Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 12/9

Chiefs Safety Eric Berry Diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma from The Mothership

Berry released the following statement:

"My family and I are very grateful for the amount of support we have received over the last couple of weeks. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate all the words of encouragement, the blessings and well wishes. I want to thank the Emory University School of Medicine, along with Dr. Flowers and his team, for all of their hard work and effort in diagnosing and creating a plan for me to battle this thing. I will embrace this process and attack it the same way I do everything else in life. God has more than prepared me for it. For everyone sharing similar struggles, I'm praying for you and keep fighting!"

"Be Bold Be Brave Be Berry" Shirts Available at the Pro Shop at Arrowhead Stadium from The Mothership

The official "Be Bold Be Brave Be Berry" shirt, which was designed by Chiefs players in support of Chiefs S Eric Berry and his ongoing battle with Hodgkin lymphoma, is currently available for purchase in the Chiefs Pro Shop at Arrowhead Stadium. The shirts are also available online at shop.kcchiefs.com in very limited quantities. All shirts are $20.

It has been announced that 100% of the proceeds received by the Chiefs and the NFL from the sales of the shirts will be directed to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Andy Reid Press Conference 12/8 from The Mothership

Q: Are the issues on the offensive line solvable in the next few weeks or is that something that will take more time than that?

REID: "I think most of these issues here - that's the positive that I take out of this as frustrated as we all are - I think the positive is there are some things we can do here to fix the issues. They are not things that we can't work out."

Q: How much did Jamaal Charles' first half injury affect the ability to utilize him properly in the second half?

REID: "Well, I can't tell you he was 100 percent or feeling 100 percent, not that anybody is this time of year. He wasn't feeling great but I probably still could have given him the ball a few more times."

Chiefs vs. Cardinals: Game Takeaways from The Mothership

The Kansas City Chiefs (7-6) dropped their third straight game on Sunday after a 17-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals (10-3).

Penalties, inopportune turnovers and missed opportunities were the stories of this game for the Chiefs.

"We had every opportunity today and we didn't get it accomplished," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after the game. "Nine penalties is absolutely ridiculous for a football team and everything else that went with it.

"These are fixable things, and we just have to put our nose to the grinder and get it done."

Lamar Hunt posthumously honored at UMKC's Entrepreneur HOF Induction Ceremony from The Mothership

Over the weekend, 20 Kansas City entrepreneurs were recognized during the inaugural induction ceremony at the University of Missouri-Kansas City's (UMKC) Henry W. Bloch School of Management's Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.

Among the list of influential inductees was Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt, who was posthumously inducted into the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. Lamar Hunt, Jr. accepted the award on his father's behalf and was honored to see his father remembered in such high esteem.

KCChiefs.com Podcast: Chiefs Download 12/9

KCChiefs.com Video: NFL.com: Chiefs Week 14 Report Card

KCChiefs.com Video: Arrowhead Update: A Final Look at Week 14

KCChiefs.com Video: Reid: You take care of the game you can control

KCChiefs.com Video: NFL.com: Why Kelce's Catch was Ruled a Fumble

Chiefs' Eric Berry diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma from Chiefs Digest

The Chiefs placed Berry on the season-ending non-football injury list on Nov. 24 after the discovery of a mass in his chest.  He initially experienced discomfort following Week 12's game against the Oakland Raiders and brought it to the attention of the team's medical staff.

Berry underwent testing with the Chiefs medical staff before flying to Atlanta to undergo further testing, leading to Monday's announcement.

Chiefs announce that Eric Berry has lymphoma from The Associated Press via FS Kansas City

Hodgkin's disease, also called Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a cancer of the immune system that represents only about 8 percent of all diagnosed lymphomas. According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 9,000 people will be diagnosed with it in the United States this year.

The survival rate in 1960 was about 40 percent, but advancements in medicine combined with earlier detections have increased the survival rate to more than 80 percent.

Kansas City Chiefs' Eric Berry diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma from The Pitch

The American Cancer Society's website says, "the 1-year relative survival rate for all patients diagnosed with Hodgkin disease is now about 92%; the 5-year and 10-year survival rates are about 85% and 80%, respectively."

Get better soon, Eric.

Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor offers encouragement to Eric Berry from KMBC

Fans who fought the same cancer Kansas City Chiefs star Eric Berry has been diagnosed with are now stepping up to give him encouragement.

Tests confirmed that a mass found in Berry's chest was a sign of Hodgkin's lymphoma. It's a form of cancer that can be successfully treated and Chiefs fan Margo Miller said she's proof.

Three years after being diagnosed, Miller, a former school teacher and current Chiefs fan, continues to be cancer-free.

Wiedmer: Timing right for Jones' raise, extension from The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Eric Berry never played for Butch Jones. He left the University of Tennessee football team for NFL riches after Lane Kiffin's only season as head coach at Tennessee.

But when the sad news arrived Monday that the Kansas City Chiefs' All-Pro defensive back has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, his chemotherapy to begin immediately at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital, the player's words concerning his illness sounded like those that might come from the kind of bright, high-character young men Jones seems to be recruiting to the Volunteers program.

Said Berry, whose father James once starred for the Vols and whose younger twin brothers Elliott and Evan now play for Jones: "For everyone sharing similar struggles, I'm praying for you and keep fighting."

Not "please pray for me," though so many both in and out of the UT extended family certainly will. Instead, "I'm praying for you and keep fighting."

Wow.

Chiefs fans can be the light at the end of Eric Berry's tunnel from FS Kansas City

Eric Berry turns 26 on Dec. 29. The Kansas City Chiefs' safety was in the prime of his football life when a mass confirmed to be Hodgkin lymphoma was found in his chest late last month. Precedent says he has a hell of a shot at climbing right back up on that horse, radiation be damned...

...In the meantime, as any friend or family member who's going through cancer treatments will tell you, the best things for Berry are threefold: rest, strength and constant encouragement. Chemo, while generally effective, is a marathon taxing of the body, and the constant fatigue that's a side-effect can easily weigh on the soul...

"...I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate all the words of encouragement, the blessings and well wishes," Berry said in a statement released by the Chiefs on Monday afternoon.

Keep the cards, the e-mails, the tributes coming.

As Berry hits the tunnel, you're the light waiting on the other side.

Chiefs' Andy Reid addresses Jamaal Charles' lack of second-half touches from Chiefs Digest

Now add Monday to the mix as a third time through 13 games that coach Andy Reid had to address the disappearance of Charles, who totaled 12 touches (10 carries, two catches) during Sunday's defeat at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals.

"I can't tell you he was 100 percent or feeling 100 percent, not that anybody is this time of year," Reid said during Monday's media session. "He wasn't feeling great, but I probably still could have given him the ball a few more times."

Jamaal Charles thought he had serious injury from ESPN

"It was scary at first,'' Charles said. "I thought I tore my knee up.

"I just got twisted up. Everything got twisted up.''

Those were sobering words coming from Charles, who knows what a ruined knee feels like. He tore his ACL during the 2011 season.

But this time Charles had a mere sprained ankle and he was able to return and finish the game.

Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles dealing with knee, ankle injuries from Chiefs Digest

Kansas City will likely evaluate Charles' availability for practice in the coming days. The Chiefs' first practice is Wednesday when the team begins full preparations for Week 15's game against the Oakland Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium.

Meanwhile, defensive end Allen Bailey and wide receiver Junior Hemingway haven't passed their respective concussions protocol tests.

"They're still going through that," Reid said.

3 in the Kee: Chiefs' lack of big plays and takeaways is turning this season toxic from FS Kansas City

A fun season is turning all toxic again.

For weeks -- and by weeks, we mean months -- the Kansas City Chiefs, while overcoming injuries and chasing a postseason berth, were doing it while on the wrong side of a very pivotal NFL stat: toxic differential. As defined by the stat-tracking site SportingCharts.com, toxic differential is the difference between big-yardage plays made (10 or more yards on a rush; 25 or more yards on a pass) and big-yardage plays given up, added to the difference between takeaways and giveaways. The higher the number, the better.

Of the top eight NFL teams in toxic differential as of early Monday morning, only the St. Louis Rams (6-7) had a losing record. Of the bottom eight teams, only one had a winning record -- the Chiefs (7-6).

Chiefs wide receivers haven't caught a TD in a calendar year from CBS Sports

It's been a year since a Chiefs wide receiver caught a touchdown pass. Literally. Dec. 8, 2013, was the last time someone in a Kansas City uniform claiming to be a wideout found themselves in the end zone holding the football for a score.

In a 45-10 win over the Redskins that Sunday, Dwayne Bowe caught a 21-yard pass from Alex Smith to put the Chiefs up 17-0 and from there it's been all downhill.

Did officials make the right call on Chiefs fumble? from AZ Central

I don't argue that Kelce lost possession of the ball initially, but by virtue of the rule, the call on the field should have stood, and the Chiefs should have retained possession.

It was a gutsy challenge by Arians, and it paid off in a big way.

As NFL playoff picture comes into focus some teams' futures are fuzzy from The Los Angeles Times

The Kansas City Chiefs, who were 7-3 in mid-November and had beaten Seattle for their fifth straight win, have lost three in a row and are careening toward irrelevance.

Raiders Show Eric Berry Some Love from All For Tennessee

Shortly after the news of Berry's diagnosis broke, the Raiders, Kansas City's biggest rival, sent their support, via Twitter.