Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 8/29

Good morning, AP. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news is loaded with some pretty interesting stories. It seems the Star has outdone themselves by cranking out 7 of the articles below. Read on to learn more about the Arrowhead experience, the Haley-Weis relationship, Branden Albert's development, and Haley's temperament. Enjoy.

Albert decided shortly after season’s end that he would prepare as if he would have to battle to keep his job. That decision might have persuaded the Chiefs not to draft a left tackle.

In any case, it was an extremely quiet preseason for Albert until Friday night’s game against Philadelphia. Albert was penalized once for holding and another time for a false start.

Still, the Chiefs are encouraged by what they’ve seen from Albert. He ties that to his offseason decision.

Albert Shaping Up at Tackle for Chiefs from KC Star

Arrowhead has been known for years as one of America’s liveliest venues to watch football. The sea of red, and all that passion with a fan base that lives and dies with every play. But at Arrowhead, the same as anywhere, the venue is only as enjoyable as the people who congregate inside it.

As sports fans get rowdier and ticket prices rise, those who pay their way in expect a total outlet. Chiefs Sundays are sacred, and one fan’s charms are another’s turnoffs.

"That Sunday is what you live for," Benson says. "But you shouldn’t have to worry about who’s sitting around you and who might throw up on you. I can’t subject my kids to that."

Some football fans get a little too fanatical from KC Star

KC Star Photo Gallery: Chiefs vs. Eagles Tailgating

Chiefs veterans Brian Waters and Mike Vrabel know what it’s like at the negotiating table. It can get testy and nasty at times.

As members of the NFL Players Association executive committee, they have debated, disputed, clashed and quarreled with NFL management and commissioner Roger Goodell.

And it’s clear to Waters, Vrabel and other NFL player representatives that once the collective bargaining agreement between the owners and players expires next March, there will be a lockout that could cancel part — if not all — of the 2011 season.

Delay of game? Owners, players preparing for labor battle after 2010 from KC Star

The essence of a man is light brown and soft, and the segmented pieces float in translucent containers of formaldehyde.

The "brain bank" at the Brain Injury Research Institute is an undecorated storeroom, about the size of a walk-in closet. It’s locked and rarely seen by outsiders, and there’s a sign in the hall that declares the area "restricted."

Even as science shows the risks are greater than believed, football players are hesitant to stop playing from KC Star

But frankly, it wasn't the body that intrigued me walking into the new Arrowhead as much as it was the soul.

And yes, the team's soft side was again exploited inside the final minute of a 20-17 defeat. Kansas City allowed Philadelphia an 80-yard touchdown drive in 101 seconds, capped by an 18-yard pass as the clock ticked to :23.

No starter was still on the field, true. The outcome means nothing, true.

But at the start of the game, the Chiefs' regulars weren't good enough to avoid digging a hole. And at the end of the game, their reserves weren't good enough to protect a lead.

All right, it's early. Maybe this team is better. But no one really knows.

Column: Chiefs' Soft Soul Weakens News Body from The Topeka Capital-Journal

"I’m the boss," Haley says.

"This isn’t toeing the company line," Weis says. "This is reality."

Weis and Haley are so much alike, raised in football by the same men with the same philosophies. They coach angry. They agree on schemes and systems and how to handle players. They are brothers from the same football mothers.

Ignore those commonalities if you like, expecting this to blow up, but understand a key point: At this point in their lives, one of them demands the power and the other is more than happy to be without it.

Weis as an assistant coach might be a great thing for the Chiefs from KC Star

The problem with Dr. Jekyll was that Mr. Hyde eventually overtook him. Reason and science couldn’t keep up, and the lunatic was all that was left of the desperate doctor.

Haley says that he remains in control of himself, but as the losing seasons mount in Kansas City, the line between Haley’s inner personalities continues to blur. Even now, in that corridor at the team’s Truman Sports Complex, Haley has trouble determining whether, deep down, he is more like the composed and laid-back man who addresses reporters, or the disheveled and unpredictable coach who emerged so often last year after forgettable games.

"Good question," he says, and he takes a moment before he continues. "I know I care. I know I’m intense. And that goes off the field also. That’s been coached into me, and part of it was there.

"You have to show people around here that you care enough to work your ass off. That’s your job."

Haley expects to be more Jekyll and less Hyde this year from KC Star

Their emphasis on acquiring players with strong character, by all accounts, sounds logical on the surface. But do they have enough guys emotionally equipped to play a most violent sport and, more to the point, help them win more games?

The answers won’t be revealed until the Chiefs begin the regular season. But already, some observers have their doubts.

"If you’ve got a bunch of guys that are scared to death when the coach raises his lip and snarls," said former Chiefs defensive lineman Bill Maas, a noted hell-raiser in his playing days, "what are you going to have on Sunday?"

Chiefs are Trying to Build with Character from KC Star

Heather Washburne's cousin, Clark Hunt, and his wife, Tavia , came from their nearby home. As the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, Clark no doubt has an interest in Roy Blunt's Missouri campaign for Senate. After the party at the Washburnes' broke up, the top donors decamped for a private dinner at the Crescent Club with the candidates.

Republicans Dash Through Dallas to Raise Cash from The Dallas Morning News