Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 4/18

Good morning! Hope you have some free time this morning because yesterday's release of the 2012 NFL schedule generated a lot of reaction. Keep reading for that and the rest of today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Four Pro Bowl quarterbacks await the Chiefs over the first five weeks of the 2012 season and none are named Peyton Manning. It's the type of schedule that ensures Kansas City can't afford the slow start it experienced to begin last season.

Up first for the Chiefs is a season opener against Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons at Arrowhead Stadium. The game marks the third consecutive season Kansas City has opened its schedule at home and will feature the return of TE Tony Gonzalez.

Chiefs Face Strong Test To Begin 2012 Schedule from The Mothership

The Chiefs began their offseason by promising some competition for quarterback Matt Cassel. They at one point tried, with no success, to enter the chase for Peyton Manning.

But the Chiefs have started their offseason conditioning program, and Cassel is still standing as the unchallenged starter. Their other quarterbacks are Brady Quinn and Rick Stanzi, so unless the Chiefs select a quarterback in an early round of the draft next week, Cassel will for the fourth straight season only have token competition for his job.

Still The Chiefs' No. 1 QB, Cassel Doesn't Mind Competition from KC Star

Future financial obligations set the draft slot apart from the 10 picks that precede it.

All first round draft picks must sign four-year contracts with a non-negotiable team option for a fifth year, but the difference in fifth-year cost between the 10^th and 11^th picks is significant.

Chiefs See Unique Opportunity Holding 11th Overall Pick from The Mothership

Safety Eric Berry, who missed all but a handful of plays last season after tearing the ACL in his left knee, said Tuesday that he will be at full strength when training camp begins in late July.

In the meantime, the Chiefs will be cautious with Berry, who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2010. They don't begin offseason practice until next month, but even then they may limit what they ask him to do.

Chiefs Notebook: Berry Says He'll Be At Full Strength At Training Camp from KC Star

Baker (6-0, 205) originally entered the NFL as a seventh-round draft choice (216thoverall) of the St. Louis Rams in the 2011 NFL Draft. Baker was placed on injured reserve prior to the start of his rookie campaign before being released by the Rams on Oct. 13, 2011.

Chiefs Sign Free Agent DB Mikail Baker from The Mothership

The National Football League announced the regular season schedule for the 2012 season on Tuesday. The Kansas City Chiefs will begin their 2012 slate when they host the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Sept. 9 at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs schedule features two back-to-back, nationally-televised, primetime games. This season will mark the third-consecutive year the Chiefs have played at least one primetime contest. Kansas City will play eight games against seven playoff teams from the 2011 season.

Chiefs Kick Off 2012 Season At Arrowhead Vs. Atlanta from The Mothership

Complaint department: The Chiefs' schedule has two trouble spots. Playing back-to-back prime-time roadies at San Diego and Pittsburgh is not ideal. Having one home game in the final quarter of the season is challenging as well. The Chiefs must enter the final stretch in good shape.

Kansas City Chiefs Schedule Analysis from ESPN

Week 7 - Sunday, Oct. 21st: BYE WEEK. Seriously, the Chiefs could be 0-6 at this point and it wouldn't be a total shock. A total disappointment, sure, but not a shock. If they are 3-3, start printing playoff tickets.

Week 8 - Sunday, Oct. 28th, 3:05 pm. Oakland Raiders @ Chiefs. Funny, but this used to be a home game for the Chiefs, but not for the past five years as the Raiders have not lost in Arrowhead since 2006.

Kansas City Chiefs 2012 Schedule Released Tuesday from Examiner.com

The world gets to see if the Chiefs are contenders or pretenders when they play back-to-back road games on Thursday and Monday night in early November against the Chargers and Steelers. The good news is the Chiefs are at home for three straight weeks afterward before closing with three of their final four on the road.

Kansas City Chiefs 2012 NFL Schedule Analysis from NFL.com

"Every offseason, you go into with an open mind," Cassel continued. "Whoever comes in here, we'll embrace them. Competition just makes people better. And it's about the room.

"Iif you can get quality guys in the quarterback room and we can push each other and make each other better, then that's what it's all about."

Having already signed Quinn to go with Cassel and Ricky Stanzi, Pioli stressed earlier this week that he'd like to toss a fourth signal-caller into the mix.

If the Chiefs really like do Matt Cassel, they sure have a funny way of showing it.

Cassel: No Hard Feelings For Manning Pursuit from FOX Sports KC

Last month, Berry tweeted that he wondered whether the Bills had offered incentives to hurt him. Tuesday, Berry said the tweet was "pretty much a joke." Johnson has denied the hit was intentional.

What do I think of Berry's reaction?

His opinion is his and he can feel any way he wants to feel. But his focus must remain on his rehabilitation and improving off his special 2010 rookie season. Berry is reportedly on target and should be back to start the 2012 campaign.

Eric Berry Is Entitled To His Opinion from ESPN

Berry said his knee has mostly healed - he spent time rehabbing with tight end Tony Moeaki and running back Jamaal Charles, who sustained the same injury to the same knee in consecutive weeks. All three are expected to be ready by the start of training camp in July.

Berry said the time away from the field made him "more hungry than ever." It was the first time he'd been away from the game for such an extended period of time.

"I've always been motivated, but at the same time, I've never been away from the game so long," he said. "I'm definitely excited, especially to be back with my teammates."

Chiefs Safety Eric Berry Says 'Make Your Own Opinion' Over Whether Buffalo Had A Bounty On Him from The Associated Press via The Washington Post

The latest visitor to Jon Gruden's ESPN quarterback camp is Michigan State's Kirk Cousins.

Both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos have looked at Cousins and he is expected to be drafted in the second or third round.

Video: AFC West Prospect Visits Gruden from ESPN

Romeo Crennel, Kansas City Chiefs: Only technically a first-year coach, Crennel is already hailed in the streets of Kansas City as the man who knocked off the undefeated Packers as an interim coach last season. The AFC West is much-improved, but the Chiefs are two seasons removed from a division title. Romeo's in a good spot here.

No Easy Road For First-Year Coaches in 2012 from NFL.com

Week 8: at Kansas City - The Raiders seem to own this matchup here but they won't have Chiefs-killer Michael Bush while KC gets Jamaal Charles back. New Chief Stanford Routt - who is not as good as Al Davis thought but not as bad as fans or Dennis Allen thought - runs an interception back. Loss. 3-4.

The Schedule Storylines And Predictions You Asked For from The San Francisco Chronicle

It was the inaugural banquet for the first 12 inductees to Pasadena Independent School District's Athletics Hall of Fame...

...Angular Bert Coan (Pasadena High School, 1958) was PISD's best-ever track man and, perhaps, its best football player. As a Kansas City Chief, he played in Super Bowl I. When PHS won the district's only state track championship, Coan won three individual events and pulled the sprint-relay team to another first...

...Trevor Cobb (Dobie, 1989), like Coan and Cheshire, was celebrated in both football and track. At Rice, he earned the Doak Walker Award, which goes each year to the nation's outstanding back. He also played with the Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears.

Hall Of Fame Honors Outstanding Dozen from The Houston Chronicle

WEEK 14 -- Sun., Dec. 9: vs. Kansas City Chiefs, CBS, #1 p.m. Early storyline: Running back Peyton Hillis, coach Romeo Crennel and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll reunite with the Browns. Enough said.

Cleveland Browns' 2012 Schedule Unveiled from The Akron Beacon Journal

The Julep, formerly known as the Julep Ball, is May 4 in the Galt House Hotel & Suites' Grand Ballroom and is a benefit for the James Graham Brown Cancer Center...

...NFL stars will be in the spotlight, too. Representing the gridiron will be Green Bay Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Brady Quinn.

Kentucky Derby 2012: 'Glee'-ful Over The Julep Guest List from The Louisville Courier-Journal

Furman's Ryan Steed worked out for eight teams, including a defensive backs coach from the Kansas City Chiefs. Steed worked out outdoors and on grass, which was wet, and athletes were slipping. It was not an ideal situation to impress teams.

Roundup Of Four Small-School Prospects from NFL.com

The exhibit, in the union's Badlands Room, will be on display through Friday.

"Look at this," Plass says, approaching a photograph of the 1999 Kansas City Chiefs pro football team.

The players wear Indian dress and carry shields, rifles and knives. The photo is titled "The Tribe," and each player is identified by an Indian name. The late star linebacker Derrick Thomas is listed as Chief Iron Eyes.

"Not a one of them is Indian," Plass said.

Exhibit At The University Of North Dakota Examines Portrayal Of American Indians from The Republic

University of Alabama nose guard Josh Chapman is making fast progress after having his left knee surgically repaired in January and is expected to be cleared in time for training camp, according to Dr. James Andrews...

...Chapman, who visited the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this week, tore his anterior cruciate ligament against the Florida Gators back in October.

Dr. James Andrews: Josh Chapman To Be Ready For Training Camp from Scout.com