Former Kansas City Chiefs great and Pro Football Hall of Famer Len Dawson spoke at the rookie symposium this evening and was asked about Brett Favre's annual retirement talk.  Dawson didn't understand the former Green Bay Packer and future Hall of Famer's reasoning behind the comeback talk.

"To be in Green Bay all those years and then go to Minnesota, that will arouse a lot of people. … This is a strong rival, not just a rival."

Lenny should know about rivals considering he was at the forefront of some of the oldest rivalries in the AFC while with the Chiefs - mainly against the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos.  When asked if he would ever think about playing for a division rival, like the Raiders or Broncos, Mr. Dawson was polite and to the point.

"No, not at all," he said with a smile.

Dawson played 19 years in the NFL.  His first five seasons he attempted 45 passes.  Like Favre with the Falcons, Dawson didn't make a name for himself until he had switched teams.  But after 14 years with the Chiefs, Lenny knew his career was winding down and he wasn't the player used to be.  He cautioned Favre's motivations, in particular the alleged "revenge" factor, saying even with all the talent around him he has to know when enough is enough.

"I played 19 years and knew that I wasn't the same quarterback that I was early in my career. You know, you may be kidding yourself a little, but you know. He's not the same quarterback he was in the past. He can't be."

One difference between the two, is that Favre hasn't missed a game in 17 years, while Dawson only started in 19 games his final three years in the league.

H/T tomahawk44 in the FanShots

2008 training camp in River Falls, WI (via www.uwrf.edu)

View full size photo uploaded June 29, 2009

What's on Larry Johnson's mind?

Note: Let's keep this a little cleaner than the last few Caption This posts. Thanks.

What does the rest of the AFC West think of the Kansas City Chiefs? Did they bristle when they heard we signed Pioli? What do they think of Todd Haley? What'd they think of the Chiefs draft haul? And what about that trade for Matt Cassel?

We spent some time questioning our writer friends/rivals over at their respective sites covering the Raiders, Broncos and Chargers and asked them those things and more. We asked each the same five questions and they were kind enough to get back with us.

First up is the best team in the division over the last few years - the San Diego Chargers. And it seems that will continue this year with a revitalized running game, a new pass rusher in Larry English, the return of Shawne Merriman, etc. Of course, a Norv Turner coached team... hehe

John, head writer from BoltsFromTheBlue.com, was kind enough to take some time out to answer our questions. You might not like what you read, but this gives us an idea of what the perceptions are outside of Chiefland if nothing else. Questions and answers after The Jump.

Continue reading this post »

Continuing with ESPN's All-Decade rankings, we look at the most overrated and underrated players of the decade.  Trent Green and Dante Hall were each on the list.

Can you guess which player goes with which list?

No Chiefs quarterback put up numbers like Green over a five year stretch (and likely never will).  He also only made one playoff appearance (and lost) in his five full seasons with the Chiefs.

Dante Hall was one of the most electrifying returners of all time (came in right behind Devin Hester in special teams player of the decade).  Dubbed the human joystick, Hall had a stretch in 2003 where he had four consecutive weeks with a touchdown return - all of them ended up being the game winner.

Click through to find out which player was the 9th most overrated and 25th most underrated player of the decade.

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Joe Delaney: 1958-1983

Kansas City Chiefs running back Joe Delaney died 26 years ago.  A second round pick by the Chiefs in 1981, Delaney played only two seasons in Kansas City before his life came to a tragic end.

Three boys were swimming in a pond in Monroe, LA at about two in the afternoon.  As they waded out farther away from the shore, they would soon find that the bottom dropped off.  Screaming and thrashing in the water, only one man in a crowd of people stepped forward.

Joe Delaney. 

"Can you swim?" a little boy asked Joe.

"I can't swim good but I've got to save those kids.  If I don't come up, get somebody."  Unfortunate for the rest of the world and the Kansas City Chiefs, those were the last words of Joe Delaney as he died while trying to save the kids.

One of the boys was able to find his way to the shore.  The two others and Delaney did not.

This article by Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated from November 7th, 1983, is a must-read on Joe.

On this day, we tip our hats to a man we proudly call a member of the Kansas City Chiefs family.  Delaney's inspiring act reminds us of the common bond that connects all human beings, which is perhaps his greatest legacy.

More on Joe:

• 1981 AFC Rookie of the Year
• Rushed for 1,121 yards in his rookie season
  
• 1982 Pro Bowl selection
• All-American selection in 1979 and 1980
• Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997
• His name is on the Ring of Honor at Arrowhead Stadium

For those of you wondering why Joe's #37 isn't one of the Chiefs' officially retired numbers, it's because Lamar Hunt set the standard of retiring a Chiefs player number only when they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

RIP, Joe.

When the Chiefs pulled the trigger on the trade that brought Matt Cassel and his $14.651 million franchise tender to Kansas City, it was a foregone conclusion that there was a new starting quarterback in town.  Tyler Thigpen's rise to the position in 2008 triggered a change in offensive philosophy from Herm Edwards' conservative, run-first approach to a college feel spread-it-out passing attack.  The idea behind it was to capitalize on Thigpen's strengths as a spread passer and further utilize his biggest asset - his legs.

The Chiefs use of the spread offense last season wasn't the first of it's kind.  Bill Belichick has been making trips down to Gainesville, FL the last three years to talk offense with Gators head coach Urban Meyer.  The NFL head coach has been trying to glean as much information from the college coach in attempting to give the college spread an NFL feel.

"Everyone knows how I feel about Bill Belichick," Meyer said. "How is it that Tom Brady and this guy [Cassel] who never even started a game in college can make it work? Because Bill Belichick adapts. ... And the Miami Dolphins were 0-and-whatever [in '07] and they adapted to what they had. All of a sudden, the running back was taking snaps and they were winning games."

Meyer also said at least three NFL teams have contacted him regarding the spread offense.  Are the Chiefs one of those three teams?

Continue reading this post »

Herm Edwards is back into coaching. Sort of.

He's conducting his 14th annual football camp this weekend at Monterey Penninsula College in Monterey, CA. The Monterey Herald is Herm's local newspaper if you will. He contributed a weekly column to the paper back when he was coaching the Chiefs and he's got family in the area.

The paper caught up with Herm at his camp and the former Kansas City Chiefs head coach gave us some good quotes, as usual.

On his new gig on NFL Live...

"I want to be the best analyst,'' said Edwards, the Eagles second all-time leader in career interceptions with 27. "I am learning with each show. I wanted to be in the studio. I didn't want to do games."

On getting back into coaching right now...

"As you get older, priorities change,'' Edwards said. "Why would I want to go back to working 17 hour days? I want to spend more time with my two daughters. I missed a lot of that when my son Marcus was growing up."

On explaining how instead of winning you made players better people...

"What I never wanted to do was embarrass the league,'' Edwards said. "I'm big on integrity. I feel like I've left each team better than when I started. I feel like I've helped a lot of players.''

Herm knows he was responsible for the make up of last year's team, right?

"We lost seven games by seven points or less last year,'' Edwards said. "Why? We had no experience. We had to do it with 20 rookies. We couldn't finish in the fourth quarter. I was coaching a college team. But I had fun. And we got better. I believe I've made it better for the next guy.''

Argh. I really don't mind Herm Edwards at all. In fact, I really like the guy. He was just in way over his head as an NFL head coach. But man, reading quotes by him like that last one just pisses me off. He knows he screwed up and he's acting like he wasn't the one behind the whole 2008 Chiefs Youth Movement.

Argh!

Click here to read the entire article.

Defensive back Antonio Cromartie is already trashing the Kansas City Chiefs, their passing game and Dwayne Bowe.  Cromartie of course predicts his San Diego Chargers will be making an appearance in the Super Bowl....if they play up to their ability.

Only problem?  The Chargers seem to never play up to their ability when it counts.  They've had what many people call the most talented team in the NFL for several years now and haven't won a conference championship game since 1994 when the San Francisco 49ers throttled them 49-26.

Anyway, Cromartie held a chat on NFL.com and had a few things to say about the Chiefs.

When asked about stopping the Chiefs passing game with Matt Cassel now in the division, Cromartie said:

They never had a passing game. They don't even have Gonzalez.

Then when being asked about what's so hard about covering Bowe:

Dwayne Bowe only has two catches on me in two years, so I've never had a hard time against him.

Yep...that's the corner for the Chargers team that "stomped" the lowly 2-14 Chiefs by a combined two points last season.  And, for the record, our Coastal Carolina quarterback put up 263 yards passing against Cromartie's Chargers.

Cromartie also said Philip Rivers was the biggest trash talker on the team.  Uh-oh, I hope the cat wasn't let out of the bag with that one or Philip will get mad and pout!  Hmph!

If I were a betting man, I would put my money on the Chargers to win the AFC West this season.  After all, they are the kings of the regular season.

For the record, Dwayne Bowe has 25 receptions for 325 yards and two touchdowns against the Chargers in his first two years in the league.  Nice work, Antonio.  Your interception rate in 2008 would have tied you with our two rookies, Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr for second place on the team.

View full size photo uploaded June 27, 2009

With a hat tip to tomahawk44 in the FanShots, we get a pretty funny story from Tyler Thigpen's rookie year. Thigpen is helping out at a South Carolina football camp, teaching kids about football, life and presumably skeletons.

In his usual self-deprecating manner, Thigpen told a story about choosing his jersey number during his rookie season:

"I asked for 16, and they were like, 'well, you can ask Len Dawson for it,' " Thigpen said. "At the time, I didn't really know who Len Dawson was, but I figured (the number) must be retired."

And when asked about Matt Cassel, Thigpen gave us the line he's been saying pretty much since Cassel became a Chief:

"They've got a lot of money invested in (Cassel), and I'm comfortable being behind him," Thigpen said. "I'm going to support him and do anything that I can to make him better. I'm a team player and not just an individual."

Head here to read the entire article.

via UW-RF Chiefs site

View full size photo uploaded June 27, 2009

33 days and counting until the Kansas City Chiefs report for training camp at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in River Falls, WI, for the final time.

Caption this photo of Herm Edwards at the '08 training camp.