FanPost

It's Time to Get Mad

We know things are bad - worse than bad - and all we say is, "Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone." Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. All I know is that first, you've got to get mad! I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, stick your head out and yell, "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

When Peter Finch gave this speech - the most riveting moment of his Oscar-winning portrayal as the washed-up, borderline psychotic national news anchor Howard Beale in Paddy Chayefsky's seminal 1976 film Network - he certainly wasn't talking about the NFL.

But he might as well have been. First, you've got to get mad.

As I drove into the Arrowhead parking lot for Sunday's game against the Broncos, I listened as Len Dawson said the Chiefs needed to let the Broncos know that they were in for a fight - something that Dawson believed the Chiefs had not done against the Chargers the previous week.

And as I drove away from the stadium after the game, I heard the Jamaal Charles locker room interview where he said that other members of the Chiefs - besides himself - needed to step up and make plays.

I shuddered when I heard Charles utter the words "besides me," because I immediately knew what was going to happen. He was going to be crucified for the remark - particularly since he had once again fumbled the ball away at a key moment during the worst defeat the Chiefs have suffered this season.

There will be questions about this remark during today's press conference with Todd Haley. Count on it. And the media will circle Charles like ravenous vultures, putting pressure on him to say that it just slipped out… that he never meant to throw his teammates under the bus… that he was just frustrated by the embarrassing loss.

Well… all those things may be true. But I hope Jamaal Charles straightens his back, looks each one of those reporters right in the eye and says, "I have nothing to add to what I said on Sunday. Next question."

You see… Charles' remark may end up being the best thing that could have happened to the Chiefs in the wake of this horrible defeat - because Len Dawson was right: every member of the Chiefs had better get mad, and start hitting the other guy right in the mouth - right the hell NOW!

If Jamaal Charles dissing his team is what it's going to take for that to happen, then so be it. Go for it, Jamaal.

Mike Vrabel may be old and slow, but there's a reason Todd Haley put him on this team: he knows when to get mad. He showed it on Sunday when he flipped off the Broncos bench. He may end up getting fined for that gesture - and I will gladly contribute ten bucks to help him pay it.

Because it is time for the Chiefs to get mad.

Don't talk to me about schemes or coordinators. I don't want to hear about the mess Carl Peterson or Herm Edwards left behind. I'm not interested in what wide receivers were available to Matt Cassel in New England. I couldn't care less about how long it takes for defensive linemen to become effective - or, for that matter, how long it takes to turn around a team that won six games in two years. I don't care, OK?

What I am interested in is a team composed of players who are willing to fight for every inch of the playing field. That's what I thought we would be getting when Scott Pioli said he wanted "the right 53" for the Chiefs. Well... it's time to start showing it.

Listen to your teammates Jamaal and Mike. It's time to get mad, and take it to the other guy. Every play. Every game. The rest will take care of itself.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.