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Behind the Lens: The Top 10 Photos of 2015 - No. 1 from The Mothership
Broncos 31, Chiefs 24
Date: Thursday, September 17
Model: Canon EOS 6D
Focal Length: 15
Exposure Time: 1/500
Taken By: Steve Sanders
On Husain Abdullah's retirement and what ‘that guy loves football' is starting to mean from The Kansas City Star
More and more, that specific evaluation - how much does this player love football? - is taking on a different meaning.
Abdullah is part of what feels like a still-relatively-small-but-growing trend of NFL players retiring with plenty of productive years remaining. Calvin Johnson of the Lions - a potential Hall of Famer - is the most famous. Chris Borland of the 49ers - completely healthy, and on the cusp of making a lot of money - is perhaps the most alarming to the NFL.
The response of many teams has been to put even more focus on how a player feels about the sport. It has become football jargon.
But there is a growing number of men inside the sport who see the meaning of the phrase evolving.
Notebook: Chiefs look to overcome challenge of losing third-round pick from Chiefs Digest
The Chiefs currently have $5.7 million in cap space, and at least $5 million is needed for the rookie class from the NFL Draft.
The amount of cap space doesn't leave much wiggle room for the rest of the year, but the Chiefs could gain cap relief by working out a long-term contract with safety Eric Berry, who carries a $10.8 million price tag as a non-exclusive franchised player.
The good news is Dorsey and Berry's agent are talking.
"His representative and I have talked numerous times," Dorsey said. "We will continue to have discussions and we'll see if we can wrap our arms around this and see if everybody can come to an agreement how we all see this thing."
Chiefs have no plans to give up on Eric Fisher from ESPN
Fisher is heading into his fourth season with the Chiefs and the team is still talking about him in terms of reaching his potential rather than already being the dominant tackle one might expect from a player selected first overall in a draft.
It's a sign of his progress that general manager John Dorsey is also talking about exercising the fifth-year option on the contract Fisher signed as the top pick in the 2013 draft and even the possibility of signing Fisher to an extension before having to exercise the option.
Stability could finally be ahead for Chiefs offensive line from ESPN
The Kansas City Chiefs have seen tremendous upheaval to their offensive line in their three seasons under general manager John Dorsey. Nine linemen who started at least one game for the Chiefs the previous season departed as free agents over the past three seasons.
The result has been annual and significant change to their offensive line, something the Chiefs don't want.
But the Chiefs could be headed into a period of relative stability for their offensive line. Of the top seven linemen on what would be a current depth chart, six are under contract at least through the 2017 season.
Could the Chiefs possibly stand pat at cornerback? from ESPN
The Kansas City Chiefs are thin at cornerback when it comes to established players. They have only one corner, Marcus Peters, who fits into that category, and he is hardly an experienced veteran.
But they might have more depth at the position than it appears.
The Chiefs in each of the past two drafts selected a cornerback in the third round -- Phillip Gaines in 2014 and Steven Nelson last year. The team is optimistic both players can become solid contributors.
REPORT: PATRIOTS WORK OUT FORMER CHIEFS QB RICKY STANZI from CSNNE
The Patriots have quarterback Tom Brady locked up through 2019. Their backup, Jimmy Garoppolo, is under contract through 2017. Might they go out of their way to bring a third signal-caller aboard for the upcoming season?
According to ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss, the Patriots worked out quarterback Ricky Stanzi on Wednesday.
Husain Abdullah praises new concussion protocol, but knew it was time to retire from NFL from USA Today
"The information that they're getting, the research they're doing is awesome," Abdullah told USA TODAY Sports by phone Tuesday. "(In) 2011, when I was put on injured reserve for a concussion, it was like no information whatsoever, so I can only imagine what it was like for guys in the ‘70s, the ‘80s, the 90s and the early 2000s. Even the rehab then versus the rehab now has gotten a whole lot better.
"But still, moving forward, nobody can say anything for certain that you'll be good. And nobody can tell you for certain how to prevent another one and what the effects of the next one or just a hit might have. So, when I just started looking at that and looking at long-term health - I don't want to be that boxer that just stayed around for too long."
Will Shields uses NFL experience to educate parents, athletes about brain injuries from FOX4KC
Former KC Chiefs guard and NFL hall of famer Will Shields was in attendance. Shields said he once suffered a concussion in high school and now he has expanded his organization, 68's Inside Sports, to help educate parents and young athletes about brain injuries and how to stay safe.
Click here to learn more about the brain injury conference.
Former track star Tautvydas Kieras signs with Chiefs, joining parade of oddballs chasing NFL from The NY Daily News
Now, Kieras is just readying for his chance to impress the Chiefs, doing everything he can to study a game he's watched but never played. His lone experience with the game comes from playing Madden video games, he said, and from watching Bulldogs games in Starkville.
He knows he's still a longshot to make the Chiefs, too. NFL teams routinely bring in plenty of talents for their rookie camps and offseason programs; few newcomers survive to the final 53-man roster come the fall.
"The hardest part is still ahead of me, and that's what I'm preparing myself for," he said. "I feel like nothing really big has happened yet."
A brief history of kickers after a costly playoff miss from 1500 ESPN
Lin Elliott, 1996 AFC Divisional Round
The Kansas City Chiefs just needed one, but Lin Elliott couldn't give them any as he missed all three attempts - 35, 39 and 42 yards - in the Chiefs' 10-7 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Elliott first made a roster as an undrafted free agent in 1992, helping the Dallas Cowboys and then-offensive coordinator Norv Turner win Super Bowl 27 with four of five field goals during that postseason. Three years later, Elliott missed a trio of kicks and was out of the league.
Literacy honoree helps others get citizenship from The St. Joseph News-Press
Other nominees for the Literacy Citation were Glenn Brown, Daniel Lagunus, Darlene Machado, the St. Joseph Mustangs and Ky Turner, Sgt. Jill Voltmer of the St. Joseph Police Department and Barry White.
Dave Lindstrom, a former NFL player and a member of the Kansas City Chiefs Ambassadors, spoke at the reception about volunteerism. About 65 people attended.
GMs from three teams see top CB prospect at Miami's pro day from NFL.com
Cornerback Artie Burns -- 5-11 5/8, 189 -- did the short shuttle in 4.3 seconds and the three-cone in 6.96 seconds. He had a 33-inch vertical and 10-foot-4 broad jump. He also performed seven reps on the bench. Burns had a good pro-day positional workout given the adverse conditions. In his latest mock draft, NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah projects Burns to the Kansas City Chiefs at pick No. 28.
Top 30 fantasy wide receivers ranked by 2015 FPPT from NFL.com
T-26. Jeremy Maclin, Chiefs (1.74 FPPT): In his first year in Kansas City, Maclin saw his FPPT average drop from almost 2.3 per touch to fewer than 1.75.
Top 10 players in Tennessee football history - No. 5 from The Tennessee Journalist
He decided to enter the NFL Draft early after his junior season. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs fifth overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. He is currently still a member of the Chiefs football team.
In his NFL career up to this point, Berry has been named to four Pro Bowls, including two first-team All-Pro selections (in 2013 and 2015). He also won the AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year award in 2015. This award is especially telling of how resilient and outstanding Berry is as a both a football player and a person.
Cairo Santos transmits hunting trip in the Snapchat from The Playoffs [translated from the original Portuguese]
Sponsored by the NFL , Cairo transmitted in real time by Snapchat a trip that made the game Blue Angels , on Tuesday. The 'tour' of the kicker in the vehicle took place in Pensacola, Florida . It was possible to check the record the profiles of NFL (@NFL) and Cairo itself (@ csantos1).