Good morning, and Happy Father's Day! We've got a pretty decent Arrowheadlines for you this morning. Quotes from Pioli, memories of glories past, and a Pro Bowl prediction for one of our players are ahead. Read and enjoy.
There were blowouts, heartbreakers, and only four wins.But all along the way, even as the proud Chiefs franchise watched its 156-game sellout streak snapped, first-year general manager Scott Pioli kept a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.’s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail’’ in mind:
"Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work.’’
The point, in Pioli’s mind, was not to block out all around him during the 2009 season. To the contrary, he tried to take in much of the criticism, process it, and use it to improve himself, his work, and the team.
Pioli saw gains in lost season for Kansas City from The Boston Globe
So, Haley ended offseason practice a day early this past week, canceling Tuesday’s workout and sending the team into a six-week hiatus during which the players will, for better or worse, be on their own. No coaches or trainers in their ear, no teammates and early-morning workout sessions to get them moving on a slow day. And there are a lot of days — and many potential pitfalls — between now and July 29, when the team reports to St. Joseph for training camp.The Chiefs went their separate ways, and thus begins what could be the most important month and a half of the team’s year. If players keep their focus, the Chiefs could be on track to cash in on a promising offseason and, if nothing else, perhaps break a three-year string of winning no more than four contests. If they backslide, the Chiefs’ progress the past four months could be lost.
Chiefs need to avoid pitfalls on road to training camp from KC Star
The article was linked to earlier on the front page, but be sure to check it out if you missed it the first time around...
Whether it’s holding the daily fish wrap in my hands or punching it up on the computer, I seek out anything that’s well written on any subject.
I stumbled across just such a piece the other day in the Boston Globe. Written by psychiatrist and Harvard professor Dr. Steve Schlozman, it’s an attempt to try to explain why fans are fans. Titled "Why we suffer through sports" it’s really a tribute to his uncle Frank, who was a die-hard fan of the Chiefs. The author frequented Arrowhead Stadium’s on game day and sat with his uncle.
A Moment On Why Fans Are Fans from Bob Gretz
Priest Holmes is the Chiefs’ all-time leading rusher and the player chosen for the cover shot of "A Sea of Red: Fifty Years With the Chiefs & The Kansas City Star" by Jeffrey Flanagan (Kansas City Star Books, $27.95). But what matters most to Holmes these days is kids; his own and the ones he helps through the Priest Holmes Foundation.
This conversation took place when Holmes, who lives in San Antonio, was in town to speak at a luncheon honoring nine top students from Pearson Elementary School in Kansas City, Kan. and to accept a key to the city of Kansas City, Kan.
Priest Holmes’ skills as a father come into play from KC Star
"What is amazing is that Porter, Leodis McKelvin with the Buffalo Bills, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie with the Arizona Cardinals, Aqib Talib with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mike Jenkins with the Dallas Cowboys, and Brandon Flowers with the Kansas City Chiefs all came out in the 2008 draft. Every one of those guys will end up being a Pro-Bowl player. That is as strong a group of cornerbacks as I have seen in one draft in the past 20 years."NFL’s best cornerback duo from The Daily Comet
But what is more interesting about this story is that the Chiefs seem prepared to start two (maybe three) rookies on defense: safety Eric Berry, cornerback Javier Arenas (but he will most likely be the nickel back), and possibly safety Kendrick Lewis. Lewis will most likely get the nod to start because:1.) He’s not Jon McGraw
2.) Jarrad Page has forgotten the Chiefs don’t play the Oakland Raiders 16 times this year, thus making him a 51% asset/49% liability on the defense.Yikes – THREE rookies? All in the defensive backfield? Now – I think Brandon Flowers is one of the top cornerbacks in the AFC (behind Darrelle Revis and Nnamdi Asomugha), and I’m convinced Brandon Carr is better than he showed last year. But – that is still a little concerning to think that three rookies will be responsible for shutting down Peyton Manning in week four.
The Chiefs Class of 2010 Goes to School from NFL Gridiron Gab
On Saturday afternoon, former Mountaineer Brian Jozwiak held a day long event for the players down in the trenches.
Jozwiak was not only a former offensive lineman for the WVU football team but later went to play for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1980’s.
Jozwiak Camp held in Morgantown from WVNSTV.com
"I didn’t wait for the National Football league to draft. I signed with the Hamilton Pro Football Team in Ontario, Canada in 1959," Wood recalled. "That was the year we played in the Eastern Division against Winnipeg and lost. In the1960 season, we had great expectations, but lost 10 of 11 games. Players were leaving and new ones were coming all the time. I was released.
"In 1962 I joined the Dallas Texans Pro Football Team in the newly organized American Football League," he went on. "Lamar Hunt, a Texas millionaire, had organized the new Football League in 1959 in Dallas. He then put together a football team and called it the Dallas Texans of which I was glad to be on the team."
Wood said that since the American Football League was newly born, it got no respect at all. The Dallas Texans were equally written off. Then the Texans surprised their foes – they started winning.Former pro football player from Wilburton helped put AFL on the map from The McAlester News-Capital
Casey Wiegmann is going on nearly twenty years since his senior year at Aplington-Parkersburg High School. Now about to start his fifteenth year in the National Football League, Wiegmann looked back on one lesson from his high school coach, Ed Thomas, at a critical time.
"I was into my senior year and I was working at this lumberyard," Wiegmann, former Aplington-Parkersburg graduate and now back as center with the Kansas City Chiefs. "I hated it. Halfway through the summer, I went in and told Coach I was going to quit. He looked at me and said, ‘if you quit on this one thing in life, you’ll quit on a lot of other things.’"
Wiegmann joined dozens of other former players, current and former assistant coaches and family members for the First Annual Ed Thomas Family Foundation Golf Classic at Legend Trail Golf Club in Parkersburg.Golfing Event Honors Parkersburg Football Coach from KCRG.com
Player Tweets
BCarr39 How do you wash 501s without them shrinking...?
BCarr39 Watching Ohio vs. Pennsylvania high school all-star football game. Kids getting bigger-n-bigger each year!
BCarr39 My daughter said she either wants to be a queen or a firegirl when she grows up lol
GlennDorsey72 Goin ham in 5-4-3-2-1.....#Bow!
almighty31 jus put lil man in the bed... we jus got home... he is a true #vikin lol.... time 2 sleep cause we r goin swimming 2morrow..
Media and Fans
WhitlockJason How many more bogeys before Tiger decides his back and neck hurt? ... Jeezuz, Tiger and his bimbos have ruined golf 4 me.
Broslife Just found out the World Cup isn't a boob contest. World, you disappoint me.
darthvader If Luke gets me that Tatooinian "sand art" crap again for Father's Day, his hand won't be the only thing I cut off.
Adam_Schefter To everyone apart of the best fraternity there is, Happy Father's Day.
HermEdwardsESPN Must increase the game day roster from 46 to 53.RT @Jonathan_Cote: @HermEdwardsESPN what do you think about an 18 game schedule?