Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 6/24

Hello AP! Another early (and shorter) post this morning. Two more days of traveling for work then I'm done for a few weeks. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news includes quotes from Jerheme Urban, a gentle reminder that our glory days included a lot of future Hall of Famers, and a nice little article on Oklahoma Joe's. (now I'm hungry). Enjoy.

Jason says: Bob, first, love your site…it’s the first place I check on the internet every morning. Thanks for doing it. So with all of the positive talk I’m hearing out of Arrowhead this off-season, I’ve gotten my hopes up that this is going to be a breakout season for the team. I know you can’t get a true feel for a football team just based on practices with no pads, but you’ve seen some of the best Chiefs teams over the years and I’d like to know what you think. Athletically, is this team on-par with some of the best teams from the 90s & first half of this decade?

Bob says: Jason, athletically right now the Chiefs are ahead of where they were last season and the year before that. But they are not yet at the level of the best Chiefs teams of the 1990s and say the 2003 Chiefs. Both of those teams were very solid on the offensive line; we don’t know that with the current Chiefs. Both of those teams had pass rushers; we don’t know that with the current Chiefs. Hasty, Carter and Collins were proven commodities over what we think Flowers, Carr and Berry can be. The teams of the 90s for most of that run included three Hall of Fame players: Derrick Thomas, Marcus Allen and Will Shields. I don’t think there is a Hall of Fame player on the Chiefs right now. That can change as the players go through their careers. Only Thomas Jones would be worthy of serious consideration right now.

Answer Bob/Part #3 from Bob Gretz

Jerheme Urban's first training camp with the Kansas City Chiefs is just over a month away, but he's not expecting many surprises.

Urban played for Kansas City head coach Todd Haley in Dallas and Arizona and he knows what's coming.

"We're going to run a ton," Urban said. "There will be a lot of contact. But a lot of the time after you do two-a-days, he'll cancel meetings and give you a night off. He'll let you take care of your body.

"This is my eighth NFL training camp so I kind of know the ins and outs," he added. "You do what you can to stay fresh. I know it's going to be a grind and I have to do my best to get ready."

Stroman graduate Jerheme Urban set for football camp Saturday from The Victoria Advocate

Missouri Western State University will become the official summer home of the Kansas City Chiefs when practices begin on July 30 in St. Joseph.

 

The Chiefs will begin their 22-day stay in St. Joe with the first practice at 1:50 p.m. on July 30. Unless otherwise noted, all outdoor training camp practices will be free of charge, but MWSU will charge a $10 parking fee for premium locations at all practice sessions. Free parking will also be available for all practices and events.

Chiefs Training Camp Heads To St. Joe from KCTV 5

Kansas City Chiefs

Grade: C

Chiefs’ fans are a passionate bunch, but I can’t imagine them being too excited about how this draft as a whole. OLB/DE Tamba Hali (1st) has worked out quite well. Even 7th round S Jarrad Page was an steal, but Page is currently looking for a trade away from Kansas City, who already released S Bernard Pollard (2nd) to the Texans where Pollard played better than he ever did for the Chiefs. Back-up QB Brodie Croyle (3rd) hasn’t won any of his nine starts, but the Chiefs organization seems to think with time behind Matt Cassel under new offensive coordinator Charlie Wies he should improve. The Chiefs have managed to hang on to three of their seven picks and we shall see if they find a trade partner for Page. There has been lots of trade speculation this off season, but very few actual transactions and with S O.J. Atogwe still on the market, Page wouldn’t be the best safety available for teams in need.

Reviewing the 2006 NFL Draft: AFC West from NFL Mocks

Former Hawkeye tight end Tony Moeaki seems to be fitting in nicely in Kansas City.

Moeaki was the Chiefs' best receiver at tight end in the off-season work, something they were missing last year after Tony Gonzalez was traded. Moeaki will have to show the Chiefs he can be a reliable blocker, something he mastered at Iowa.

"I am encouraged about him because, number one, when he wasn’t out there, he was paying attention," Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said of the former Hawkeye tight end. 

Haley is hopeful Moeaki can help elevate the Chiefs' offense. 

Iowa Football: Catching Up On Former Hawkeyes in the NFL from Bleacher Report

The Detroit Lions coach, linebacker and offensive tackle went back to work Wednesday - starting a three-day minicamp - after the team's final two organized team activities were canceled because previous ones were deemed too intense by the NFL and players' union.

"I was most disappointed for some of our players, not our established players, but the young guys who are trying to make the team, who are trying to improve," Schwartz said. "They were denied the opportunity."

Jansen, the team's union representative, was taken aback by the charge that the team was working out too hard. He said none of his teammates came to him with a complaint.

"It wasn't player-generated," Jansen said. "It was from a spot check by the NFL."

Lions' Schwartz disappointed team lost 2 workouts from KC Star

Albert Haynesworth says he will be present when the Washington Redskins open training camp, despite an ongoing dispute over the club's new defensive scheme.

The two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle released a statement Wednesday to The Washington Post regarding his intentions.

"Despite my current differences with the Redskins, I have always planned to attend training camp and honor my contract," the statement said. "As I have previously said, I am continuing to prepare for the season individually and will report on time, in shape and ready to play football. Any issues I have with the club I will discuss privately and therefore do not plan to make any further public comments about this matter."

Haynesworth skipped last week's mandatory minicamp because he is unhappy about likely playing nose tackle in a 3-4 defense.

Redskins' Haynesworth vows to attend training camp from KC Star

When JJ Birden retired from the NFL in 1996, he knew he'd go into business for himself now that his playing days were over.

Birden just didn't imagine he would be selling chocolate.

"I never thought I would be doing this -- not in a million years," said Birden, who was a wide receiver with Kansas City and Atlanta. "I never thought I would play nine years in the NFL and then become a healthy chocolate businessman."

Today, Birden, 45, is an executive with Team X 88 in Lake Oswego, a company that sells delicious, healthy dark chocolate products that the company says work as an anti-inflammatory.

Former NFLer JJ Birden sells chocolate from ESPN

When I joined the line at Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue in Kansas City on a recent Saturday afternoon, 75 people stood between me and the cash register. The queue snaked by a counter of Kools and Snickers and a rack of Hostess snack cakes before passing a plaque that announced Anthony Bourdain's declaration that Joe's—along with El Bulli and Per Se—is one of "13 Places to Eat Before You Die." The end of the line, where I stood, was just outside the door. The strongest smell came from the exhaust pipes of several cars filling up at four gas pumps.

There's nothing particularly strange about finding Kansas Citians lined up at a barbecue joint—even one that sits, quite literally, inside a gas station. What's odd is to find them waiting at any restaurant that isn't called Bryant's or Gates, the titans of Kansas City barbecue.

The New Kids on the Barbecue Circuit from The Atlantic