I suppose it is pretty well known, at least in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area, that I sort of see myself as Priest Holmes' Boswell. For four years, from 2001 to 2004, I had this strange, interesting, confusing, intricate journalistic relationship with Priest. It should be said that he was an absolutely amazing running back those four years. Amazing. In 2001, he led the NFL in rushing. In some ways, that was his least impressive year.

In 2002, he was on his way to perhaps the greatest season a running back ever had before he hurt his hip ? in 13 1/2 games, he ran for 1,615 yards, caught 70 passes, scored 24 touchdowns and gained 2,287 yards form scrimmage. I have often tried to project that season out ... simple math comes out like this:

Chiefs running back Larry Johnson, less than 24 hours after taking on coach Todd Haley on his Twitter profile, maintained an edge Monday when approached by reporters in the team's locker room.

Hours after Kansas Citys 37-7 loss to San Diego on Sunday, Johnson tweeted several controversial remarks directed toward Haley and the coach's lack of football experience. Haley, who is in his first season as a head coach at any level, never played football in high school, college or the pros.

A message posted on Johnson's profile, whose username Sunday about 7 p.m. stated: "My father played for the coach from 'rememeber the titans'. Our coach played golf. My father played for redskins briefley. Our coach. Nuthn."

Johnson continued the rant, and, in later responses directed toward Johnsons Twitter followers, contained inflammatory remarks about gays. In a reference to someones profile picture, Johnson called it a "fag pic" and called the person a "Christopher street boy," a reference to a predominantly homosexual section in New Yorks Greenwich Village. Johnson's Twitter profile was taken private and some posts were deleted.

continue reading...

The Chiefs were afraid of this. If they weren't, they should've been. A player's frustration has boiled over with the losing, Todd Haley's approach and the overall messiness of how Kansas City's season has so far gone.

After Sunday's 37-7 loss to the Chargers, Chiefs running back Larry Johnson expressed frustration. He indicated that, despite the change surrounding the franchise with a new coach and new general manager, one important factor has not changed during LJ's career: losing.

"This is what this organization has been doing since I’ve been here," Johnson said in the locker room Sunday. "This is my third head coach in seven years I’ve been here. It seems like this is what we keep doing: going back to the drawing board. We bring in new coaches, new organization, new schemes, new mentality, new attitude."

continue reading...

Ron Edwards said he needs to work on repetition, and he didn’t break from his training Thursday. He kept saying it. Question after question, he had the same thing on his mind.

“Just reps and reps and reps,” said Edwards, the Chiefs’ nose tackle. “Just the repetition, it always helps. Doing the same things again and again makes me better.”

The Chiefs gambled this week. They traded backup nose tackle Tank Tyler on Monday to the Carolina Panthers for a fifth-round pick in next year’s NFL draft. That left Edwards as not only the team’s undisputed starter but, for a while anyway, the team’s only true nose tackle as well.

Then the Chiefs signed veteran Kenny Smith, and the defensive depth chart didn’t look naked anymore. But considering that Smith hasn’t played in an NFL game since 2003, it became clear this week that the Chiefs are either wagering their fortunes on Edwards, or they trust him enough to play well and stay healthy for 10 more games.  more

The Kansas City Chiefs are looking to build some momentum after their recent 14-6 win last week over the Washington Redskins.

This week, they will have another chance to win against a team is in a downward spiral as the San Diego Chargers will be coming to town. KC has struggled in its recent bouts against San Diego, but this Sunday could be one of the better opportunities that the 1-5 Chiefs could have against the Chargers because of their recent woes.

Lets look at why the Chargers are where they are going into Week seven.

For one, LaDainian Tomlinson only has 38 carries on the year. When I read this stat a few days ago, I couldn't believe it. Now, I understand he has had some injury problems this year, in particular his sore ankle.

LT is the heart of this Chargers offense. When he his not producing, the Chargers are not functioning well as a team. If LT has a hard time getting it going against KC, San Diego could very well walk out of Arrowhead with a 2-4 record on Sunday afternoon.

Another glaring weakness of the Chargers this season has been their defensive secondary. They have time after time been beat by opposing receivers and it could very well happen again this week, as they will line up against a rising star in WR Dwayne Bowe of the Chiefs.

KC will have to key off the recent absence of LT and Matt Cassel will need to light up the weak Charger secondary for the Chiefs to have a chance to win this game on Sunday.

They are not going to be able to ride the right leg of rookie Kicker Ryan Succop for the entire season. Eventually, they are going to have to start scoring some touchdowns instead of getting four field goals a game, like last week.

This Chiefs season is not close to being over. They are just a few strong showings away from a .500 record. It is by no means out of the question      .more

He thought he would be. He and the late Lamar Hunt, the founder of the Kansas City Chiefs and an iconic figure in professional sports, had planned carefully for the day.

But in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press, Hunt said he quickly realized he was not quite ready for the demands of the media and the obligations to the public. Quiet and decidedly non-flamboyant by nature, he had always preferred working in the background.

But suddenly, he was thrust onto center stage. Cameras and microphones were thrust into his face. Fans were clamoring to know how he intended to get the team to the Super Bowl.

"The first year after my father passed away was a challenge for me because I was just not used to it," said Hunt, at 44 the youngest owner in the NFL. "There's both the media side as well as public speaking engagements. There's a fair amount of both. That's just part and parcel of the job responsibility."

continue reading...