee.

Now he’s just the guy who snores.

For Tyler, the HBO documentary “Hard Knocks” has done wonders when it comes to repairing his image. Instead of a troubled rookie with a history of off-field issues, Tyler’s sleep apnea — TV cameras caught him sawing logs — has made him a lovable character Chiefs fans have come to embrace.

And he hasn’t even played a regular-season game.

“I couldn’t be any happier here,” said Tyler, a defensive tackle. “Everyone has treated me great. The Chiefs showed they believed in me when they drafted me. I’m trying to make the most of this chance.”

Tyler seems to be doing just that.

While most of his teammates struggled, he was one of the few bright spots during the Chiefs’ winless preseason. Tyler, a former North Carolina State standout, made some huge fourth-and-goal tackles to thwart scoring drives by Miami and St. Louis.

And he answered questions about his stamina by playing extensively in Thursday’s loss at St. Louis. Full story

At least now it’s over.

At least now — after Thursday’s 10-3 loss to the Rams — the focus will be on what these Chiefs can become instead of what they’ve been throughout this winless preseason.

“Hard to watch,” was how coach Herm Edwards described a setback at Cleveland a few weeks ago. From there it only got worse.

The Chiefs scored a combined 32 points and a measly three touchdowns in four preseason losses — and one of those was on a fumble return. Brodie Croyle was so inconsistent that Damon Huard won the starting quarterback job despite hardly taking the field. At times, Kansas City looked better defensively. Other times it looked worse.

Still, despite their struggles, the Chiefs seemed upbeat and energized as they left the Edward Jones Dome on Thursday. For them, the regular-season opener at Houston can’t come fast enough.

“Nobody has seen the Kansas City Chiefs play yet,” tight end Tony Gonzalez said. “Nobody has. We’re a better football team than we were a year ago.” Full story

He did nothing that would make them second-guess their decision to make Damon Huard the starting quarterback for the regular-season opener Sept. 9 against the Texans in Houston.

Croyle started for Huard, who for the second straight week took the night off. He completed one pass, a 15-yarder to Samie Parker, and did not throw an interception for the first time in preseason.

Those were the only positives of the night for Croyle. He helped kill a promising drive by throwing a difficult screen pass that Michael Bennett couldn’t hold and then missing an open Bennett.

He later took a sack when it appeared he had time to unload the ball.

The results were two punts and no points for the Croyle in two possessions. If he felt unburdened by the Chiefs’ decision on a starting quarterback, it didn’t show.

“There was no extra pressure out there tonight. Obviously, I would have liked to be the starter. I will just continue to get better and see how it comes.” Full story

Johnson, who ended a 25-day holdout earlier in the month, was the only starter of substance for either team who got on the field in St. Louis' 10-3 victory Thursday night. He shook off a bit of rust, carrying three times for 12 yards at the start of the Chiefs' first drive.

"It was good to get in the game and get a couple carries," Johnson said. "That's the toughest adjustment, getting back in the speed of the game and getting your timing down with your offensive linemen."

Third-string quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Marques Hagans in the third quarter to give the Rams (2-2) a 10-0 lead. Hagans, battling for an extra receiving spot, had four catches for 53 yards.

The Chiefs (0-4) were held to a 40-yard field goal by Justin Medlock late in the fourth quarter and wound up winless in the preseason, trailing the NFL with 32 points. Kansas City lost the Governor's Cup game, a contest so uninspiring that the Rams bought the final 900 tickets to ensure a sellout for only the second time in six seasons.

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Anyway, First And 10 Inches brings us this clip from the show, featuring various Chiefs players displaying just how butch and alpha male an NFL locker room really is. Somebody should hire one of these guys for a fantasy football draft.

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There will be no sense of urgency for the Chiefs as they conclude their preseason tonight. They will meet the Rams at the Edward Jones Dome, play their starters a series or two — quarterback Damon Huard won’t play at all — and accept the consequences that go along with it.

Those consequences could include a winless preseason and, worse yet, an offense still stuck in neutral.

The Chiefs, of course, could wind up with far bigger problems if they pressed for a win tonight by extending their starters. The last thing they want is to head to Houston for the Sept. 9 regular-season opener missing an injured Larry Johnson or Tony Gonzalez.

In and of itself, an 0-4 exhibition season means nothing. The Chiefs had a winless preseason in 2005 in what would be Dick Vermeil’s final season as head coach. They wound up 10-6 and entered their final game with a chance to make the playoffs.

In fairness to the Chiefs, if Casey Printers hadn’t fumbled near the Cleveland goal line and Miami’s John Beck had been called down before scoring his game-winning two-point conversion, this discussion doesn’t take place.

More alarming to the Chiefs than 0-3, and potentially 0-4, is the way they wound up there.

“I’ve never been in the situation where I’ve had three losses in the preseason as a head coach,” Herm Edwards said. “Now I’ve got to deal with it. So what do you do about it? You try to win the next one and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.

“We look at the preseason for one reason and one reason only: To evaluate every player and to give him an opportunity to play. The best way to do that is to simplify things and don’t do a whole lot in the preseason. Can it hurt you at times? Yeah. When other people game-plan you and use all of their stuff, yeah, it can hurt you. So be it. We’ll live with it. That’s how we’ve always done it and that’s how I like to do it.” Full story

Second-year man Brodie Croyle failed to distinguish himself in the preseason, so under center will be 34-year-old Damon Huard, a starting quarterback for the first time in an 11-year career that once saw him go five straight seasons without throwing more than one regular-season pass.

Huard's No. 1 wide receiver will be Eddie Kennison, 34. His tight end, still going strong at 31, is eight-time Pro Bowler Tony Gonzalez.

When Gonzalez, Priest Holmes and now-departed Trent Green were piling up team records during the first half of this decade, they enjoyed the luxury of one of the league's great offensive lines. But for the first time since 1993 the Chiefs are without the retired Will Shields, maybe the finest guard in team history.

And now into his second year of retirement is deluxe left tackle Willie Roaf. Without them, signs point to a substantial decline as holdovers get older and newcomers fail to perform with any consistency.

Pro Bowl left guard Brian Waters, 30, shows no indication of slowing down. But the line as a whole struggled all summer, with 31-year-old guard John Welbourn, 34-year-old center Casey Wiegmann, tackles Chris Terry, 32, and Kyle Turley, who'll be 32 on Sept. 24, and the injured Damion McIntosh, 30.

Still youthful, however, and coming off an NFL-record 416 carries for a team-record 1,789 yards is Larry Johnson, 27. When he returned from a 25-day holdout that produced the richest contract any Chiefs player ever pocketed, Johnson reassured his blockers that things were not as bad as they seemed with backups carrying the ball.

"I know how to react on certain plays to help the offensive linemen out," he said. "Obviously, those running backs haven't been back there long enough to know if this would have happened to make another move, and stuff like that. You've got to be able to adjust. You've got to be able to handle everything. And I'm used to doing that with this offensive line."

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The emcee requested that no one ask for autographs.

But as Eddie Drummond lingered outside a Hyatt Regency Crown Center ballroom Tuesday, the Chiefs’ new return specialist hardly seemed pestered by the throng of fans pleading for his signature on footballs, jerseys and helmets.

“I’m actually enjoying all this,” Drummond said after the team’s annual kickoff luncheon. “It feels great to have a fresh start. It feels great to be wanted again.”

Drummond hardly felt that a way a week ago. Less than 72 hours before he signed with the Chiefs on Sunday, Detroit Lions officials summoned Drummond into an office to tell him he’d been released.

Strange as it seemed to outsiders, the move wasn’t all that shocking to Drummond, who said his practice reps had decreased dramatically since Detroit changed special-teams coaches after last season.

“Let’s just say I didn’t exactly shed any tears,” Drummond said. “They had put in a whole new scheme up there. This was probably best for everyone that I move on.”

The Chiefs certainly aren’t complaining. The team seemed destined to open the season with an inexperienced return specialist following the offseason trade of Dante Hall.

Now, with Drummond, the Chiefs boast a player who may be even better than his predecessor. Full story

There should be no doubt that Chiefs coach Herm Edwards wanted Brodie Croyle to win the starting quarterback job this preseason. The Chiefs spent one uncomfortable offseason dangling longtime starter Trent Green. Why? One reason.

Herm Edwards had seen the future, and its name was Croyle.

It wasn’t just that Edwards had fallen in love with Croyle’s arm, his enthusiasm, his energy, his charisma. No, Edwards wants to jolt the Chiefs out of their stupor. For 12 seasons now, the Chiefs have not won a playoff game, even though at different times over that span they’ve had the league’s best offense, they’ve had the league’s best defense and they’ve had the league’s best special teams. So what was missing?

Edwards says two things:

1. Balance.

2. A quarterback to call their own.

Edwards, as you no doubt know, has harped constantly about balance ever since he arrived in town. He is always telling his players that the offense needs to help the defense (longer drives, more first downs, play the field-position game) and the defense needs to help the offense (force more turnovers, play big on third downs, create field position). He thinks that in the past, Chiefs offenses and defenses were too much about themselves and their stats and not enough about winning championships.

The second part, the quarterback, is touchier. It is possible (not likely, but possible) to win with someone else’s discarded quarterback. Baltimore and Tampa Bay won Super Bowls with Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson, respectively. Oakland went to the Super Bowl with Rich Gannon. But those teams tend to collapse quickly. Your consistent winners, generally speaking, are teams with their own quarterbacks. Indianapolis has Peyton Manning. New England has Tom Brady. Philadelphia has Donovan McNabb. Edwards wants the Chiefs to be one of those teams. Full story

Damon Huard says he earned it.

Even after a nondescript preseason and a poor performance by his competitor, Huard feels he won the Chiefs’ starting quarterback job over Brodie Croyle fair and square.

And not by default.

“No,” Huard said. “Not by any means. You might think so because of a couple of (mistakes by Croyle) in preseason games. But we’ve been battling since last season ended. The competition has been fair.”

Whatever the case, Huard has tacked plenty of minutes onto his cell-phone bill since coach Herm Edwards selected him as the starter on Saturday.

Former teammates such as Dan Marino and Tom Brady, various family members and friends across the league — everyone, it seems — is happy for Huard, who finally has a team to call his own.

Huard, 34, will begin the season as a starter for the first time in his career. He spent the previous 10 years as a backup in Miami, New England and Kansas City.

“I’ve always believed and hoped that someday I would get this opportunity,” Huard said. “You see a lot of quarterbacks develop later in their career: Brad Johnson, Steve Young, Rich Gannon. There have been a number of guys who have gotten their opportunity late and made the most of it.” Full story

Chiefs fans eager for the 2007 debut of running back Larry Johnson may not have to wait until the regular-season opener Sept. 9.

Johnson said after Sunday’s workout that he intends to play in Thursday’s preseason finale against St. Louis at the Edward Jones Dome.

“If it was up to me, I’d play the whole game,” Johnson said. “But they’re not going to let that happen.”

The more likely scenario, coach Herm Edwards hinted, is that Johnson will only be in for a few series.

“It will be real fast,” Edwards said. “Don’t blink.”

Johnson missed training camp in River Falls, Wis., while his representatives attempted to work out a new contract with the Chiefs. He rejoined his teammates Tuesday — just minutes after signing a five-year extension for $43.2 million.

Although he spent the first half of August working out at an Arizona training facility, Johnson realizes he’s not in “football shape.” He said he may not be ready to handle his normal workload until the third or fourth game of the season.

“You can run sprints all day,” Johnson said. “But if you’re not out there running plays, cutting and dodging and accelerating … that stuff can tire you out quickly.

“I’m really going to push myself this next week and see where my body is after that.” Full story

Huard hadn't started a game since 2000 but went 5-3 last season after Trent Green was injured in the season opener. After Green demanded a trade to Miami this spring because he thought coaches planned to hand the job to Brodie Croyle, Huard spent the summer battling the second-year player from Alabama for the job.

Croyle apparently played himself out of contention by throwing an interception in each of three preseason games. Given a big opportunity Thursday night against New Orleans while Huard sat out with a calf injury, he hit only five of 17 passes for 45 yards as the Chiefs lost 30-7 and dropped to 0-3.

In making the announcement, Edwards was careful to say that he was confident the 24-year-old Croyle would one day be the Chiefs' starting quarterback.

"Brodie Croyle in my mind is going to be a good quarterback in this organization -- no doubt about it," Edwards said.

Opening with their first two games on the road, at Houston and Chicago, apparently weighed in favor of the more experienced Huard, who gained the respect of teammates in his eight starts a year ago.

"I just think we've exposed Brodie where we know what he is a lot more than we did last year. We know what Damon is because he has a history," Edwards said. "When you weigh those things, you go into the opener and say, `Hey, we've got to try to win the game.' In my opinion, this gives us the best chance."

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Horrid as Thursday’ 30-7 loss to the Saints may have been, at least one member of the Chiefs said he’s glad it happened.

“The way we got our asses kicked was a plus going into the season,” guard Brian Waters said.

In a fiery postgame interview session, Waters said the heat for the Chiefs’ offensive woes this preseason should be placed not on coach Herm Edwards, but on the players. In three games, Kansas City’s starters have produced just one offensive touchdown.

“I know coach is going to take a lot of blame for this,” Waters said. “His job is to coach us. His job is not to play. Ultimately, as football players, we have to take responsibility for what we do on the field. What we do between now and opening week is on us.”

Now in his eighth NFL season, Waters is one of the most-respected players in the Chiefs’ locker room. He always commands attention when he speaks — and on those rare occasions when Waters becomes angry, people listen even harder.

That was the case Thursday, when Waters spoke loudly about the Chiefs’ offensive struggles for more than 7 minutes. Full story

Brian Waters believes an occasional trip to the woodshed can be good for a football team.

"When you have a great game,'' the Chiefs Pro Bowl guard said, "you think, 'Man, I'm the king of the world.' But when you have games like this you realize you're not as far along as you need to be. This can be a good experience going into the season.''

But what good does it do a team struggling just to get off the ground? A team like the Chiefs, to be specific.

The Kansas City offense is about as beaten down as you can get after three preseason losses, the latest a 30-7 whipping Thursday at the hands of New Orleans.

The No. 1 unit has scored exactly as many touchdowns — one — as the Chiefs defense.

So, let the whippings begin in the hope that the healing process will be complete in time for the Sept. 9 season opener in Houston. Full story

The lucrative five-year contract extension signed on Tuesday by Kansas City Chiefs star tailback Larry Johnson includes $43.25 million in so-called "new money," features an initial signing bonus of $12.5 million, and will pay the four-year pro more than $20 million before his 30th birthday.

The deal includes $19 million in guarantees, but nearly one-third of that is in the form of guaranteed base salaries during the first four seasons of the contract. And to earn the full $5 million in prorated roster bonuses included in the contract, Johnson must be active for all 16 games each season.

Details of the contract, which is essentially a six-year deal that runs through 2012 because Johnson had one season remaining on his original contract, were obtained through league salary documents.

For the 2007 season, Johnson will earn the $12.5 million signing bonus, a $750,000 base salary that is guaranteed, and a workout bonus of $50,000, for a total of $13.3 million. That base salary is a reduction from the $1.8 million Johnson was to have earned in base salary in the final year of his original contract, which he signed as a first-round choice in the 2003 draft.

The salary cap charge for the Chiefs in 2007 is a very palatable $3.356 million.

Base salaries for the extension portion of the contract are $2.5 million (2008), $4.55 million (2009), $5 million (2010), $5.3 million (2011), and $5.9 million (2012). Of those salaries, $2 million is guaranteed in 2008, with $3.5 guaranteed in 2009 and $250,000 in 2010.

There are prorated roster bonuses of $1 million each in 2008-2012, payable at the rate of $62,500 per each game that Johnson is on the active roster. There are also annual offseason workout bonuses of $100,000 each for the 2008-2012 campaigns. And in 2010-2012, there are offseason bonuses of $1 million each if Johnson is on the roster for the first day of the league year, typically defined as March 1.

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Gold chains hung from Larry Johnson’s neck. Diamonds sparkled on each ear lobe, and a pair of coffee-colored sunglasses rested atop his forehead.

Dressed in designer blue jeans and a white T-shirt, the Chiefs’ $45 million running back couldn’t have looked much better in his first game-day appearance at Arrowhead Stadium this season.

Unless, of course, he was wearing a helmet.

In a woeful performance that had fans hissing by halftime, the Chiefs’ offense looked completely inept during a 30-7 loss to New Orleans. Kansas City’s starters mustered just 79 yards and five first downs during the first three quarters before the reserves picked up a meaningless touchdown in the fourth.

“I’m definitely in a concerned mode,” tight end Tony Gonzalez said. “We’ve practiced hard this whole training camp, so you’d like to see some results. Right now, we’re not seeing them.”

Part of that is because the Chiefs were without Pro Bowler Johnson until Tuesday, when he ended his holdout and agreed to a five-year contract extension. Johnson went through pregame drills with his teammates Thursday and then watched the debacle in street clothes on the sideline.

Surely, he had never felt so needed.

Thursday’s setback was marked the Chiefs’ worst preseason loss since a 31-6 shellacking by Jacksonville in 1999.

“It was embarrassing, to be honest with you,” defensive end Jared Allen said. “We embarrassed ourselves in front of our home crowd.” Full story

This kind of media attention is usually reserved for pop culture icons, sports heroes or presidential candidates stumping in Iowa.

Cameras recorded their every movement Thursday, from their check-in at Kansas City's posh Hyatt Regency hotel to their mid-afternoon practice through their police-escorted arrival at Arrowhead Stadium. After a pregame meal catered by Kansas City's elite Hereford House restaurant, they were introduced to a rousing ovation before watching the Chiefs-Saints game from some of the best seats in the house.

But the F5 tornado that devastated their small south-central Kansas town May 4 changed their lives forever. Now symbols of hope and resurrection, they carry the well-wishes of people everywhere as they work with friends and neighbors to rebuild their lives.

And with those good intentions come the almost continual attention of media outlets anxious to chronicle their comeback.

"We were talking the other day about how few (football) practices we've had that didn't have cameras,'' said Shawn Starr, the Greensburg High School athletic director. "We figured there might have been three.

"These aren't just Kansas media, either. The Discovery Channel was in town doing a documentary."

For the football players of the Greensburg Rangers, their preparation for this first season in a rebuilding town took a detour through Kansas City where they were special guests of the Chiefs for their preseason game with the New Orleans Saints. Full story

His third interception in three games was fresh in the hands of New Orleans cornerback Jason Craft when the boos from the frustrated Arrowhead Stadium faithful rained down on Brodie Croyle.

“I heard them,” said Croyle, who failed to stake a strong claim to the starting quarterback job in Thursday night’s 30-7 preseason loss to New Orleans. “What are you going to do? If you go out there and play like I did, you’re going to get booed.”

His competitor for the starting job, Damon Huard, didn’t play because of a sore calf muscle. But Croyle failed to take advantage. He was just five of 17 for 45 yards, and the Croyle-led Chiefs were shut out in his three quarters.

Coach Herm Edwards said he still hasn’t decided on a starter for the Sept. 9 regular-season opener against the Texans in Houston. There will be some sleepless nights for Croyle until Edwards does because of Thursday’s wasted opportunity.

“I had a good opportunity to go out there and make my case to be the starter, and I didn’t do it,” he said. “I feel like I took a step back. I obviously played better last week. I’ve had better weeks in practice. Things just didn’t come together.

“I’m the quarterback, and I’m supposed to make plays. I didn’t do it. We’ll get it fixed.”

Edwards didn’t pin all of the offensive failings on Croyle. Passes were dropped, and pass blocking was spotty.

“He struggled some, but he didn’t get any help, either,” Edwards said. “He can’t catch the ball. He can’t block. That’s not all on the quarterback. Now, a quarterback has to make some plays. He’s turned the ball over three games in a row. If you’re going to turn the ball over, you’ve got to combat it by making some plays.

“When you look at the quarterback position and say, ‘What’s happening around it?’ … we’ve got a veteran group of guys on offense that have played a lot of football games. But we’re just not functioning real well on offense.” Full story

Two games into his pro career, Dwayne Bowe already knows the ups and downs of life in the NFL.

Bowe, the Chiefs’ first-round draft pick, gave Kansas City the team’s biggest play of Thursday night’s 30-7 loss to New Orleans with his 21-yard catch and run in the second quarter.

He then dropped a Casey Printers pass inside the New Orleans 5 in the fourth quarter that cost the Chiefs at least three points.

The 21-yard play showed why the Chiefs drafted Bowe. He took a short pass from Brodie Croyle on third and 6 and ran for 14 extra yards before being dragged down.

The Chiefs like Bowe for, among other things, his ability to run after making the catch.

“I need to make some more to pull this team together,” Bowe said. “Now it’s time to go out there and get some more. It feels good to go out there and know your assignment, to go out there and run around and help the offense.”

But the dropped pass, too, was part of Bowe’s game during offseason practices and again in training camp. This time, Bowe was open to catch Printers’ rainbow heave but couldn’t do it.

“It got caught up in the lights, and I couldn’t find the ball,” he said. “I’m not making any excuses. I dropped it. I’ll get the next one.” Full story

The Greensburg boys didn’t quite know how to react to the attention.

Two hours before another Chiefs preseason snoozer, they walked off their charter bus, escorted by two police motorcycles and a helicopter, where little boys holding welcome signs leaped and cheerleaders shaking red and gold pom-poms whooped. They touched down on red carpet and smiled embarrassed smiles. Applause followed their every step.

All this for simply showing up.

“Things like this …,” Greensburg High linebacker Adam Haskin said. “It’s something to look forward to. You don’t have to mope around. You can still have a happy life.”

Happiness in Greensburg is measured by the good days, and Thursday evening was one of them. Varsity football players from Greensburg High enjoyed the all-access Arrowhead treatment. The Chiefs supplied the road trip — coincidentally for the game against New Orleans, another organization that has supported victims of a catastrophe.

The long day started with team practice at the Derrick Thomas Academy, then a tailgate dinner outside the stadium and — every boy’s dream — a sideline view during pregame warm-ups and locker-room access. Oh, and the cheerleaders posed for their photos.

“They were all cute,” said sophomore Garth Einsel, who like his teammates wore his new blue Rangers jersey for the first time.

Since May 4, when Greensburg was hit by an F5 tornado, the small town has taken baby steps to recovery. Moving back to normalcy, as it can be these days.

Many families live in trailers in “FEMA town,” just off the south edge of town, and enough stayed around to send their kids back to school.

Eighty-nine high school students started on schedule and two dozen players came out for football. They practice on the browning football field, every now and then finding little surprises like shards of glass and nails left by the National Guard tents and trucks once parked there. But they took a break from Greensburg and classes to party like VIPs. Full story

Herm Edwards might have said it best on a recent installment of "Hard Knocks.''

"This is hard for me to watch,'' the Chiefs coach was overheard saying of his toothless offense.

The comment came during the Cleveland loss, but Edwards just as easily could have been discussing the Miami defeat or Thursday's dismal 30-7 embarrassment against New Orleans. For the third straight week Kansas City's offense ran so sluggishly that HBO should consider renaming its series "Barely Knocking.''

Offensively, the Chiefs mustered only 79 total yards and were shut out again in the three periods in which Brodie Croyle and the starters went the distance. Which is to say, barely any distance at all.

"Offensively, we're not very good running the ball (54 yards total), throwing the ball (99 net yards) — we're not very good at all,'' Edwards said. "We have to come to some kind of conclusion about what we're going to be as a football team, because right now we're not very consistent on one side of the ball.''

That's not completely correct. The Chiefs have been nothing but consistent on offense.

Consistently bad.

Kansas City averted the shutout only when fourth-string QB Jeff Terrell, a guy who won't be around for the Sept. 9 opener in Houston, hit five straight passes for 54 yards to set up Marcus O'Keith's 2-yard TD run with 1;53 left.

Croyle's bid to become the starting quarterback took a hit — even on a night when injured veteran Damon Huard didn't play — when he completed only 5 of 17 14 passes for 45 yards. He also was intercepted for a third straight game. Two of his passes were dropped, and he was sacked twice as Will Smith beat young left tackle Will Svitek badly. Full story

Now that L.J. has ended his holdout in Kansas City, we may finally have an intriguing storyline for Wednesday's edition of Hard Knocks.

Actually, it might be too late for HBO to turn it around in time, which means we'll be treated to another week of pompous GM Carl Peterson looking for the nearest camera and saying gravely, "Let's stay the course with what we're doing at quarterback." 

I do think HBO has done a nice job of capturing some honest moments, although it couldn't have picked a team with less star quality (OK, maybe the Texans). When you're relying on punter Dustin Colquitt for comic relief, there are some fundamental problems. And I'm not sure how much I care about this "Turk and Tank" subplot. I will say the Tank snoring scene was pretty remarkable.

But back to the Johnson contract extension. As I may have pointed out before, this deal was never in doubt. In effect, the Chiefs basically gave Johnson training camp off. This allowed the 28-year-old workhorse to rest his legs after an NFL-record 416 carries last season, and gave Peterson the opportunity to promote his tough-guy image.

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Contrary to some of the stuff that's out there, Larry Johnson's new contract is not the richest for any NFL running back.

Johnson’s six-year, $45 million deal calls for $19 million in guaranteed money, including $12 million to sign -- or less than LaDainian Tomlinson's $21 million in guarantees and $12.4 million signing bonus. It also averages $7.5 million a season, or less than Shaun Alexander's $7.72 million per season with Seattle.

Yes, Johnson struck it rich. He just didn’t strike it the richest.

Oh, and by the way, if you're looking for the guy to suit up this weekend, forget it. It's not going to happen.

Source

The Chiefs’ quarterback competition appeared to be tipping toward Brodie Croyle anyway, but Damon Huard’s sore leg could end all of the suspense.

Huard didn’t practice Monday. He stood close by with an ice pack on his chronically sore right calf. He noticeably favored the leg when he walked.

Huard has been bothered by the sore calf during training camp, but this was the first time he missed a practice because of it. There was no indication the injury would keep him out long term, but the Chiefs were unsure whether he would practice today or play in Thursday night’s preseason game against New Orleans at Arrowhead Stadium.

“I don’t know that,” coach Herm Edwards said. “I’ve got to check with the trainer to see what he says. We’ve got another couple of days to see where he is.”

Edwards said over the weekend that Croyle would start against the Saints and play the entire first half and perhaps into the third quarter.

Asked what Huard’s absence on Thursday night might do to the quarterback battle, Edwards said: “Then you have to make the decision based on the information you have on hand. We’ll go back over the preseason games and the practices and everything else. That’s how we’ll make our decision. This (wouldn’t) kill (Huard’s) chances.” Full story

While most eyes are focused on the quarterback competition inside Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night, there'll be drama aplenty at fullback.

It could be, in fact, one of the most important games in Boomer Grigsby's young life. Drafted in 2005 as a linebacker, the husky, high-energy college trampoline champion was asked last spring to convert to fullback.

But nagging injuries have dogged him much of the summer, and roster cutdowns draw near. Thursday night's game against New Orleans will be his first and possibly best chance to show how much progress he has made.

At least one important person will be pulling for him.

"I hope he plays well. I really do," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said. "He's done everything we've asked him to do. Now he has to go on the field and prove he can play that position."

Grigsby knows he's not competing to be the starter. That job belongs to Kris Wilson. But Boomer could be a backup. And he will have the support of a lot of admiring teammates as well. Full story

Forget the frustration and the self-pity. Two weeks after injuring his knee during an Aug. 6 workout, Chiefs left tackle Damion McIntosh knows he has plenty of reasons to smile.

“Hey,” McIntosh said. “It could’ve been worse.”

No one is ready to say McIntosh will play in the Chiefs’ season opener Sept. 9. Still, his return to the practice field Saturday couldn’t have been a more welcomed sight for an offensive line that has struggled in two preseason games.

McIntosh was limited to light conditioning exercises and is probably at least two weeks away from contact drills.

The fact that McIntosh is doing anything at all, though, is a positive sign considering he was on crutches a week ago.

A former Kansas State star, McIntosh said he did more than just “sprain” his right knee after getting rolled up during a tackle. Instead, he said he had surgery Aug. 9 to repair a “second-degree tear” of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

“Right now I’m just rehabbing it, and they’re watching my progress,” he said. “It’s healing. Right now I’m just day-to-day.”

Asked if he thought he’d be ready for the opener at Houston, McIntosh said: “That’s my goal. We’ll see. Right now everything looks pretty good. We’re working so I can get back to playing at a high level. It feels good now. But you’ll never know how it’ll feel (tomorrow). I’m just trying to keep a positive outlook.” Full story

Gosh, what would Kansas City's once-vaunted running game have looked like had Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas and Keith Traylor suited up for the Miami Dolphins?

Negative yardage perhaps?

But Michael Bennett, who looked so good in running for 28 yards on only three carries in the preseason opener against Cleveland, barely managed a yard a try in his seven-carry, eight-yard effort in Thursday's 11-10 loss to the Dolphins. Rookie backup Kolby Smith should have sat down at halftime when he carried four times for 10 yards. He finished 7-for-minus 3.

The Chiefs are thankful that third-team quarterback Casey Printers scrambled twice in the second half for 17 yards. Otherwise, their final 27-carry, 61-yard rushing effort would have looked as dreadful as, well, last year's woeful rushing effort against Indianapolis' 32nd-ranked rushing defense in the playoff loss.

Sure, it's only the preseason, and yes, Larry Johnson didn't play. But even Chiefs coach Herm Edwards looked dubious when asked if his Pro Bowl holdout back might have fared any better against the Dolphins. Full story

You might think I'm a little obsessed with Priest Holmes and his comeback. Maybe I am. I find it rather fascinating - the dishonesty of it, the attention it's receiving on HBO's "Hard Knocks," his comments about taking some of Larry Johnson's money....

And Priest Holmes, the man who promised to be a leader, an inspiration to his young teammates, a symbol of man's ability to overcome any obstacle, well, I still don't know where he was Thursday.

The Chiefs began their preseason Saturday night in Cleveland much as they did last year’s in Houston. The offensive statistics were dismal and almost identical, and the Chiefs lost both times.

They went on to continue their lousy offensive preseason last year, scoring only 40 points. It carried into the regular season with the Chiefs scoring just 16 points in their first two games, both losses.

It’s too early to draw the conclusion that the Chiefs are headed for another sluggish offensive start. But it’s not too early for the Chiefs to be concerned, and one of their goals in tonight’s game against Miami at Arrowhead Stadium is to locate their offense.

“We need to get some continuity on offense,” coach Herm Edwards said. “We’ll do a little bit more in these next two games to get our offense going. We’ll try some more things. But we’ve got to make more plays because if you go three and out every time, it’s awfully tough.

“There’s a little bit of a concern, but I’m not in panic mode. You look at half the preseason games and every one who lost is probably either mad at their defense or mad at their offense because this didn’t happen or that didn’t happen.”

The nature of preseason makes that the case. Starters shuttle in and out of the game, competing teams often have different agendas and are using stripped-down versions of their offensive and defensive systems.

The Chiefs are also trying to find their way without a declared winner of their starting quarterback derby between Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard, and they’re missing two key offensive players, Larry Johnson and Damion McIntosh. Full story

After missing most of training camp, wide receiver Dwayne Bowe is trying to do three weeks’ worth of work in a couple of days. And he’s taking his teammates’ advice in keeping his mouth shut about it.

“The older guys told me I should do something before I talk,” said Bowe, the Chiefs’ first-round pick in the April draft. “I want to establish myself first.”

He’ll get that chance Thursday night when the Chiefs play the Miami Dolphins in a preseason game at Arrowhead Stadium. Head coach Herm Edwards said he expects Bowe to play, although probably not extensively. But considering the number of snaps Bowe took Tuesday in the final practice of camp, it would appear the Chiefs intend to give him some work against Miami.

“We’ll bring him along slow,” Edwards said. “We’ll try to get him in the game and get him the ball, but next week will be a bigger week for him.”

Indeed, Bowe will have been through a full week’s worth of practices by the time the Chiefs take on New Orleans on Aug. 23 in Kansas City. By then, Edwards said, Bowe should be closer to being in “football shape.”

Bowe participated in organized team activities and minicamps with the Chiefs in May and June. After that, he worked out on his own until signing a five-year contract last week.

“He’s OK now,” Edwards said. “But at first he wasn’t in football shape because he missed some time. It’s different from just running on your own and practicing football.

“You can do all the running you want, but there’s a difference when you practice football. It’s going to take him a week or so to get his legs underneath him.” Full story

Larry Johnson is still a holdout and Priest Holmes is still a question mark.

That makes Michael Bennett the Kansas City Chiefs' first-string running back, for now.

General manager Carl Peterson on Monday played down reports that the team and Johnson were close to working out a contract extension.

Johnson set an NFL record with 416 carries last year and rushed for 1,789 yards, breaking the team's single-season record for the second year in a row.

But even if Johnson does come back soon, and even with rookie Kolby Smith having an impressive camp, Bennett figures to be a significant part of the offense because Edwards wants to lighten Johnson's load.

"I'd be excited to do it, to run behind a great offensive line like this," Bennett said. "They've blocked for 1,000-yard rushers for I don't know how many years in a row now. It's a great system, a great balance on offense, and I'm going to take advantage of it." Source

The Wisconsin portion of Chiefs training camp ends today without an appearance by holdout running back Larry Johnson.

Johnson could be very much a central figure at practice this weekend when the Chiefs resume their workouts in Kansas City.

Multiple sources said Monday that the Chiefs and Johnson had narrowed their once considerable differences over terms of a contract extension and a deal could be struck sometime this week.

If Johnson and the Chiefs have an agreement by Friday, he could be ready to play in the Aug. 23 preseason game against New Orleans at Arrowhead Stadium. One source said the sides were so optimistic about a forthcoming agreement that Johnson might be at Arrowhead Stadium for Thursday night’s exhibition game against Miami.

Chairman Clark Hunt was in River Falls on Monday and huddled with president/general manager Carl Peterson and other club officials on how far the Chiefs should go on their next contract offer to Johnson.

Publicly, Peterson said he didn’t believe a deal was imminent. Full story

For a Kansas City defense that didn't score a single point off of turnovers in 2006, ringing up a touchdown and a safety in its first exhibition game of 2007 was a welcome — if rare — occurrence.

"Yeah, we've started out 2007 pretty well," defensive end Jared Allen said with a laugh. "But you don't focus on that kind of thing. You focus on getting turnovers and running to the ball, and as a result that stuff happens. You can't live and die with scoring on defense, because it doesn't happen that often."

"We've got to come out and be a defense that takes the ball away," safety Bernard Pollard said. "That's a stingy defense."

The Chiefs were plenty stingy against Cleveland on Saturday. They scored a safety by forcing a fumble that the Browns recovered in their own end zone, and later added a touchdown on a 56-yard fumble return by backup cornerback Benny Sapp.

"We've got to start somewhere," Sapp said after the game. "We needed a score on defense. Getting turnovers and getting points on defense has been something the coaches have talked about all camp."

Pollard agreed, adding Kansas City's defense needs to get more physical in 2007.

"We've got to bring the red hats back," he said. "When you catch the ball, we've got to hit you and make sure you never want to catch that ball ever again. I saw a defense (against Cleveland) that was flying around the ball, and that's something that's really good, especially at this point right here." Full story

Larry Johnson's training camp holdout might be over soon.

Larry Johnson

Running Back
Kansas City Chiefs

Profile

2006 Season Stats

Rush	Yds	TD	Rec	Yds	TD
416	1789	17	41	410	2

The Kansas City Star, citing multiple sources, reported Monday that Johnson and the Chiefs have narrowed their differences to the point where a deal might be agreed to this week and have the star running back in uniform for the Chiefs' third preseason game against the Saints on Aug. 23.

Johnson has been a no-show at camp as he seeks an extension to the seven-year contract he inked in 2003, which he can void down to a five-year deal after the final game of the 2007 season because of playing time incentives.

Johnson is demanding compensation in the range of $28 million guaranteed, insisting he be paid as much as league MVP LaDainian Tomlinson. Johnson is scheduled to earn $1.7 million this season, and is being fined more than $14,000 for every day he misses.

After rushing for 1,750 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2005, he gained 1,789 yards and had 17 touchdowns last season. His 2,199 yards from scrimmage accounted for 43 percent of the Chiefs' total offense.

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Lost in the hype surrounding the quarterback battle Saturday was the NFL debut of the Chiefs’ second- and third-round draft picks.

Defensive linemen Turk McBride and Tank Tyler may have looked overmatched at times against the Cleveland Browns, but that didn’t do anything to squelch the enthusiasm of the man who matters most.

“The Tank and the Turk … they played a lot,” coach Herm Edwards said. “Every once in a while you could see the fatigue in them. But they hung in there. This is a learning process for them.”

Tyler, a third-round pick from North Carolina State, drew the starting nod at defensive tackle Saturday because of an injury to Alfonso Boone. Tyler finished with two tackles while McBride, a second-round pick from Tennessee, recorded one tackle in extensive action as a reserve.

McBride will be relied on heavily while starting defensive end Jared Allen serves a two-game suspension opening the regular season.

“When the season starts, they won’t play as many reps (as they did Saturday),” Edwards said. “They’ll probably play 25 or 30 plays, so they’ll be able to go full speed with the rest of those guys.”

McBride and Tyler weren’t the only younger players who made an impression on Edwards in Saturday’s 16-12 loss. In fact, Edwards lauded his entire cast of third-teamers for keeping the Browns’ offense out of the end zone before staging a late drive that was thwarted by Casey Printers’ fumble on the 3 as time expired.

“They made a couple of plays to give us a chance at the end,” Edwards said. “I know it’s the thirds and that some of those guys probably won’t be here, but you’d like to see them have success, because they’ve worked so hard since the spring. It’s something we’ll have to live with, but I liked our fight at the end of the day.” Full story

Anyone hoping Saturday's first preseason game would shed some light on the Chiefs quarterback battle remains in the dark today.

"They're both in the same boat right now," coach Herm Edwards said of quarterbacks Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard, who both threw interceptions in a punchless first half during which the Chiefs scored no offensive points and totaled only 83 yards on 19 plays.

"Our offense hasn't scored a touchdown," he said. "When we do we'll probably ring a bell or something. We've got to start scoring some points."

Croyle's interception on the Chiefs' second possession came at the Browns 32 and was a classic young-quarterback mistake.

An aborted screen play — halfback Michael Bennett got caught in traffic and couldn't get into the pattern — left Croyle scrambling away from the rush. But his attempt to throw the ball away fell well short of Samie Parker and right into the hands of Cleveland's Leigh Bodden.

"I tried to be Superman, and I ended up making a stupid play," Croyle said. "I should have thrown it at his feet."

Or, somewhere not even close to a defender's feet.

"He's got to learn when he's outside the pocket, just throw it in the stands," Edwards said. Full story

The Chiefs offense began the 2007 preseason Saturday night exactly where it left off in the 2006 postseason.

As coach Herm Edwards would say, that isn't good.

That they were even in position to win the game was the result of nine defensive points and a clutch 42-yard field goal by rookie kicker Justin Medlock with 1:48 left. That they eventually lost 16-12 on Chris Barclay's ensuing 88-yard kickoff return was a tribute to the zaniness of mop-up time in preseason games.

Needing a touchdown to win, third-team quarterback Casey Printers drove the Chiefs from their own 38 with 1:36 left to a third-and-goal with one timeout remaining at the Browns 3. But Printers fumbled a snap with 30 seconds left, and the Chiefs dropped a chance to get the kind of victory coach Edwards considered so important.

"When you turn it over twice in the first half, it kills you,'' Edwards said. "I like the way our young guys took it down the field there at the end. We had a chance to win. But our first-line guys have got to play better.''

Kansas City's mere nine points in the game's first 58 minutes were one more than the Chiefs got in their punchless playoff loss to Indianapolis last January. Give the KC offense credit for none of them. Full story

The Chiefs failed to register a single point with their defense last season, making defensive scores a goal for this year.

They got two defensive scores in Saturday night’s preseason opener, though they weren’t enough to deliver a win over the Cleveland Browns.

One score came with the second-team defense in the second quarter when Benny Sapp returned a fumble 56 yards for a touchdown.

The other came in the fourth quarter when the Chiefs were playing a bunch of defenders who won’t even make the team. Defensive lineman Patrice Majondo-Mwamba, who was schooled in Belgium before playing in college at Texas Tech, forced a fourth-quarter fumble in the end zone that the Browns recovered for a safety.

Still, the Chiefs aren’t about to give back those nine points.

“We’ve got to start somewhere,” Sapp said. “It’s a good thing that we started it today.”

Sapp got it started when he scooped up a Charlie Frye pass that actually went backward, making it a lateral and a live ball. Sapp seemed to be the only one alert enough to realize what was happening.

“He made a bad throw,” Sapp said. “I just scooped it up and saw nothing but grass ahead of me. I took it all the way back to the house.

“We needed a score on defense. Getting turnovers and getting points on defense has been something the coaches have talked about all camp.” Full story

He got here, largely, because of his composure.

Brodie Croyle was praised for his poise in high school. At Alabama, he made the right reads and the smart throws. Throughout training camp, Croyle’s teammates have lauded him for his commanding — yet calming — presence in the Chiefs’ huddle.

That’s what made Saturday so tough to stomach.

When his big chance finally came — when Croyle finally got to start in an NFL game — the second-year pro morphed into someone he says he’s not.

“I tried to be Superman,” Croyle said, “and I ended up making a stupid play.”

The stinker wasn’t that Croyle threw an interception in Saturday’s 16-12 preseason loss to the Cleveland Browns. It was the decision Croyle made to heave the pass that will gnaw at Chiefs coaches when they review the tape.

Croyle’s blunder occurred during the Chiefs’ second offensive series. After making a nice spin move to elude defensive end Kamerion Wimbley, Croyle hurled an off-balance floater that Captain Hook could’ve intercepted.

Instead, it was Cleveland’s Leigh Bodden who came up with the pick, and the Browns capitalized when Phil Dawson booted a 27-yard field goal moments later. Full story

He was that close to leading the Chiefs to an improbable comeback victory in the final moments.

“When I went out there for the last drive, I told the guys in the huddle, ‘This is what dreams are made of right here.’ We were going to take the ball down the field and win the game,” he said.

That was before Printers fumbled on third and goal from the Cleveland 4 with 30 seconds left. The Browns recovered, allowing them to hold on for a 16-12 win.

The play was only one of the significant ones in a wild fourth quarter. The Chiefs tied the game 9-9 early in the period on a safety, took the lead on Justin Medlock’s 42-yard field goal with 1 minute, 48 seconds left and then lost it when Cleveland’s Chris Barclay returned the kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown.

The final drama belonged to Printers. He finally did something neither Brodie Croyle nor Damon Huard could, which was get the Chiefs into scoring range.

A perfectly placed 21-yard pass to Chris Hannon put the Chiefs at midfield. Printers later scrambled 14 yards and, combined with a Cleveland personal foul penalty, pushed the Chiefs to the Browns’ 8.

Two plays later, Printers fumbled coming out of center, ruining his storybook finish. Full story

Friday: You play to win the preseason game.

OK, let’s finish up the week at camp with a wrap-up of notes, quotes and quick hits, beginning with Chiefs coach Herm Edwards on why he wants to win preseason games.

Preseason games are considered so meaningless that, best I can tell, Edwards’ preseason record is nowhere to be found either in the media guide or in the extensive notes the Chiefs prepared for today’s game at Cleveland. Only through extensive Internet research and shaky math skill did I figure that he’s 16-9 in the preseason. Only Denver’s Mike Shanahan can match that.

“When they turn the clock on and keep score, I want to win,” Edwards says. “Are you kidding me? This is why, and I tell it to the young player. I tell them: ‘You’ve got to show me and all your teammates that you can win a football game’ That’s why we’re here. We’re not here to have tea parties and watch movies. We’re here to win.

“I always tell players, it’s better for everybody when you win. You get the night off. You can poke your chest out a little. And you don’t have to sit there and say, ‘Well, our starters played well.’ I don’t like saying that stuff. Win the game! If you win the game, nobody can say anything.”

•••

Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen seems to be having a sensational camp. Allen has been a very good player the last three years, but there’s a sense among Chiefs coaches and teammates that this is his year to step up and become a dominant, Pro Bowl-type defensive end.

“It’s his time,” one teammate says. “He has a chance to be as good as anybody in the game. But he needs to do it.” Full story

“I see you, 34,” Herm Edwards said, referring to Brackenridge by his uniform number.

Edwards generally saves that expression for his star players. Brackenridge is no star, at least not yet.

He’s a rookie free agent who is playing well enough as the nickel back that the Chiefs have so far resisted signing a veteran to take Brackenridge’s position.

While it’s not unusual for a rookie free agent to be a sensation in offseason practices in training camp, as Brackenridge has, most of them fold under the bright lights when the preseason begins.

That’s why the Chiefs in tonight’s preseason opener against the Browns are as eager to look at Brackenridge as perhaps any of their other young players other than quarterback Brodie Croyle.

“I don’t think the game will be too big for him,” said Chuck Cook, the Chiefs director of college scouting. “He’s a great story. At Washington State, he’s played against some good teams. He had a real good game against USC. He’s played in the big arena before. He won’t flinch at all. Full story

Thursday: There’s something about Brodie.

There is something that you notice when you look back over the Super Bowl champions: Very few teams win Super Bowls with borrowed quarterbacks. Yeah, it happens every so often, when the stars align and a team has a scary good defense. Baltimore won with the veteran guy, Trent Dilfer. Tampa Bay won with the veteran guy, Brad Johnson. After that you have to go back a couple of decades.

For the most part, Super Bowl teams make their quarterbacks from scratch. In some cases (Peyton Manning, Troy Aikman, John Elway, Terry Bradshaw, etc.) teams have to go through some growing pains, some losing years, some bad interceptions, some serious doubts, some close misses, before it all comes together. In some cases (Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Roger Staubach), the victories come fast and furious.

But the point remains the same. Super Bowl teams build quarterbacks.

And this fact is painful and simple: Carl Peterson’s Chiefs have never even tried to build their own quarterback. Until now.

“He’s got some stuff, boy, stuff that you like,” Chiefs coach Herm Edwards says. “He’s got good command in the huddle. He’s got a good way about himself with the players. He doesn’t get caught up emotionally in the game. He moves on to the next play. Oh, he’s got some stuff.” Full story

Some days it’s the wind. Other times the snap is high, or grass is wet, or the hold is at an awkward tilt. Chiefs coach Herm Edwards almost always tries to find an excuse when a football doesn’t sail between the uprights.

“But sometimes there isn’t one,” Edwards said. “Sometimes, kickers just miss.”

Rookie Justin Medlock experienced one of those days during the first week of training camp.

But he hasn’t had any since.

Fifty-three yards on Wednesday, 54 yards a few days before. One week after veteran Donnie Edwards approached him on the field and barked at him after a series of misses, Medlock has clearly bounced back.

“You’ve got to take care of business out here,” said Medlock, a former UCLA star. “If you don’t take care of business out here you’ll end up back home.”

The Chiefs don’t have any intention of that happening to Medlock, whom they selected in the fifth round of the 2007 draft. The team traded veteran Lawrence Tynes in May, leaving Medlock as the only kicker on Kansas City’s roster.

“Even though I don’t have really have any competition right now, I’ve got to have competition with myself,” Medlock said. “There’s a little bit of pressure, but there was pressure at UCLA, too. I can handle the pressure. If I couldn’t, I wouldn’t be here.” Full story

Europe was everything Nick Reid thought it would be. Positively breathtaking, in fact.

Playing in his first tour of NFL Europa as a member of the Frankfurt Galaxy, the 2005 Big 12 defensive player of the year from Kansas played the final three games of the spring season, plus the league championship game, with a broken nose that prevented him from breathing properly.

"He made a lot of plays, just like he did in college,'' Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said of the player Kansas City signed for the purpose of placing in Europe. "He's always around the football.''

And though his nose needed surgical repair upon returning to the Midwest in June — effectively cutting down on his training and the recreational activities he'd planned in the short time before reporting to the Chiefs camp — it's not like Reid came back with his nose out of joint.

Far from it. A positive NFL Europa experience has been a stepping stone for several Chiefs players attempting to prove their worthiness for the big league. Dante Hall and Brian Waters, just to name two, had career-altering tours overseas before fashioning Pro Bowl careers in the NFL.

Reid's big model, though, is former Chiefs' middle linebacker Mike Maslowski. An undrafted, unheralded player coming out of Division III Wisconsin-La Crosse, Maslowski made an impact in Europe (after a stint in the Arena Football League) before he became a six-year player and starter in Kansas City from 1999 through 2004. Full story

The same old, same old of training camp was a bit much Wednesday for Tony Gonzalez, who like every one of his teammates is counting the days until the Chiefs break for home next week.

“Eleven years,” Gonzalez said, “and it hasn’t changed too much.”

Gonzalez last winter came closer than most Chiefs fans realize to learning about camp in a different locale. Weeks before he was to become a free agent, Gonzalez signed a new five-year contract with the Chiefs, a deal that will allow him to finish his career in Kansas City.

But Gonzalez was never optimistic about reaching an agreement with the Chiefs until it actually happened and planned to test the free-agent market.

“I honestly did not believe I was going to be here,” Gonzalez said. “It would have been stupid of me not to think of other teams I might have gone to. That was a possibility, a real good possibility. But I wanted to try to make it work here. I told my agent that every week.

“Last night, when Will Shields came in, it kind of set in for me exactly what I can do here. They showed a little tape of him that the NFL made. They were saying he was able to play for one team his whole career, which is a rarity. They were talking about how (few) people get a chance to do that.

“I might get the chance to do that.” Full story

Wednesday: Why Donnie won’t rest.

Football is not a statistical game like baseball. Yes there are a few statistical benchmarks here and there — 2,000 yards rushing, 1,000 yards receiving, 20 sacks, whatever — but you probably do not know off the top of your head, say, what is the exact record for most career touchdowns or Jerry Rice’s total yards from scrimmage.

You probably do know, on the other hand, how many home runs Hank Aaron hit or Pete Rose’s hit total.

Football is just messier than baseball. In baseball, a hit’s a hit, a homer is a homer (more or less), a strikeout’s a strikeout. In football, a 5-yard run may be a run of 4.1 yards or 5.7 yards, depending on the spot. A player may get credit for a tackle that he really had very little to do with. Statisticians split sacks if they can’t tell who got there first, which is great if you’re Solomon, but it’s not exactly a nod to precision.

This is all a prelude for saying that our basic football statistics don’t offer a full picture. Even so, I’ve got a series of statistics for you that may blow your mind. A reader sent in this idea a couple of months ago, and I’m sorry to say I’ve lost the e-mail. But I looked it up Wednesday, while the Chiefs’ special teams practiced.

Here it is. We start with the stats of Hall of Famer Mike Singletary, quite possibly the best middle linebacker in the history of the NFL:

Singletary: 179 games, 1,488 tackles, 51 passes defensed, 19 sacks, 12 fumble recoveries, seven interceptions, zero touchdowns.

And we follow with the stats of Donnie Edwards, who is back with the Chiefs after a five-year hiatus in San Diego.

Edwards: 174 games, 1,508 tackles, 81 passes defensed, 21.5 sacks, eight fumble recoveries, 27 interceptions, six touchdowns. Full story

The team initially feared the worst when McIntosh had to be taken off the practice field Monday on a motorized cart. But now he could be back in time to play in the Sept. 9 season opener at Houston.

If McIntosh is out for the full six weeks, he would miss the team's first two regular-season games and likely return on Sept. 23 when Minnesota visits Arrowhead Stadium.

full story...

Holmes, a three-time Pro Bowler, turns 34 in October and has been out of football since 2005 after suffering what many figured was a career-ending injury. The Chiefs are not planning on him being anything more than a situational back, if he returns to the field at all.

But he created a stir in July with his surprise return and said this week his comeback attempt is going well as he works himself back into game shape.

He's still on the physically unable to perform list while veteran Michael Bennett and rookie Kolby Smith take most of the snaps at running back. But on Tuesday, he was on the practice field in pads, taking handoffs and absorbing hits from assistant coaches using blocking pads.

Afterward, he said he's ready to fill the 27-year-old Johnson's shoes -- at least financially.

"Somebody has to get the money," he said. "Hey, if L.J. wants to leave the money out there, guess I'm going to take it. If he wants to come get it, it's rightfully his to take. He's earned it. But if he chooses not to come back, well, somebody has to take it. Why won't it be me?"

Johnson has been a no-show at camp as he seeks an extension to the seven-year contract he inked in 2003, which he can void down to a five-year deal after the final game of the 2007 season because of playing time incentives.

full story...

Here at Chiefs training camp, the opening huddle of each workout always begins with the same question from quarterback Brodie Croyle.

“All right, guys,” Croyle will say, “who’s miked up today?”

With different players being wired each practice, Croyle and his teammates are cognizant that whatever they say — and do — could end up on “Hard Knocks,” the documentary series chronicling the Chiefs and the rigors they are enduring while preparing for the 2007 season.

The five-part series premieres at 9 tonight on HBO.

“You’ve got to watch what you say around here,” defensive end Jared Allen said, chuckling. “There are mikes all over the place. It feels like we’re at the CIA headquarters or something.”

Not that Allen and the Chiefs are complaining.

If anything, they say they’re enjoying the presence of the four film crews that record their every move during workouts. They don’t mind when cameras follow them into their dorm rooms or around town. Sometimes, perhaps in the cafeteria or at team meetings, the Chiefs said they forget the “Hard Knocks” folks are even there.

“It’s definitely caused camp to have a different feel,” fullback Boomer Grigsby said. “It’s been way less distracting than I anticipated. I’m sure everyone is interested to how the show ends up and how everyone is portrayed.” Full story

The Chiefs laid bare their offseason priority for improvement in free agency by signing left tackle Damion McIntosh only hours after the market opened.

They may now have to play without McIntosh for an extended period. He was taken from the field on a motorized cart at Monday’s afternoon practice because of what the Chiefs called a right knee sprain.

Further tests were scheduled to determine the extent of the injury, but the Chiefs feared the worst. Coach Herm Edwards was already busy determining replacements from a short list that includes veteran Kyle Turley and inexperienced Will Svitek.

“We’ll talk about what we’re going to do short-term and long-term,” said Edwards, who then tried to put the situation in a better light.

“Remember last year and what happened to us on opening day?” he said, referring to quarterback Trent Green’s concussion. “We found a way to keep playing.”

McIntosh, though, is one of the most indispensable of Chiefs. They never adequately covered the hole at left tackle last season after Willie Roaf’s abrupt retirement.

Turley began the season as the left tackle but was replaced by Jordan Black in the third game. Black finished the season there but the Chiefs were determined to find an upgrade. Full story

Filled with excitement and eager to get his NFL career started shortly after the Chiefs made him their first-round draft pick, wide receiver Dwayne Bowe made a friendly wager with president/general manager Carl Peterson.

A steak dinner with all of the trimmings was on the line. Peterson would pay if Bowe was in training camp on time. Bowe would pick up the tab if he was late.

Soon, it will be time for Bowe to settle up.

“I’m trying to gather up some money so I can take him out to eat,” Bowe said. “Pretty soon I’ll be able to (afford it).”

That he will after signing a five-year contract and joining the Chiefs at camp.

Bowe’s first official act on the practice field was not to practice, but to have wide receiver Eddie Kennison tape him to a goalpost before Michael Bennett, Boomer Grigsby and Casey Printers poured a cooler of iced sports drink over Bowe’s head.

“This is for what you missed,” Grigsby said, referring to the first 10 days of training camp. Full story

One of my favorite things to do in the sports world is talk football with Chiefs coach Herm Edwards. People may have different feelings about Edwards as a coach, a strategist, a motivator, whatever. And, as even he says, nobody will know if he’s a Super Bowl quality coach until he takes a team there.

But nobody should question the man’s intense and fun-loving passion for the game. He is a real character. Even his critics admit that he has a unique way of looking at football. He has a lot to say. All week, we will try to take you inside Herm Edwards’ inimitable football mind as the team prepares for its first preseason game at Cleveland.

(As you will see later in the week, Edwards doesn’t even view preseason games quite the way other coaches do.)

•••

Monday: Dwayne Bowe arrives.

Dwayne Bowe is led out to meet the media for the first time as a Chiefs receiver. He has just signed his contract and is ready to begin a brilliant career. He is fronted by HBO cameras, escorted by Chiefs personnel, and he walks slowly toward an eager bank of Kansas City reporters and broadcasters. You can almost hear the NFL Films music playing in the background as he marches to his “I have arrived” press conference.

That’s when Dwayne Bowe hears the voice.

“Hey, No. 82,” Herm Edwards yells. “Hey! Stop. Get back inside. I want to talk to you first.”

Instantly, the parade stops. The cameras come down. The waiting reporters groan. Bowe and everyone turn back around and head back into the training facility. It is as if a director had yelled, “Cut!” Herm Edwards smiles to himself as he watches the scene collapse. He likes being the director. Full story

By the midpoint of the training camp's first week, the microphone and its wireless transmitter were starting to feel like a second skin to Chiefs coach Herm Edwards.

A second skin that occasionally itched, that is.

It was the closest thing to a complaint one would hear from Edwards about the small army of cameras and microphones — some seen, some hidden — recording the sights, sounds and raw human emotions of his second training camp as Kansas City's head coach.

The first one-hour TV program culled from nearly 180 filmed hours of unprecendented access to the Chiefs can be seen at 9 p.m. Wednesday when HBO premieres "Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Kansas City Chiefs.''

The popular inside look at the NFL returns to pay cable after a four-year hiatus following the initial ground-breaking series on the Baltimore Ravens in 2001 and the Dallas Cowboys the following year. Future installments will air on subsequent Wednesdays through the season finale Sept. 5.

To say the Chiefs have placed an inordinate amount of trust in NFL Films, the league-connected company producing the show for HBO, is an understatement. Full story

As their frustration mounted over the slow pace of contract negotiations with their No. 1 draft pick, the Chiefs maintained it could be some time before wide receiver Dwayne Bowe joined them at training camp.

They claimed Bowe’s agent was too busy negotiating a contract for another first-round client, Oakland quarterback JaMarcus Russell, and wanted to wait on Bowe until examining the contract of Cleveland quarterback Brady Quinn, picked in the spot before Bowe and still unsigned.

None of that turned out to be true: Bowe will beat both Russell and Quinn to camp.

Bowe agreed to terms Sunday on a five-year contract with the Chiefs, leaving running back Larry Johnson as the Chiefs’ remaining contract holdout.

Salary figures were unavailable for Bowe. But because draft-pick money is usually slotted, Bowe is likely to receive over the life of the contract somewhere between the $13.2 million given to Jacksonville safety Reggie Nelson (chosen two spots ahead of Bowe) and the $11.6 million given to New England safety Brandon Meriweather (selected one spot behind Bowe).

Guaranteed money should be between the $7 million given to Nelson and the $6 million given to Meriweather. Full story

What's a guy got to do to get the starting quarterback's job around here? Damon Huard has to be wondering.

After all, the veteran backup only saved the Chiefs 2006 season, turning it from potential disaster into a 9-7 playoff campaign. Really, without Huard's steady direction and contributions to the revamped Chiefs offense — 11 touchdowns, only one interception, an impressive 98 passer rating — would Kansas City have gone 5-3 during Trent Green's concussion-related absence and even been in playoff contention?

Some veteran QBs might be offended by that proposition. Damon Huard isn't among them.

"Every team in pro football is going to look for a young quarterback that can be their franchise player for the next 10 years," Huard said. "That's the way it's always been. It is what it is."

Thus, Huard knows where he stands as he competes for the starting position with young Brodie Croyle, a popular, easygoing kid Huard couldn't dislike if he had to.

That is, the "competition" will likely go to Croyle unless the former Alabama star shows he's not yet ready to become an every-down NFL quarterback.

After the first full week of the Chiefs' training camp, Croyle has shown no evidence that he can't handle the job. And Huard's play has yet to offer a compelling reason to take the job away.

The Chiefs continue to alternate the two players in first-team work. Full story

Chiefs first-round draft pick Dwayne Bowe has reached a contract agreement with the team and is expected to arrive in River Falls this evening, Bowe’s representatives told The Star Sunday.

Bowe has agreed to a five-year deal. No other details were immediately available.

Bowe was the 23rd overall pick in last spring’s draft. Some speculated that his contract negotiations were slowed because high-profile quarterback Brady Quinn, who was drafted one spot ahead of him at No. 22, was asking for so much money from the Cleveland Browns. Quinn is still unsigned.

Bowe’s representatives, however, said Sunday that the situation involving Quinn was never a factor in Bowe’s negotiations.

Source

They didn’t know he could sing.

Yes, Brodie Croyle can fire a football. And his teammates say Croyle’s “demanding” presence sets the tone in a huddle. But Jared Allen and Boomer Grigsby didn’t know the Chiefs quarterback could sing.

Not until last month.

Hours after marrying beauty queen Kelli Schutz in Jackson, Miss., Croyle requested the microphone during his July 14 wedding reception. With a live band playing in the background and hundreds of guests clapping and singing along, Croyle crooned “Dixieland Delight” as if he were a full-fledged member of the country music group Alabama.

“It was an absolute blast,” said Grigsby, who attended the wedding with Allen. “Everyone was yelling, ‘Roll Tide!’ during the chorus. Brodie loved it. He handled it all with ease.”

Ask members of the Chiefs coaching staff, and they’ll tell you Croyle is exhibiting that same kind of poise during his battle with Damon Huard for the starting quarterback job.

Just as they were at his wedding, countless sets of eyes are fixed on Croyle. Yet once again he seems flippant to the tension and pressure that often overtake such scenarios.

“My goal is to be the starter from day one,” Croyle said. “But if it doesn’t happen and the coaches don’t feel I’m ready yet, it’s not the end of the world.”

Croyle pauses and leans back in his chair.

“My time is going to come at some point,” he says. “When it does, I’ve got to be ready.” Full story

That’s Brodie Croyle’s spot right there, the woman said warmly. That’s where he sat most mornings with his family.

The smell of fresh biscuits floated through the Waysider, a small house-turned-restaurant exactly one mile from Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium. Hundreds of paintings, photographs and news clippings about the Alabama football star filled the room. One showed Croyle reaching back to fire a pass.

The woman looked at it and beamed.

“People still come in here and talk about him,” Dixie Batchelor said as men in Alabama sweaters moved past her. “We’re all rooting for him in Kansas City.” She looked at the empty seat again, and her smile faded just a little.

“He was supposed to be here before camp, but he was so busy,” she said. “But once they get their break, he’ll get here.”

Croyle played here in Tuscaloosa, a small sprawling town with a beautiful campus that’s defined by its football team. It’s a place where the National Football League doesn’t usually mean much, because folks save their love and energy for the Crimson Tide.

Until now.

Croyle is competing with Damon Huard to be the Chiefs’ starting quarterback.

Suddenly Bama fans are waking up early to check Chiefs news on the Internet, following the quarterback duel that includes a little piece of them, too. For the first time in a while, the eyes of this Southern city are looking north for football news. Full story

Southern California guys love their wheels. Even when only two are involved.

San Diego native Donnie Edwards, for example, takes great pride in owning a good bike. Consider his latest ride. His Cannondale F-29 has enough gears to attack Everest, enough suspension to cruise a Topeka sidestreet.

It's a mountain bike that both holds up on the rugged trails of the San Gabriel foothills and looks good on the beach walks of Malibu. Edwards loves riding in both locales, taking in the flora and wildlife of the former and the bikinis and wild life of the latter.

But when he takes his slick new ride out these days, Edwards sees the rolling hills of Wisconsin instead of the mountains of California. There are nice lakes and rivers here, but the Pacific is a half-continent away. He won't see many T-back swim suits, either.

The scenery won't get any prettier, either, when Edwards leaves his temporary summer home of three weeks and returns to a more permanent temporary residence in Kansas City.

But here's the rub.

Donnie Edwards says he's genuinely looking forward to returning to the Midwest as a member of the Chiefs, the team that drafted him in 1996 and helped develop him into a Pro Bowl linebacker.

Of course, the Chiefs also are the team that foolishly let Edwards escape to San Diego when they cut him for cap considerations after the 2001 season. Full story

When the Chiefs last practiced against the Minnesota Vikings here a year ago, Brodie Croyle was little more than a spectator, albeit one with an upclose view of the proceedings.

"Last year I was standing on the sideline with my shoulder bummed up,'' the former Alabama quarterback recalled. "That wasn't a fun experience.''

Looking more like a relaxed veteran than a second-year player getting his first shot at a franchise position, Croyle worked with the first-team offense and routinely hit most of the relatively short, safe passes that now are the staple of the Chiefs more conservative offense.

Croyle hit 17 of 19 passes in seven-on-seven, gold zone offense and team drills. Few of his passes traversed more than 12 yards of field position, but none ended up in Vikings hands and he was sacked only once. That's pretty much what coach Herm Edwards is asking of whomever ends up quarterbacking the Chiefs this year.

"It's always a confidence builder when you complete passes,'' Croyle said. "But we didn't do anything we haven't been doing all spring or in the first week of camp. We take what they give us, don't try to force the big play, get rid of the ball quickly.

"I have a tendency sometimes to be a gunslinger. But we're keeping that to a minimum right now. It seems to be working.''

It didn't work so well for veteran QB Damon Huard. Playing with the second unit, Huard was victimized by mis-run routes and a couple sacks. He also was intercepted by former Kansas corner Charles Gordon, a Viking reserve. Veteran receiver Rod Gardner saved Huard twice with a pair of leaping receptions. Full story

You know, this Chiefs defense reminds me of the 1998 Dream Team Defense — yeah, the defense that had me loopy and fantasizing about the Chiefs finishing 16-0.

Yeah, that defense, the one with Derrick Thomas and Leslie O’Neal rushing off the ends, James Hasty and Dale Carter locking up receivers, Donnie Edwards running like a deer, Chester McGlockton anchored at the line of scrimmage and Reggie Tongue and Jerome Woods patrolling the middle of the field.

Yeah, the defense that caused Marty Schottenheimer to quit, melted down on “Monday Night Football” and made me get out of the prediction business.

Yes, sir, the 2007 Kansas City defense brings back all of those memories, but in a good way. These guys make me optimistic. They make me think the Chiefs could win 10 or 11 games and be a real threat at playoff time. I’ll never feel the way I did in 1998 again, but there’s nothing wrong with a little excitement.

“I do see similarities,” said Donnie Edwards, a member of the 1998 Dream Team Defense and the 2007 unit. “Man, we had two lock-down corners in James and Dale just like we have now with Ty (Law) and Pat (Surtain). With me, Napoleon (Harris) and Derrick (Johnson), we can all run. Jared (Allen) and Tamba (Hali) are two beasts.

“On paper, this could be a very good defense.”

On paper, the 1998 defense reminded me of the 1985 Bears. The Dream Team turned into a nightmare. It couldn’t stop the run or the pass. McGlockton, the big-ticket offseason acquisition, laid a gigantic turd. Derrick Thomas and Wayne Simmons had bad years. Full story

When forced to choose a starting quarterback between Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard, the Chiefs will have hour after hour of practice video to aid in the process.

Some of that video will be more valuable, like that from two joint weekend practices with the Minnesota Vikings. The teams will get together Friday night at Vikings camp in Mankato, Minn., and then have a return engagement in River Falls the following night.

After almost a week of training, the Chiefs have come to know themselves too well. Cornerbacks recognize pass routes and can jump into passing lanes without fear of getting burned. Quarterbacks recognize pass coverages and can avoid trouble.

Against the Vikings, everything is new.

“Those practices definitely will help us,” said Dick Curl, the Chiefs’ quarterbacks coach. “All of a sudden you’re going against a different team and they’re going to do some different things than we might be doing. We’ll see maybe some different looks, different types of schemes. That’s good for us. In some ways, it’s like a preseason game.”

Publicly, the Chiefs are being noncommittal about what they’ve seen from Croyle and Huard through the first week of training camp. Work between the two has been split almost evenly. Full story

Priest Holmes is making waves at the Chiefs' camp in River Falls, Wis.

Holmes isn't the player the Chiefs need to make waves. They need a virtual tsunami from Larry Johnson, their star running back, but he's nowhere to be seen, a holdout because of a contract that would pay him slightly more than $1 million this season.

Johnson carried the football an NFL record 416 times last season. Based on this season's scheduled salary, that's $2,403.86 per carry. Good money, but Johnson would be foolish not to hold out.

The Chiefs have abused him by giving him the ball when nothing else in their offense is working well. And now general manager Carl Peterson wants to play hardball with his franchise's most valuable player and trot the has-been Holmes into camp as a sign that KC has a backup plan?It's silly and the Chiefs are in danger of becoming a national joke.

This looks like an average team even with Johnson in the fold. Without him, Kansas City could be headed for the kind of season that might even keep its fans from filling Arrowhead Stadium every Sunday.

Consider, too, that Peterson has not reached terms with the team's No. 1 draft pick, receiver Dwayne Bowe out of LSU. Rookies are the ones who need training camp most and every day Bowe is not in River Falls is another day he falls behind.

Defensive end Jared Allen is having a contract conflict with King Carl, too.

Pity poor Herman Edwards, who is trying to re-tool the Chiefs in his own image but attempting to do so without some of the team's most defining characters.

It would be interesting to get inside Peterson's head as he continues his contract battle with Johnson. What is his motive? Johnson is one of Peterson's rare draft success stories. Sure, he has a giant chip on his shoulder. But is that rare among great athletes? Johnson is driven in a way most of us can't comprehend or appreciate. But Chiefs fans sure do comprehend and appreciate his numbers.

They are worthy of a salary on par with that of San Diego running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who I think is the NFL's best back. But I can't think of anyone else I would take over Johnson.

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Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards, middle, talks with linebackers Derrick Johnson (56), Napoleon Harris (50) and Donnie Edwards, back, during football training camp in River Falls, Wis., Monday, July 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Napoleon Harris is back in the Midwest for training camp, about 45 minutes outside the Twin Cities.

But Harris is in River Falls, Wis., with the Kansas City Chiefs, not in Mankato with the Vikings, as he was the previous two summers.

"I was just thinking about that," Harris said Tuesday after the Chiefs' morning practice. "It's funny. I didn't think about all this when I signed with the Chiefs. Then it's like, 'Hey, I did practice against those guys last year.' "

Part of the blockbuster trade for receiver Randy Moss in the spring of 2005, Harris battled injuries and struggled in Ted Cottrell's defense that season. He started only three games and finished with a career-low 25 tackles.

But in 2006, Harris thrived in Mike Tomlin's Tampa 2 scheme, and he relished a reunion with Fred Pagac, his position coach in Oakland. He started all 14 games he played last season and had career highs in interceptions (three) and sacks (2½), and had a respectable 59 tackles.

"At the time, there were a lot of emotions," Harris said. "I was coming back from an injury and playing well. It was refreshing. I had a fresh start. I liked the system, the coaches, my teammates. Everything was on the up and up."

But on Dec. 16, the Vikings signed weak-side linebacker E.J. Henderson, the team's second-round pick in 2003, to a five-year, $25 million contract extension that included $10 million in guarantees. Heralded by his coaches and teammates, Harris never

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He rushed for more than 2,000 yards in high school and nearly led his college team to the national championship.

Still, for Gloria Smith, the most memorable moment of her son’s football career occurred not in a stadium, but on a porch.

Kolby Smith was 9 when he tried to sneak onto a 10-year-old team with some of his neighborhood friends. The age-fudging worked for a day or so, but it wasn’t long before Smith’s coach made him give back the helmet and pads.

“He came home and knocked on the door,” Gloria said. “I looked out the window, and he was standing on the porch, just cryin’ and cryin’. I nearly started cryin’ along with him, it tore me up so bad. He said, ‘Mama, they said I can’t play.’ ”

Can’t.

Kolby Smith has never cared for that word. It brought him to tears that day 13 years ago, when he was told he was too young to join the youth football squad. He despised it as a freshman at Louisville, when his coaches said they couldn’t use him as a tailback and switched his position.

And it irks him now, when Mom calls him about the comments on Internet message boards that say that he can’t possibly survive roster cuts on a Chiefs squad that features three Pro Bowl running backs.

“The Chiefs drafted me for a reason,” Smith said. “I’m here to do a job. I’m here to play football.”

More and more these days, it appears Smith will get that chance.

Smith has made the most of a mammoth opportunity during his first NFL training camp. With Larry Johnson holding out for a new contract and Priest Holmes still weeks away from contact drills, Smith and Michael Bennett are receiving extensive work with the first- and second-string units. Full story

Had it happened a year ago when he was preparing for his second season with the Detroit Lions, the most blessed event of Jon McGraw's life would have come at a really inopportune time.

Not that the timing is great this year. Lawson Michael McGraw celebrated his one-month birthday Tuesday without his proud papa. Jon McGraw had only three weeks to look after wife Gretchen and his first son before work sent him 450 miles away for three weeks to prepare for his first season with the Kansas City Chiefs.

That's because "home'' to Jon and Gretchen is Riley County. In that regard, Lawson's arrival came at a great time, coming just months after Dad was signed as a free agent acquisition by the Chiefs and the coach who drafted McGraw for the Jets, Herm Edwards. The move to Kansas City put Gretchen within two hours of family in Manhattan.

"That,'' Jon said, "takes a load of worry off my shoulders, knowing she's in good hands. But still, this is tougher than any other camp.''

Becoming a first-time parent gives an NFL player a new perspective on his job. Not that Kansas State product McGraw ever approached his three camps with the Jets or two with the Lions haphazardly. But suddenly he must consider things other than just another mouth to feed.

"All of a sudden I find myself thinking about what college tuitions will be in 20 years,'' McGraw said. "I also find myself wanting to spend every free minute with them. But I also know I have to find a balance between wanting to do that and knowing I've got to work hard here.'' Full story

It's formal name is the Festival of San Fermin, which sounds benign enough. But this is no mere fiesta. Every July, thousands of people with an appetite for adventure and a disregard for their safety flock to Pamplona, Spain, for the week-long running of the bulls through the city's narrow streets. And, of course, for the raucous parties that follow.

Jared Allen, who was a teenage steer wrestler long before he became a present-day party animal, always dreamed of running with the bulls. It was one of two goals — skydiving being the other — he set after acquiring the wealth that enables a young man to live his dreams, however wild and crazy they might seem.

"It was the scariest thing I've ever done in my life, and I doubt that I'll ever do it again," Allen said of running side-by-side with a bull. "But it was a tremendous rush."

But there was one aspect of the experience Allen hadn't thought possible.

"I ran with the bulls cold sober — maybe the only one who did,'' he said proudly.

That's a significant statement, for it's only in the last year that Allen could utter the words.

But after his party-hearty lifestyle began to affect his day job — after two DUI arrests in a year caused the NFL to suspend him for four games, effectively cutting his gross annual income by 25 percent — Allen knew some major changes had better be forthcoming. Full story

Ean Randolph caught a punt at a recent Chiefs training-camp practice and immediately took the ball straight up the field. He didn’t hesitate or dance while waiting for a bigger hole to develop, as his predecessor took to doing.

At that moment, it became evident the Chiefs’ return game will look different without Dante Hall. But will it be better?

“Those are big shoes to fill,” said Randolph, a rookie free agent from South Florida. “He was my favorite to watch. He would make people look bad.”

Randolph was describing the Hall of previous seasons, but not of last year. He clearly lost his ability to affect a game, he and the Chiefs became disenchanted with each other, and finally in the spring he was traded to St. Louis.

Randolph, small and quick like Hall, is at the head of a line of punt returners that also includes wide receiver Samie Parker. Another receiver, Jeff Webb, will probably be the kickoff returner.

The Chiefs need that tandem to give them more than Hall did last season. Their offense, possibly with a young starting quarterback in Brodie Croyle and without the star running back in Larry Johnson, could struggle, at least early in the season.

“We have to be a better return team,” coach Herm Edwards said. “Our return game is going to be a big factor for us.

“We’ve got some guys who will go (up the field). They’ll get it, hit the seam and run.” Full story

Clark Hunt, who quietly projects that same mild-mannered everyman quality that people admired so much in his late father, intends to make his presence felt in other ways.

“I don’t plan to get involved in player personnel decisions,” the 42-year-old son of the founder of the Kansas City Chiefs said in an interview with the Associated Press.

“But I am keenly interested in the strategy that we’re using to build the football team over a three- and five-year period. I feel a responsibility to help us win the trophy that has my dad’s name on it and get us to the Super Bowl.”

Since the death of Lamar Hunt last December, Clark has been slowly — and in some ways reluctantly — stepping into a more visible role in the team’s day-to-day operations. He, his sister and two brothers inherited equal shares of their father’s vast estate, which includes real estate holdings, financial services and other sports properties. But as chairman of the board, Clark is the only one of Lamar’s children taking an active role in running the family’s most famous asset.

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"...this training camp is going to be a circus, and [Edwards'] voice might just get drowned out by all the confusion. Saturday morning, Priest Holmes allegedly was on his way to River Falls. For what purpose? No one is really sure. He might want a role in HBO's "Hard Knocks." He might be after a paycheck. He could be a pawn in Carl Peterson's contract negotiations with Larry Johnson. Or, there's even the remote possibility that Holmes just wants to play football again.

First he touched his toes. Then came a few sets of lunges and a series of sprints.

By the time practice ended, Priest Holmes’ return to football proved to be as climactic as a Tupperware convention. No pads, no fancy cuts, no contact. Instead about 150 onlookers watched Holmes go through conditioning drills while the rest of the Chiefs worked out on an adjacent field.

“All these people — just to see a guy stretch,” chuckled Bob Green, a fan who drove in from Pittsburgh. “Kind of strange, isn’t it?”

Perhaps, but not nearly as bizarre as the ensuing news conference during which Holmes tried explaining his decision to rejoin the Chiefs after a nearly two-year layoff. Holmes did a lot of talking Sunday — but he really didn’t say much.

Instead the enigmatic Holmes kept referencing his own “greatness.” He spewed clichés about “the sum of all parts being greater than a whole” and talked about finding success through the use of other people’s arms and legs and brains.

Huh?

Asked what prompted his return, Holmes said: “I had a dream. I saw myself playing football, and I went to my children and asked them if they could see me playing football again. The word that came out of their mouths was ‘Yes.’ That’s why I’m here.” Full story

Samie Parker's job as a starting wide receiver might be in jeopardy, especially if first-round draft pick Dwayne Bowe gets into the Chiefs camp anytime soon and in any kind of playing shape.

But the swift fourth-year receiver who is more impressive on his feet than when using his hands may find steady work in the kicking game.

No positions are set in stone, however. The Chiefs conducted their first special teams-only practice Sunday morning, and Parker and Webb were the first up to catch punts and kickoffs, respectively. But special teams coach Mike Priefer sees several other young players vying for roster spots as specialists.

Among the contenders is Ean Randolph, a quick 5-foot-8 undrafted rookie receiver from South Florida whose diminutive status reminds people of Hall. But a prospective Chiefs returner should be wary of emulating Hall too much.

One concern coach Herm Edwards' staff had about Hall — and one reason he's in St. Louis today — was his tendency to dance around looking for daylight and the game-breaking plays rather than running straight ahead for positive yardage. On an Edwards team, straight-ahead returners have an edge. Full story

It wasn't like San Diego's Shawne Merriman hit him in the head with a baseball bat. Priest Holmes, who actually knows the mind-numbing feeling of being skulled with a Louisville Slugger, is happy he's around to explain the difference.

Which is exactly what he did Sunday after returning to the football field for the first time since Oct. 30, 2005, the day Merriman hit him hard enough to threaten his football future.

I've been through worse, Holmes insisted before describing the fight he got into as a youngster in San Antonio.

"The guy runs off to his garage, and I chase him,'' he recalled. "The next thing I know, he comes out with a bat and hits me in the head. Well, I got off the ground after that. I think if I can come back from that, I can take a hit.''

Holmes now thinks he's ready to get knocked around by NFL linebackers again. And though he won't put on pads and do any contact work for three to four weeks, the soon-to-be 34-year-old running back fervently believes he can once again provide some by-example leadership to a Chiefs team that replaced him as the face of its offense with the scowling visage of camp holdout Larry Johnson. Full story

As he packed his suitcase for training camp last week, Chiefs running back Michael Bennett placed a neatly folded Priest Holmes jersey among his shorts, sandals and T-shirts.

“As soon as I see him, I’m going to have him sign it,” Bennett said. “Everyone here is excited. We’re ready to welcome him with open arms.”

The Chiefs were supposed to get that chance Saturday, but team officials said “family issues” forced Holmes to alter his travel plans and arrive in River Falls later Saturday night. Holmes is expected to meet with the media this afternoon and then take part in conditioning drills during the evening workout.

Whatever happens, Holmes’ impending arrival — and even more so, his attempt at a comeback — have been the buzz of training camp thus far. A three-time Pro Bowler, Holmes has not played since sustaining a neck injury against San Diego in October 2005.

“I’ve got to see it to believe it,” Chiefs guard Brian Waters said. “I haven’t seen the guy in a couple of years. I’ve got to see it with my own eyes before I’ll have something to say about it.”

Chiefs fans may feel the same way. The last time we saw Holmes, he was eating nachos in an Arrowhead Stadium suite while his teammates played on the field below him. Holmes, of course, was injured, and the assumption was eventually made that his football career was all but over.

Holmes managed to stay out of the spotlight while spending the 2006 season in his native San Antonio. But he’ll certainly be one of the focal points of training camp once he shows up on the practice field. Full story

Back when he was just an 18-year-old kid a long way from home, Damion McIntosh didn't appreciate the myriad rules and regulations laid down by Bill Snyder, his head coach at Kansas State.

"A young man doesn't want to live with a ton of rules — hard rules, too,'' McIntosh said in thinking back to 1995, his first of five years in Snyder's football program. "Every rule he made was rock-solid, too. He ran a tight ship. We didn't realize then it was for our own benefit.''

But looking back on it now as a 30-year-old NFL player preparing for a life that one day won't involve football, McIntosh believes his time with Snyder in Manhattan may have been one of the best things to happen to him.

"It really allows a young man to focus on the things that should be important,'' he said. "It can get you away from people who might not have your best interest in mind. That wasn't my situation, necessarily, but it was still great for me to experience something different from south Florida.

"I learned to be a responsible young man and how you conduct yourself in the real world.''

McIntosh now hopes that yet another transfer from south Florida will prove just as beneficial. Full story

If you would have asked me yesterday what was most unlikely to happen during the course of the day, a Priest Holmes comeback would have been near the top of the list. Nevertheless, that is exactly what happened -- Holmes is attempting a comeback and will be at Kansas City Chiefs training camp come this Saturday. He's passed an extensive physical examination, so physically he's surprisingly ready to go. Barring a change of heart, Holmes will suit up for the Chiefs during the upcoming season.

If Holmes can remain healthy and is mentally up to the task of being an NFL back, it changes everything in Kansas City.

Larry Johnson no longer needs to be a 350-plus-carry back for Herm Edwards' ball-control system to succeed. Even in what General Manager Carl Peterson has said will be a lesser role than in seasons past, Holmes should be able to handle 10-15 touches a game.

Now that the 33-year-old is no longer a featured back, offensive coordinator Mike Solari can pick and chose the spots where he uses Holmes. Expect him to be used on passing downs and short-yardage situations, and to be involved in a lot of draws, screens and motion plays. This kind of utilization will not only keep Holmes fresh and injury free, it will also help to do the same thing for Johnson. If Johnson signs a new deal and Holmes can stay on the field, the Chiefs will have one of the most potent backfields in recent memory.

An L.J.-Priest reunion would thrill the entire Chiefs organization and its fans, but nobody would be happier than second-year projected starting quarterback Brodie Croyle. In order to adapt to the speed of pro defenses, he will need all the help he can get during his first year as a starter. When Johnson takes a breather on the sideline, Holmes can ensure that there won't be any drop-off.

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For years under former head coaches, the Chiefs tried to win a Super Bowl using a certain roster-building formula involving the liberal use of veteran players.

It never worked as they hoped. So now, days away from the start of their second training camp under coach Herm Edwards, they’re trying it another way.

Six rookies or second-year players will head to camp with an excellent chance to be starters in the Sept. 9 season opener at Houston. That’s not counting a rookie kicker in Justin Medlock or a rookie punt returner in Ean Randolph.

More than half of the 87 players the Chiefs will take to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls are in their first or second NFL seasons. Many won’t make the opening-day roster, but that doesn’t change the basic premise.

The rebuilding of the Chiefs has officially begun.

“I like this part of it,” Edwards said. “I think we’ve upgraded our roster with some youth. We’re more athletic probably than we’ve been. Now, we don’t have a lot of experience. A lot of young players will play for us. We expect them to play well when they play.”

In 2005, their last year under Dick Vermeil, the Chiefs began the season with 10 starters 30 years or older. That number will probably even grow to 11 this year. Full story

Chiefs training camp schedule

Training camp roster breakdown

Five keys to a successful Chiefs camp

The Chiefs can't afford to lose Johnson, a free agent after this season. He is on the books to make $1.7 million this year. To say Johnson is due a megabucks contract extension would be a major understatement.

There's been a lot of chatter about Johnson's worth.

Frank Gore just got $14 million in guaranteed money from the Niners.

Last off-season, Shaun Alexander capitalized on an MVP season, a Super Bowl run and free agency all coming together at the same time to get $14 million in guaranteed money and a long term commitment to stay in Seattle.

In 2004, LaDainian Tomlinson took home $21 million in guarantees with his 8-year, $60 million deal in San Diego. That deal eclipsed Clinton Portis' with the Redskins earlier that calendar year, when he got a $17 million bonus on an 8-year, $50 million contract.

It is very difficult assessing a dollar figure for guarantees to running backs. One runner might have better hands or be a better blocker or be more of a scat back vs. a power back. And of course, there are always injury concerns when giving a runner that type of cash. Portis has been nicked since the deal. Alexander missed time last season. And Gore has had a history of injuries.

But all were worth every penny upon the signing.

And so is Johnson.

It makes for good conversation to rate running backs and wonder if Johnson should get "LT money".

The better question is this: is Larry Johnson worth Tomlinson money to the Kansas City Chiefs?

That answer is unequivocally yes.

Full Story

The natural question is how Johnson's new endeavor will be accepted. Joining New York Giants running back Tiki Barber and Kansas City Chiefs guard Will Shields, he's one of a handful of athletes who left ample money on the table and cut their playing careers short in favor of cushy media opportunities after the 2006 season. But while Barber and Shields are cut from a safe and unoffending cloth, it's Keyshawn who bears watching over the coming weeks and months.

Already labeled as "Me-shawn" and a diva over the years by some media members, his addition to ESPN's in-studio lineup during Monday Night Football broadcasts has summoned warring opinions en masse. Some suggest he'll be a media superstar – the right mixture of entertainer, football scholar and television-worthy looks. Others seem to paint him as ESPN's decaffeinated version of Michael Irvin who's destined to be a cartoonish, uninformed analyst – with all the Irvin braggadocio and none of the baggage.

And Johnson has noticed, admitting that back through his career he made it a habit to read everything written about him. It's a practice he expects to keep now, joking at one point that his newfound itch includes looking good on TV, wearing nice suits, smiling, jousting with Bill Parcells on ESPN's Monday night coverage, and then "waking up the next day and looking at USA Today and seeing somebody rip me."

Surely there will be critics happy to oblige. Guys like the Los Angeles Times' Chris Foster, who roasted Johnson's arrival into the TV world. In a blurb that was carried in newspapers across the country, Foster pointed out Johnson's softball critiques of guys like the Oakland Raiders' Jamarcus Russell ("He's still learning, and he's going to learn.") and Cleveland Browns' Brady Quinn ("He looks good. He's pretty, has nice hair."). And Foster couldn't resist a zinger of his own: "Way to go over the middle there, Keyshawn," he wrote. "We can hardly wait for your next alligator-arm critique: 'Peyton Manning, boy is that guy ever good.' "

To be fair, some of the taunts smack of an "I-never-liked-his-arrogance grudge." And many are authored with painfully unoriginal plays on Johnson's 1997 autobiography, "Just Give Me the Damn Ball!" with his critics yukking it up with lines like "Just Give Me the Damn Highlights." And ESPN has only stoked the flaming, plugging Johnson in as a SportsCenter panelist on the widely disparaged but heavily discussed "Who's Now" segment.

Not that these first couple of months will matter. The network knows Johnson's media star will be born during the NFL season. It's one with plenty of work ahead, too. To praise Johnson now is to point out the obvious – the cheeky piano key smile and dimpled chin; the self-confident nature and smooth demeanor on camera. Clearly, he looks the part. But as it is with all analysts, staying power and stardom come with the ability to be equal parts opinionated character, accurate analyst and information broker.

"My bosses wouldn't necessarily be happy to hear me say it, but I've told (NFL players) you could do no work at this job and succeed, but after a while that will catch up with you," said ESPN senior producer Bob Rauscher, who lords over the network's NFL studio shows. "You can tell me what it's like heading into training camp or heading into the playoffs from your experiences. But at some point, that's going to dry up and people are going to be able to see through it – that there's nothing behind that."

And that may be Johnson's biggest hurdle: the preparation and knowledge necessary to become more than just another booming opinion gasping for relevance and respect. To Johnson's credit, one of ESPN's most respected analysts, Ron Jaworski, has been converted into one of his proponents. That's no small endorsement coming from a guy who spends nearly three days a week during the season studying game tape at his office at NFL Films and enjoys the respect of coaches across the league.

"I'm going to be really honest, just like I have been with Keyshawn. When he was a player four or five years ago and I had to do things with him, he was a little edgy," Jaworski said. "He wasn't approachable and was a hard guy to get to know. But when I worked with him at the draft this year, it was remarkable. I think he had an epiphany. He was taking direction and asking questions and you could see that this is something he wants to succeed at. As a player he was a little bit aloof, a little bit distant, maybe even on the arrogant side. But now I think he understands this side of the business."

Source

KANSAS CITY, MO.  --  One day after Chiefs' Running Back Larry Johnson gave no hint to FOX 4 Sports as to whether he'll report to training camp next week in River Falls, FOXSports.com is reporting that Johnson's mind is already made up, and he'll be a definite no-show.

The Chiefs leave for camp next Thursday. Their first workout is set for a week from this Friday.

LJ is set to make almost $2 million this season, and for a guy considered the second best back in the league that's called working cheap.

The Chiefs could elect to fine Johnson as much as $14,000 for each day of camp he misses.

FOX 4 will be in River Falls to let you know if Johnson shows up or what the Chiefs plan to do about his absence. 

Source

The latest news involving Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen had to give players all over the NFL a little bit of optimism. For those who don't know, league commissioner Roger Goodell recently reduced Allen's suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy from four games to two.

There has been no formal explanation as to why Goodell changed his mind on the punishment, but let's just say Allen doesn't seem to care much at this stage. Allen told The Kansas City Star that he now has to rethink his approach to the preseason since he won't have to miss the first month of the regular season.

The reason this story translates into a positive for Allen's peers around the league is obvious: It shows that Goodell does have a compassionate side, one he's willing to listen to whenever necessary. This is now evidence that his tenure as commissioner won't be filled with case after case of his pimp-slapping players who run into trouble. It apparently will also include moments when Goodell is able to clearly see that certain players are doing enough to correct whatever problems they've caused themselves in the past.

That may not mean much to a Pacman Jones or a Chris Henry -- the most noteworthy examples of Goodell's attempts at protecting the league's image through his personal conduct policy -- but it should matter plenty to the players who might be wondering just how strict Goodell will be in handing out future punishments.

In the case of Allen, it sounds like he had been taking the proper steps after two DUI charges led him into Goodell's crosshairs. Allen has been both remorseful and active in local charities. Both of those facts had to factor into Goodell's change of heart, along with a need to show he can be lenient when the circumstances allow.

So now that I've dealt with administrative matters, let's get back to on-the-field issues in this week's installment of Three and Out.

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Jared Allen was planning to treat the first month of the Chiefs’ schedule as the offseason. He was going to head back to Arizona and work out with a trainer much as he did during the spring.

Allen, a starting defensive end, will have to rethink that strategy after learning that the NFL — after hearing his appeal — reduced his season-opening suspension from four games to two.

Allen will still miss the Sept. 9 season opener in Houston and the following Sunday’s game at Chicago. But he will now be available to play in the Sept. 23 home opener against Minnesota and, more important, the Chiefs’ first division game the following Sunday at San Diego.

“My whole approach has changed now,” Allen said. “With the whole four weeks, I was going to head back to Arizona and train as if I was in the offseason. Four weeks is quite a long time. Two weeks is a totally different game. Most likely I’ll just stay in Kansas City and stay ready to play.

“I’m excited about this. It changes training camp for me. It will change the way I approach preseason.”

The reason for the reduction wasn’t clear. Allen said he hasn’t read the letter he received from the NFL, which has yet to publicly announce his suspension. Chiefs officials were unavailable Sunday.

The suspension for violation of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy stems from Allen’s two DUI charges in Johnson County. He entered a diversion program in connection with the first charge and pleaded no contest to the second.

Allen will not be paid for the two games he misses. Source

The record contract the Colts handed defensive end Dwight Freeney late last week is yet another new wrinkle in the Larry Johnson-Chiefs contract saga.

Freeney’s $72 million deal, which includes $30 million in bonuses and $37.5 million over the first three years, raised the roof on all future contract demands across the league.

The Colts treated Freeney, the game’s second-best defensive end after Julius Peppers, like a quarterback. And by doing so, the Colts hammered the point that you can’t compare 2007 contracts by the standards established under the old collective-bargaining agreement.

The franchise-tag value for defensive ends had been around $8.6 million. Once Peppers inks a new deal, an agreement that should surpass Freeney’s, the franchise number for pass rushers will begin to approach $10 million.

My point in bringing this up is it is being made abundantly clear that the deal that LaDainian Tomlinson, the league’s best running back, signed in 2004 is obsolete when talking about Larry Johnson’s value in today’s market.

If the Chargers signed LT today, he would garner a $30 million signing bonus and $36 million over the first three years of the contract.

Under that scenario, what does the game’s second-best running back deserve? Larry and his agent have virtually no choice but to demand $25 million in guarantees. Full story

GULF SHORES, Ala. - This has been quite a summer for Kansas City Chiefs and former Alabama quarterback Brodie Croyle, and it's far from complete.

The Crimson Tide's all-time career passing yards leader is making news both on the football field and off. He's aiming to make more news as the upcoming NFL season approaches.

On Saturday, Croyle will be in Brandon, where he will exchange wedding vows with 2006 America's Junior Miss Kelli Schutz, whom he met in Mobile when he played in the 2006 Senior Bowl. Shortly after the honeymoon, Croyle and his new bride will return to the Kansas City area where he'll continue to vie for the job as the Chiefs' starting quarterback.

Entering just his second season - he appeared in two games as a rookie, completing 3-of-7 passes for 23 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions - Croyle said recently he's looking forward to the competition for the starting job. He spent eight games a year ago as the Chief's third-string quarterback and eight games as the backup to Damon Huard, who is also competing for the starting job this season.

"I feel good about the direction things are going in," he said during a recent appearancee at former Crimson Tide standout Jeremiah Castille's AC Celebrity golf tournament at The Golf Club at The Wharf, an entertainment district in coastal Alabama. "I had a good spring camp, and I'm looking forward to getting back to practice again to see what's ahead. I feel good about what has happened."

Kansas City coach Herman Edwards and other staff members told Croyle at the end of last season he would be presented an opportunity to win the job as the team's starting quarterback.

"They told me to get ready, that they wanted to go (with an influx of young players)," he said.

Croyle said he learned a lot about the game and grew more confident with the offense each week. He took that experience, spent time in the film room and weight room and working with receivers, to add to his physical and mental preparation. His extra work and growing confidence was evident in his work during the spring training camp.

"During the spring, when a play was called I knew the play, I knew what the read was and I knew where everybody would be," Croyle said. "That was important. I know the offense now and I feel more confident. ... I guess it's up to me now. I think I have gained some respect from the other guys on the team and I have proven I can do some things, but none of that matters until you do it on the field, until you do it in a game. That's when you earn their respect and their confidence and that's what I want to do."

That's what the Chiefs want him to do, too. That's what he accomplished at Alabama, where he set the school record for career passing yards (6,382), career completions (488), career attempts (869) and career touchdowns passes (41).

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Croyle joined his father and several others yesterday at Jeremiah Castille's AC Celebrity golf tournament at The Golf Club at The Wharf, an entertainment district in coastal Alabama.

On July 14th, Croyle heads for Brandon, Mississippi, where he will exchange wedding vows with 2006 America's Junior Miss Kelli Schutz. The two met in Mobile when Croyle played in the 2006 Senior Bowl.

Shortly after the honeymoon, Croyle and his new bride will return to the Kansas City area where he'll continue to vie for the job as the Chiefs' starting quarterback.

Croyle says he had a good spring camp, and he's looking forward to getting back to practice again to see what's ahead.

Kansas City coach Herman Edwards and other staff members told Croyle at the end of last season he would be given a chance to win the job as the team's starting quarterback.

And he is ready to audition for other teams, too, if they are interested.

A onetime iron man, Turley appeared in seven games for the Chiefs in 2006 after signing a two-year contract with Kansas City. He was the No. 1 left tackle for the first two games last season, then lost the starting job and suffered through a stretch of injuries, but had a five-game stretch beginning in early November in which he started at right tackle.

Clearly, the eight-year veteran had plenty of rust in 2006 and it didn't help that he attempted to play with his weight in the 280s. There are tight ends in the NFL bigger than that and the tough-guy Turley was tossed around at times by defensive linemen he would have handled easily in the prime of his career. But Turley, who will turn 32 in September, has built his weight back up and was 302 pounds at his workout in Kansas City this week. And he is said to be motivated to make up for lost time.

It was 1984.

Yeah, in '84 the Chiefs entered training camp with a genuine quarterback battle. It was between Bill Kenney, who had set a franchise record for passing yards in '83, and Todd Blackledge, the No. 7 overall pick in the '83 draft.

The big one was Elvis Grbac vs. Rich Gannon. The last one was Trent Green vs. Damon Huard.

But those battles were brought on by injury or some other midseason catalyst.

Not since 1984 have the Chiefs gone into the preseason with a good ol' fashioned quarterback competition.

Until now. Damon Huard vs. Brodie Croyle, the veteran vagabond vs. the fire-armed kid.

"You want to put the best player in a position to win games for you. Whoever that is will be decided," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said. 'What's great about the decision is that no matter what decision you make there are going to be some opponents who say you shouldn't have made it." Full story

Are Chiefs fans going to miss Carl Peterson when he's gone?  My answer is yes.  While we complain about him all the time he has given us a contender every year.  I know we keep referring to that Jonathan Rand article saying Carl does just enough to keep fans in the seats without putting up any real contenders.  But he is the most tenured GM in the league (and all of sports?) so of course there are going to be some rough patches along the way.  But with a huge football town like KC, everyone is going to have an opinion.  Look at some of the powerhouses in football right now: Indy, NE, Chicago, NO...within the last 10 years all of these teams have had awful successive seasons which have resulted in high draft picks.  A lot of the powerhouses have built their dynasties via the draft.  The most important position in football is the QB and all of these teams (with the exception of Chicago) have great franchise QBs.

People always say defenses win championships, but Indy and NO had very suspect defenses last year and still succeeded.  Granted NO took everyone by surprise, and Indy's defense somehow, someway stepped it up big time in the playoffs (Hello Bob Sanders..), the defenses weren't the key to their respective successes.

My question is, is Carl Peterson going about this the wrong way bringing in Herm and his defensive philosophy?  I think he is doing it the right way, I'm just afraid that the development of our younger players will be hurt when Carl tries to bring in big-named, past-their-prime veterans when  he realizes he only has a couple years left at the helm.

All in all, I think Chiefs fans will miss Carl once he's gone.  While he might have made questionable decisions at some point, he turned this franchise around.

In the next five weeks, Brodie Croyle will get married in Mississippi and begin in earnest the process of trying to win the starting quarterback’s job at Chiefs training camp in Wisconsin.

Compared to the wedding, he said, “football is a piece of cake.”

That’s no reflection on his July 14 nuptials but more on Croyle’s offseason, which has gone about as smoothly as the Chiefs could hope. With only today’s practice remaining among their offseason work, Croyle has shown the Chiefs nothing that would shake their view that he’s the top candidate to replace the departed Trent Green.

Croyle may have in fact raised himself in the eyes of the Chiefs and coach Herm Edwards with some sharp throws and intelligent decision-making. If he continues to play well in camp and the preseason, the job is probably his no matter how well the other candidate, veteran Damon Huard, fares.

The Chiefs will withhold final judgment on a starting quarterback until the preseason. But there was the unmistakable feeling at practice Tuesday that as the offseason is winding down, so is the quarterback competition.

Even Huard acknowledged it.

“Everybody would love to find the young quarterback to be the starter for the next 10 years,” Huard said of Croyle, a third-round draft pick last season. “Might everybody be rooting for the young guy to win? Maybe in some ways. But the old guy will go out there and compete, too.” Full story

The three-year contract that Trent Green signed in Miami to facilitate his trade to Miami two weeks ago is worth substantially less than the three seasons that remained on his contract with the Kansas City Chiefs

But there are some clear advantages, even with a disparity of more than $10 million between the values of the two contracts, for the 13-year veteran.

Most obvious is the fact that, with his new team, Green will retain his starter's status and can actually earn more in total compensation with the Dolphins in 2007 than if he had stayed with the Chiefs another year. And given the structure of the Miami deal, with palatable salary cap charges in each of the three seasons 2007-2009, it is conceivable that Green could play the entire term of the contract.

That certainly wasn't going to happen in Kansas City, where the Chiefs prefer to turn over the starting job to second-year veteran Brodie Croyle this year, and where club officials had requested that Green restructure a contract that called for him to make $24.1 million in the next three seasons.

For Green, the plusses in Miami, where his basic contract is worth $13.5 million for three years, outweighed the reduction in earning power.

full story...

Before he can ever have success as a Chiefs quarterback, Casey Printers knows he must first taste failure.

“You learn by screwing stuff up,” Printers said. “I welcome the fact that I’m going to make mistakes.”

Printers seems to be committing fewer of them these days, which is why he could easily end up on a 54-man NFL roster for the first time in his career.

Last week’s trade of Trent Green leaves Printers as the Chiefs’ third-string quarterback behind Damon Huard and Brodie Croyle. Printers spent the 2006 season on Kansas City’s practice squad after a three-year stint in the Canadian Football League.

“He’s improved a whole lot from last year,” Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said. “He’s not holding onto the ball as much. That’s the thing that killed him the most. He was trying to make big plays. He held the ball too much.

“Now the clock in his head is going. He knows where to go with the ball. He’s getting rid of it. He doesn’t feel like he has to run all over the place.”

Printers said he did plenty of that in the CFL, where he passed for 6,763 yards and 45 touchdowns during his three seasons with the British Columbia Lions. In 2004 Printers earned the league’s Most Outstanding Player award.

Successful as he was then, Printers said he often feels as if he’s learning parts of the game all over again with the Chiefs.

“When you’re coming from the Canadian game, it’s a huge difference,” Printers said. “In Canada they require you to make plays. That’s what the game is all about. You drop back and make a play.

“Here, you drop back and get the ball to the right guy, and they make the play for you. That’s the biggest difference: getting the ball out of your hands and all that good stuff. That’s the main thing I’ve got to grow accustomed to.” Full story

Chiefs Agrree To Terms With WR Brent Little

Kansas City Chiefs President Carl Peterson announced on Wednesday that the club has agreed to terms of a two-year contract with WR Brent Little. As per Chiefs policy, no other terms of the agreement were made available.

Brad Ekwerekwu said he got used to playing in big gamesduring his days as a Missouri Tiger.

But now things are different.

“Up here,” Ekwerekwu said, “every practice feels like a big game.”

That’s because Ekwerekwu realizes that one mistake could cost him his spot on the Chiefs’ roster. Ekwerekwu signed with the team as a free agent after going undrafted in April. A dropped pass here or a missed block there, and Ekwerekwu could be out of a job.

“These are guys I’ve watched on TV on Sundays,” Ekwerekwu said. “Everyone is bigger, and everyone is running full speed all the time. I’m steadily improving, but I’m not where I need to be yet.”

The Chiefs believe Ekwerekwu can get there eventually. At 6 feet 4 and 215 pounds, Ekwerekwu has ideal size. And he proved at Missouri that he’s not afraid to take a hit.

Ekwerekwu caught 97 passes for 1,035 yards during his four-year career at Missouri — and many of those receptions came over the middle.

“I’m a big-body receiver,” Ekwerekwu said. “(The Chiefs) probably saw on tape how I was used at Missouri: as a possession-type receiver that’s going to run an underneath route, be a bigger body and maybe mess with the linebackers a little bit.

“I was satisfied with how I did at Missouri — but I could’ve done better. I still think I can improve a lot as a receiver. This system (in Kansas City) is giving me the chance to do just that.”

full story...

What do Trent Green, an Omaha corn farmer and a Wichita grain dealer have in common?

All three knew there was no way Green was a part of a quarterback competition in Kansas City,

The charade is over now. Trent Green is gone to Miami, and the Chiefs can now be honest about their quarterback race.

It's Brodie Croyle with a half-length lead on Damon Huard.

"I hope he plays very, very well for them," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said of Green. "Now what we continue to do is have competition at the quarterback position with the guys we have here."

To that end, Green held to a belief that Edwards would like to see Croyle, a second-year man out of Alabama, win the job. And Edwards has done little to indicate otherwise.

Croyle attempted just seven passes last season (three were complete, two were intercepted), but the Chiefs like his strong arm, easy demeanor and the fact that he played in a ball-control offense in college.

"He comes across as laid back like he's a Southern guy that's just kind of been fishing all day," Edwards said. "But he's a competitor. Brodie (came) out of college where he was hit a lot and didn't have a lot of protection at times and played in a big hostile environment at the University of Alabama — big time football."

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"I feel like I have a good resume," Roaf said. "I feel like I kept my nose clean and I played hard. My peers respected me a lot."

Sanders, who employed the same agent as Roaf, always wanted to play on the same team as his friend. Ironically, his Detroit Lions traded the pick that went for Roaf to the Saints for Pat Swilling in 1993.

"You look at his body of work, you look at how he competed and really dominated his peers," said Sanders, who attended Roaf's annual golf tournament earlier this month. "He's definitely a Hall of Famer."

Respect for Roaf also runs deep back home too.

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He’s not willing to fork over his starting job, but Chiefs receiver Eddie Kennison said he’ll be more than happy to give rookie Dwayne Bowe “The Handbook.”

Oops. Excuse us: “The Eddie Kennison Handbook.”

“I’m rolling out the red carpet for him,” said Kennison, a 12th-year pro. “Everything I know, I will teach him. I have nothing to hold back. I want this organization to win championships, and we can’t win championships if I’m a selfish person.

“That’s why I’m willing to give him the Eddie Kennison handbook.”

No one knows what that manual contains — or if it even exists. Either way, Kennison’s willingness to mentor Bowe hardly comes as a surprise.

Both players catapulted into the NFL after standout careers at LSU.

Bowe, the 23rd overall pick in the 2007 draft, heard all about Kennison during his days as a Tiger. Kennison, who has an LSU decal on his front license plate, admired Bowe’s game from afar the last four seasons.

Bowe said he bumped into Kennison in the Chiefs’ locker room during a visit to Kansas City a few weeks before the draft.

“He just said, ‘I hope we get you. I hope I see you around,’ ” said Bowe, who is nearly 12 years younger than Kennison. “I’m glad it worked out the way it did.”

Bowe’s inaugural month as a Chief has been filled with both good and bad moments. He showed up late for the team’s first rookie workout and then caught a case of the drops.

Eventually, though, Bowe began returning to his college form. Talk even surfaced that he could challenge for Kennison’s starting job. Full story

His red-and-white nameplate is gone now, right along with the helmet, practice jersey and playbook.

Inside Trent Green’s former locker, nine empty hangers dangle from a silver rod. An unclasped padlock rests atop a shelf, and the chair Green occupied for seven years is turned toward a naked wall.

One stall away, Brodie Croyle is bombarded with questions about his former Chiefs teammate.

“Things finally worked out the way everybody wanted them to,” Croyle said. “It’s good to move on.”

That’s exactly what the Chiefs did Wednesday. Less than 24 hours after Green and his Pro Bowl resume were shipped in a trade to Miami, the buzz in the Chiefs’ locker room was more about the future than the past.

As much as they hate to lose Green, Kansas City’s players expressed optimism about the direction of their franchise. Much of their enthusiasm centers on Croyle, who will try to fend off Damon Huard in the battle to become the Chiefs’ starter.

“Obviously Damon has proven that he can play and that he belongs in this league,” tight end Tony Gonzalez said. “The big question is whether or not Brodie can handle this. I think he will. Right now it’s a lot easier for him because the bullets aren’t live. But once they start flying around, I think you’re going to see that he’s going to be a good quarterback.”

Chiefs coach Herm Edwards agrees. Otherwise the Chiefs probably wouldn’t have traded Green to the Dolphins for a conditional fifth-round pick. Full story

The Kansas City Chiefs have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with free agent safety Chad Williams and to terms on a two-year contract with rookie free agent defensive tackle Kiki Gonzalez.

Williams appeared in 15 games last season, one of which he started, for San Francisco, notching 25 tackles, 2.5 sacks and one interception.

Williams originally entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick by Baltimore in the 2002 NFL Draft. In 79 regular season games, he has 183 tackles, eight sacks, and nine interceptions.

Gonzalez played in 48 games for Akron, posting 53 tackles and 6 1/2 sacks.

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Trent Green can finally breathe easy.

After a three-month span he recently described as “stressful” and “frustrating,” Green got what he’d been hoping for Tuesday when the Chiefs traded him to Miami for a fifth-round pick in the 2008 NFL draft.

“Trent is en route to Miami right now,” Green’s agent, Jim Steiner, said Tuesday evening. “He’s feeling a lot of relief. This has been very stressful on Trent and his family. We’re just glad that cooler heads prevailed.”

Tuesday’s trade ended a three-month standoff between the Chiefs and Dolphins, neither of which seemed willing to budge on their trade proposals involving Green.

Steiner said Miami was offering a sixth-round pick for Green. The Chiefs wanted a fourth-rounder.

The two sides compromised when Miami agreed to send a fifth-round pick to Kansas City for Green. The pick can be upgraded to a fourth-rounder if Green reaches certain playing time and performance criteria.

The deal is contingent on Green passing a physical today in Miami.

Green was unavailable for comment Tuesday. A team spokesman said Chiefs president/general manager Carl Peterson was traveling and unavailable for comment. Full story

Now, the quarterback competition is genuine again for the Kansas City Chiefs.

It's between a 2006 third-round pick and a career backup who last season played his way into a $7.5 million deal.

Of course, Brodie Croyle got the same promise.

"I view it that it's up in the air and as long as I have the best day or the best camp," Croyle said, "then I have a shot at being the starter."

According to published reports, but not confirmed by either team, the Chiefs traded 36-year-old Trent Green to the Miami Dolphins for a guaranteed fifth-round pick that could become a fourth-rounder if Green matches performance stipulations.

That lack of confirmation didn't stop talk in both cities, which quickly turned to their newly restructured quarterback battles, though it is of consequence that with Green goes the Dick Vermeil era.

The trade that brought Green to Kansas City in 2001 was a major lure to then-free agent running back Priest Holmes, a relative nobody at the time who was seeking his first opportunity as an every-down back. Holmes wanted to be sure he'd have room to run. Full story

Former Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil, who brought quarterback Trent Green to Kansas City in 2001, was sorry to see him depart for a second-day draft pick.

“Somewhere in the National Football League, there has got to be a way, whether it be in Kansas City, New York, St. Louis, Seattle, where a great player who has done all the right things gets to finish his career within that community and organization,” Vermeil said Tuesday night from his Pennsylvania home after hearing Green was traded to Miami for a conditional fifth-round draft choice.

“Many times you lead players to believe that’s going to happen, but it doesn’t happen. That’s not just in Kansas City … Joe Montana didn’t finish his career in San Francisco.”

After the Chiefs hired Vermeil in 2001, they sent a first-round draft pick to Vermeil’s former team, the St. Louis Rams, for Green. Although Green missed out on the Rams’ 1999 Super Bowl season after suffering a season-ending knee injury during a preseason game, Vermeil made him the centerpiece of the Chiefs’ offense in Kansas City.

Green finished his career second only to Hall of Famer Len Dawson in Chiefs history in completions (1,720), yards (21,459) and TD passes (118).

“His contribution to the franchise went beyond my expectations,” Vermeil said. “I only got to coach him through one offseason and one preseason (in St. Louis), and I had a great feeling that he would be a great quarterback. Full story

The Miami Dolphins have agreed to trade a fifth-round pick in the 2008 draft — which could become a fourth-rounder depending on how much action Green sees for Miami in 2007 — in exchange for the veteran quarterback, FOXSports.com has learned.

The deal is contingent on Green passing a physical. He is scheduled to fly to Miami Tuesday evening to take that physical.

The Dolphins could have ended the protracted negotiations long before Tuesday, but had held out in the belief that the Chiefs would eventually cut Green.

The long-discussed deal finally got done when Chiefs brass informed the Dolphins a trade had to get done by today or else they would have kept Green on their roster for the 2007 season.

Green played in just eight games for the Chiefs in 2006 due to injury. He completed 61.1 percent of his passes for 1,342 yards, but threw for just seven touchdowns and nine interceptions.

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The quarterback carousel took another spin for the Chiefs on Sunday as they concluded their three-day minicamp.

Damon Huard spent most of the 1½-hour practice session working with the starters, following Brodie Croyle on Friday and Trent Green on Saturday.

“They’ve all had the ability to play with the first group, and that’s what you want to make sure that you give them a chance to do,” coach Herm Edwards said. “They’ve all been able to do that, and they all have to be in those situations so you can really see how they handle it.”

Edwards indicated the quarterbacks can expect a similar rotation through the end of offseason practice.

The Chiefs were scheduled for three sessions in each of the next three weeks.

Even then, the Chiefs may not be any closer to making a decision on a starting quarterback. For evaluation purposes, these practices in shorts and T-shirts won’t be as valuable as those in pads at training camp. That’s when the quarterback play will truly count.

For now, the Chiefs remain eager to get a good look at Croyle, their third-round pick last year.

Although the delicate situation regarding Green and his desire to be traded to the Miami Dolphins has forced the odd practice rotation and caused the Chiefs to be cautious about what they say publicly, they haven’t swayed from the stance that Croyle will be given every opportunity to win the job.

“I’m going to get my shot,” Croyle said, “but I’ll still have to earn it.” Full story

It soared 50 yards and came to rest with perfect precision in the arms of a wide receiver streaking toward the back of the end zone.

Brett Favre couldn't have thrown a more perfect pass. No wonder Trent Green is clamoring to be traded to Miami.

For at least this one play in practice, when the defense wasn't hitting for real, the third- round draft pick from Alabama looked as if he's ready to start in the NFL.

Does he feel like he is?

"I do," Croyle said Sunday.

That will be Herm Edwards' decision. And there's no way the coach is going to show his hand.

"I have awhile to do that," Edwards said Sunday, the final day of the Chiefs' mandatory three- day minicamp. "The competition's been good. You don't rush it. It all takes care of itself."

Croyle, Green and Damon Huard have shared the ball in practice. Green, the starter for most of the past six seasons, is waiting for the Chiefs to agree to a trade sending him to Miami.

He and the Dolphins already have worked out a contract. He maintains Croyle is Kansas City's quarterback of the future and that any competition in the Chiefs' camp will be "weighted" to Croyle's advantage.

full story...

Boomer Grigsby's offseason move from linebacker to fullback makes a lot of sense. Grigsby will never have the receiving skills of the incumbent, Kris Wilson, but otherwise gives the Chiefs more of what they're looking for in a fullback. Grigsby should be far more effective than Wilson as a lead blocker in goal-line and short-yardage situations, so look for him to earn that role. Grigsby has the necessary mentality to do that job effectively. The Chiefs don't use their fullback as a ball carrier, so his lack of experience there won't hurt Grigsby. He wasn't going to play as a linebacker, so the position switch won't cost the Chiefs there. . . .

Don't underestimate the transition for long snapper J.P. Darche and holder Dustin Colquitt after left-footed rookie Justin Medlock was given the kicker's job. They will have to learn to do things the opposite way. That's an obstacle they both should overcome but there will probably be some initial growing pains.

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"We love you, Trent," yelled the youngster from Independence, proudly clad in a red Chiefs jersey. "Please don’t leave."

Green figures the Chiefs no longer want him, that they’ve decided young Brodie Croyle is their quarterback of the future. So he’s impatiently waiting for Kansas City to finalize a deal that will let him finish his career in Miami.

But any doubts as to how the fans feel about one of the most popular Chiefs in team history were emphatically erased as he worked his way along the railing signing autographs yesterday at the end of a 90-minute workout in Arrowhead Stadium.

About 15,000 fans showed up for the free show, and it seemed as though every one of them were straining and jostling to get to Green.

The autograph session was supposed to last only 15 minutes so players could go right into meetings. But long after the other athletes had all finished signing their names and disappeared into the tunnel, Green lingered.

The Chiefs didn’t seem to mind. And fans ate it up.

"Thanks for everything, Trent," yelled one man.

"Trent, you’re a class act," yelled another.

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The burnt ends at LC’s are as flavorful as ever, and the bustling social scene on the Plaza has even more allure than it did five years ago.

For linebacker Donnie Edwards, returning to the Chiefs after a five-year stint with the San Diego Chargers has reaffirmed his passion for all things Kansas City. Last week, as he walked down the home tunnel and onto the field at Arrowhead Stadium, his skin tingled.

“That was the first time I’ve done that in five years,” said Edwards, a Chiefs standout during 1996-2001. “This is by far the best stadium I’ve ever played in.”

Edwards pauses.

“I love it here,” he said. “I never wanted to leave.”

That was evident back in March 2002, when Edwards was released after he and the Chiefs failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. Edwards wasn’t shy about venting his frustration. He and Derrick Thomas had talked about spending their entire careers in Kansas City and eventually earning a spot in the Ring of Honor.

“At least one of us got our wish,” Edwards said at the time. “I didn’t want it to be this way. Everything I’ve worked for has been tossed away. I never thought I would have to do this.”

Edwards signed with San Diego, and his career continued to blossom. He earned a spot in the Pro Bowl after his first season with the Chargers and averaged 154 tackles during 2003-2005.

Last season Edwards helped San Diego to an NFL-best 14-2 regular-season record. But things ended in turmoil after coach Marty Schottenheimer was fired following a playoff loss to Indianapolis.

full story...

But any doubts as to how the fans feel about one of the most popular Chiefs in team history were emphatically erased as he worked his way along the railing signing autographs Saturday at the end of a 90-minute workout in Arrowhead Stadium.

About 15,000 fans showed up for the free show, and it seemed as though every one of them were straining and jostling to get to Green.

The autograph session was supposed to last only 15 minutes so players could go right into meetings. But long after the other athletes had all finished signing their names and disappeared into the tunnel, Green lingered.

The Chiefs didn’t seem to mind. And fans ate it up.

“Thanks for everything, Trent,” yelled one man.

“Trent, you’re a class act,” yelled another.

full story...

An event that has seen its share of changes, few of which have been positive, finally received some good news with precious little time to spare.

Heavyweight Bernard Ackah was licensed to fight by the California State Athletic Commission on Friday, clearing the way for his opponent Johnnie Morton to make his mixed martial arts debut tonight at K-1's "Dynamite!! USA" event at the Coliseum.

The first hour will air live on Showtime, starting at 6 p.m. The remainder of the card will be available on pay-per-view.

Morton (South Torrance High) is familiar with the Coliseum, having played college football with USC before starring in the NFL with the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs. He has also been studying Ackah's fighting style and what challenges he'll pose as a fighter.

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He's a running back for the Kansas City Chiefs. He will lead the league in rushing. He will lead the league in carries. And his name is not Larry Johnson.

So let's see a show of hands. How many out there ever heard of ... Derrick Ross ?

Cologne's Derrick Ross leads NFL Europe with 528 yards on 138 carries. (City-Press)

"A lot of hard work," said Ross. "I guess I just want it."

Well, he's got it, all right, and I'm not talking about a successful spring that has him producing big numbers in all the right places, including 109 yards rushing in the first half of last weekend's win. I'm talking about what's next for Ross, which is reporting to the Chiefs' training camp.

It's hard enough to make a 53-man NFL roster, but look at the position Ross plays. He has to line up behind Johnson, Michael Bennett and fifth-round draft pick Kolby Smith and hope to catch someone's attention.

Two words for Derrick Ross: Good luck.

"That's OK," said Ross. "Just watching the guys in front of me will only help me get better."

Now, how can you not like that response? I guess that's why I just enrolled in the Derrick Ross Fan Club. I know the odds are against him making it as a running back in Kansas City, but so does Ross. And you know something? He's not fazed. In fact, that's why he's playing football in Cologne, Germany.

Ross had never been to Germany before this spring. He'd never been to Europe, either. In fact, he'd never been out of the United States. But he welcomed the chance to participate in NFL Europe because he had something to prove to Kansas City and any other NFL club that might be watching him.

"I wanted to show the Chiefs I can play running back," he said. "I know I come from a small school, but I wanted to show them I can play in this league."

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From unwanted drama at quarterback to uncertainty over the futures of Jared Allen and Larry Johnson, the Chiefs have their share of concerns.

But as they begin a three-day minicamp today, their offensive line isn’t one of them.

The Chiefs might have lost their second Pro Bowl lineman in two years with the retirement of Will Shields. They are still quietly optimistic their line, for so many seasons among the best in the league, will improve from last season.

“The cupboard is definitely not bare,” said guard Brian Waters, the remaining Pro Bowl lineman. “We did a good job of finding guys that will be good for us. We’ll be able to do all of the things we like to do. We’re still going to be a very efficient running team.”

Their optimism might be more than just a case of wishful thinking. They are planning to line up five guys who have been accomplished players at some point in their careers.

That includes Waters at right guard and Casey Wiegmann at center, both longtime starters for the Chiefs at those positions.

They added Damion McIntosh, a six-year starter for San Diego and Miami, as the new left tackle. The Chiefs made McIntosh their free-agent priority, bringing him to Kansas City moments after the market opened and signing him before he could move on for another visit.

John Welbourn, a right tackle for the Chiefs in recent years, will shift into Shields’ spot at right guard.

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Poor Chiefs. Trent Green is ungrateful for all the wonderful money they have paid him.

Poor football fans. Now we're talking language common people can understand.

Any sympathy for Green? After all, a 36-year-old multi-millionaire is being treated shabbily. What's that? You don't hear a chorus of Amens?

You want sympathy for the Chiefs? True, Green is badmouthing the hand that feeds him, but this is an organization well on its way to fooling all of Kansas and Missouri all of the time. Every year, they show that 1970 highlight of Hank Stram "matriculating down the field" in Super Bowl IV and people line up to buy tickets.

Prolonged, public divorces are never neat or clean. They're not new, either. If Joe Montana had to leave San Francisco and play out his days in Kansas City, where he got the Chiefs closer to a Super Bowl than Green did, then Green probably would be wise to lay low and accept whatever fate befalls him.

Green is going into the history books as one of pro football's better journeyman quarterbacks. He's a nice story, an eighth-round pick out of Indiana who would qualify for the Hall of Fame if paying dues were the criteria. He did not play a down his first four seasons. When he finally got his big break with the St. Louis Rams in 1999, it's his leg, not his career. He watched Kurt Warner take his job and the glory.

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One year after setting an NFL record with 416 carries, Chiefs All-Pro Larry Johnson will likely become an ever bigger part of Kansas City’s offense in 2007.

So says head coach Herm Edwards, who on Wednesday expressed his intentions to get Johnson more touches not as a tailback — but as a receiver.

“That’s the next step in his development as a running back in this league: His ability to come out of the backfield running routes,” Edwards said. “We need to get the ball to our backs a little more than we did last year.”

Johnson caught a respectable 41 passes for 410 yards in 2006, but Edwards said that number should rise to at least 60 this season. He said Johnson’s bullish running style and 6-foot-1, 230-pound frame are ideal for a back who doubles as a receiver.

“If you’ve got athletic players like Larry who can catch the ball out of the backfield, they can make plays,” Edwards said. “If he catches 60 passes … to me it’s like an extended run. It’s almost like a toss play.

“He’s out of harm’s way and he’s in the secondary already when he gets the ball, so he doesn’t have to run through the defensive line. When you can do that with a guy who has some speed and is hard to tackle already in the open field because he’s so big and strong, it gives you another weapon.” Full story

If Larry Johnson wants to get paid like LaDainian Tomlinson, he'll have to play like LaDainian Tomlinson.

And for Johnson, that means being a receiver.

"That's the next step of his development as a running back in this league," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said. "His ability to catch the ball out of the backfield is going to make plays."

With each offseason comes a new fan and media-assigned offseason focus for Johnson. Last season, Johnson was to prove he could handle the load of a full NFL season (and maybe rush for 2,000 yards), which was a brief respite from the Johnson criticism that has stuck to him since he entered the NFL — that he is of little use in the passing game.

With contract talk swirling around Johnson, and a realization on the Chiefs' part that maybe 416 carries were a few too many, Johnson is at work on becoming a third-down back in the Chiefs' organized team activities.

"He's working on catching the ball," Edwards said. "He's working on being more defined in his routes. And I think we have to do a better job defining the routes for our running backs, and the quarterbacks have to do a better job getting the ball to our backs." Full story

They caught up on old times before saying goodbye. Then, a few days later, Bowe got a call he'll never forget. On the other end was another ex-LSU teammate. The friend he had run into at the airport was dead.

Searchers found the body of New England Patriots lineman Marquise Hill on Monday, a day after he was reported missing after a jet ski accident on Lake Pontchartrain.

"I went home and I prayed for his family," Bowe said. "I was just with him in the layover going home . . . that's why you can't take anything for granted. You have to live every day to the fullest. I'm going to talk with the young guys."

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In a move principally designed to strengthen the special teams units, but which might also enhance the competition at linebacker, the Cleveland Browns have claimed two-year veteran Kris Griffin on waivers from the Kansas City Chiefs.

To make room for Griffin, the team waived rookie linebacker Mike Alston of Toledo, who was signed as an undrafted free agent last month.

Griffin, 26, is an excellent athlete with good size and versatility and is coming off a 2006 season in which he led the Chiefs in special teams tackles (22). He should immediately upgrade the Browns' punt and kickoff coverage units.

A former Indiana (Pa.) University standout, Griffin was the lone undrafted college free agent to earn a spot on Kansas City's roster in 2005. He appeared in eight games as a rookie, but his season was cut short by a hamstring injury.

Last year, Griffin played in NFL Europa, and was one of the league's top linebackers, before rejoining the Chiefs for the NFL season. He appeared in all 16 games and, in addition to his special teams performance, Griffin logged some playing time from scrimmage and displayed solid skills versus the run.

In 24 career games, Griffin has 22 tackles and one fumble recovery from scrimmage, along with 25 special teams tackles.

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The Trent Green situation gets stranger by the week.

Green is publicly and unabashedly slamming the Chiefs for not trading him, yet still showing up to practice every day. Four different quarterbacks are getting equal practice repetitions. General manager Carl Peterson is out of the country and coach Herm Edwards is publicly dressing down local radio personalities on the practice field.

And it's all because the Chiefs won't trade Green. The drama began months ago, of course, when Edwards suggested at the Chiefs postseason press conference that the quarterback position would be up for grabs this season. Green, a two-time Pro Bowler, didn't like that, and asked if he could explore his options on the trade market. A few teams showed interest, but the Miami Dolphins became the logical fit because Green had a pre-existing relationship with Cam Cameron and the Dolphins needed a quarterback.

At that point, it became a battle of wills between the Dolphins and Chiefs, a battle over who needed Green the least, a battle that remains stuck over whether Green is worth a pick in the fourth round or a pick in the sixth round.

"The Chiefs lost some of their leverage when they announced in February the direction they wanted to go," Green said. "When they re-signed Damon and said they want to get younger, that showed their hand. That's why it's so frustrating. Everybody has expressed the direction they want to go, but it still isn't getting done."

Green's blast led to a media session with an impassioned Edwards the next day in which, among other things, he accused a local radio host (Damon "DA" Amendolara of KCSP-610) of calling Edwards a liar on the air. Edwards then heatedly confronted Amendolara on the Chiefs' practice field. Amendolara said the conversation ended on good terms and that Edwards had been given bad information about the broadcast.

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Griffin played in 16 games and led the Chiefs with 22 special teams tackles last season. He played in eight games as a rookie in 2005 after signing with the Chiefs as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Division II Indiana (Pa.)

The Browns waived linebacker Mike Alston, who was signed out of Toledo following the NFL Draft last month.

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During TV intros he crosses his eyes. Sometimes, after games, the Chiefs’ top pass rusher dresses up like Elvis the bloated, beer-bellied Elvis  hops into his 1969 powder-blue Caddy and heads out for a night of carousing on the Plaza.

That’s why this doesn’t seem like Jared Allen or at least not the Jared Allen Chiefs fans know.

Allen has groomed his scraggly whiskers into a well-kept beard. The puffy cheeks that swelled with each trip to the bar have sunken back into form. Squint hard enough as he changes near his locker, and you’ll see a six-pack forming in Allen’s abs.

Someone asks Allen whether he’s shed some weight.

“Fifteen pounds,” he says proudly. “Thanks for noticing.”

Allen has spent the offseason learning jujitsu and kick-boxing. He’s hired a personal trainer and adheres to a strict, high-protein diet. No more pasta. No more potatoes.

No more beer.

“Haven’t had a drink in eight months,” Allen says. “I don’t need any more headaches.”

Neither do the Chiefs, who will be without Allen for the first four games of 2007 because of two DUI convictions. Frustrating as the situation has been, coach Herm Edwards couldn’t have been more pleased with the attitude Allen brought with him to organized team activities last week.

As dependable as he’s been on the field, the carefree Allen finally seems focused off it, too.

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They also got a control freak.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Harris said earlier this week. “It’s not like I boss people around. I just don’t want to have the clamps put on me to where I can’t do something I’m accustomed to doing.

“That way I can’t control my own destiny.”

Along with his own fate, Harris may end up dictating Kansas City’s, too.

Searching for more athletic ability and playmaking ability at middle linebacker, the Chiefs signed Harris in March to replace Kawika Mitchell, who was lacking when it came to speed and mobility.

Harris, who is 6 feet 2 and 255 pounds, played three seasons with the Oakland Raiders and two with the Minnesota Vikings before becoming a free agent. Harris said he couldn’t be any happier with what he’s seen from the Chiefs during the first week of organized team activities (OTAs).

“This is one of the more athletic groups I’ve played with,” said Harris, who has 333 career tackles and six career sacks. “Hopefully that will translate into some wins.

“It’s always good to put defense at the forefront. If you go back and look at the great teams in history, defense has always been an important part of the team.” Full story

The quarterback swears he'll be playing somewhere else come September and the defensive end isn't letting a pending suspension stop him from complaining that he is underpaid.

When the head coach isn't angrily scolding the media, he's insisting that he is an honest man no matter what the disgruntled quarterback might imply.

The month of May has been anything but merry for the Kansas City Chiefs. If the normally short, laid-back practices of the spring are this tumultous, what chaos and controversy must loom in the autumn?

"This is the offseason. Are you kidding me?" coach Herm Edwards exclaimed this week while parrying with reporters.

"We will have a starting football team when we go to Houston (for the Sept. 9 season opener). They'll be the best 46 guys in my opinion who can help us win games. Period."

But if only it were that simple. For many reasons beyond his control, Edwards is finding the sledding rough as he goes about retooling one of the NFL's oldest lineups and patching up quarrels between players and the front office. Full story

In the interest of fairness, we should spend a day examining the Trent Green fiasco from Carl Peterson’s and the Chiefs’ perspective.

In 2001, when Peterson gave the Rams a first-round draft pick to secure Green’s services, Trent was an unproven, 30-year-old quarterback with 39 TD passes, 19 starts and a surgically repaired knee on his resume.

Based on the recommendation of Dick Vermeil, Peterson and the Chiefs took a flier on Green and made a huge, questionable commitment to a quarterback many pegged as the next Scott Mitchell, the Dan Marino backup who cashed in with the Detroit Lions and flopped.

Peterson backed up his commitment to Green in 2003, handing him a seven-year $50 million contract that included an $11 million to $12 million signing bonus. During his six-year career in Kansas City, it’s safe to assume Peterson and the Chiefs paid Green $25 million to $35 million.

During that same time span, Peterson supported Green with Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, Tony Gonzalez, Willie Roaf, Will Shields, Tony Richardson and Brian Waters, offensive players who could argue they were the best at their positions.

With the exception of finding Green a true No. 1 receiver, Peterson can proudly say that he aided Green in every conceivable fashion.

So where is Green’s loyalty to the Chiefs and Peterson?

Listen, I enjoy beating up on King Carl as much as anyone. He’s been in power much too long, and he’s now clearly a detriment to building a Super Bowl-caliber team. It’s apparent that any success the Chiefs have in the future (and probably in the past, too) will be in spite of Peterson, not because of Peterson. Full story

When Chiefs coach Herm Edwards walked off the practice field Wednesday, about 20 reporters were there to greet him.

Two ESPN writers pressed into the scrum. A team official walking toward the locker room stopped to listen. In the back, a newsman hoisted his camera above the crowd and aimed the lens at Edwards, who scooted backward as the microphones inched closer to his mouth.

“Are you kidding me?” Edwards said. “It’s the offseason.”

Perhaps, but it certainly hasn’t felt that way during the Chiefs’ organized team activities the last the few days. Usually set in a laid-back, light-hearted environment, the Chiefs’ OTAs have turned into an angst-filled fiasco defined more by drama off the field than stories on it.

The latest subplot involves Edwards, who on Wednesday responded to comments by Trent Green that the Chiefs quarterback competition is “weighted.” Green has been yearning for a trade ever since the Chiefs asked him in February to restructure his contract and accept a lesser role.

“I’m trying to create a competition at certain positions,” Edwards said, “and it will be fair at all positions — at all positions. The best players will play. Period.”

Edwards chuckled when asked if Green’s situation was becoming a distraction.

“We’ve had one practice and all of a sudden we think it’s a distraction,” Edwards said. “We’re making a big deal out of nothing. This is not a distraction in any stretch of the imagination.” Full story

Q&A with HERM EDWARDS - 5/23

Q: How was practice?

HERM EDWARDS: “I thought it was good. I thought we were a lot further ahead this year than we were last year. We ran a little passing camp. The linemen were here and involved in the walk-through and lifted weights early. They do conditioning toward the middle part of practice. We’re just trying to throw the ball and defend the pass. It’s good for our passing game and we’re going to do this for the next three OTAs and really won’t start whole team exercises until the mini-camp. But I think we were a lot further along and it helps when you have your staff back. We’re doing some new things.”

Q: Trent Green met with the media yesterday and he said he felt you were not being honest with him when you’re saying it’s going to be a fair competition.

EDWARDS: “Well, I met with Trent and I’m not going to comment on what Trent told you guys.”

Q: Do you think if he does stay with this team and goes to training camp is it equal competition between Brodie (Croyle), Trent and Damon (Huard)?

EDWARDS: “It’s equal competition at that position, at the wide receiver position, at the defensive line position – a lot of different positions we have to make some decisions on who are going to be our starters, who’s going to be the backup guys.

“You know this team has been together for six years. We can’t lose sight of that. It’s won 53 games; it’s been to two playoff appearances, one at home that it lost to Indianapolis and one on the road that it lost that’s on my watch against Indianapolis. With that being said, there are some things that I have to do that are a little bit different now that I didn’t do last year. That’s my job as the head coach: to make this a competitive environment where guys understand that you have to compete at the professional level and there are certain positions that you have to create competition. That’s just one of them. We’re making a big deal out of this position, but there are a lot of other positions that guys are competing for to see if they’re going to be the starter, the back-up guy.

“I’ve always been fair when I’ve been put in this situation. I came in the league and learned from a guy named Dick Vermeil how to be fair with players. That’s what I’m going to do. I’ve always been that way and every player I’ve coached will tell you that.”