Arrowheadlines: Brett Veach has road named in his honor

The latest

Chiefs GM Brett Veach on a roll, now has his name on a road | ESPN.com

Veach, who is in his third year as the Chiefs’ GM, had a two-block stretch of street leading to the high school stadium in Mount Carmel Township, Pennsylvania, named for him. Part of North Birch Street is now Brett Veach Way.

Chiefs general manager Brett Veach had a street named after him in his hometown of Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. Aaron Domanski

“People say there’s nothing to do in a rundown coal mining town of 5,000 people, but all we needed to be happy was football and family,” said Veach. “To have my name attached to the street where my love for football first started is really an honor I can’t put into words.

“I love Mount Carmel and am thankful to have been raised there.”

Patrick Mahomes may have left money on the table for Chris Jones, but other teams won’t follow suit | Yahoo! Sports

Left some on the table? What??? Why???

The answer is simple: because Mahomes really, really cares about his football legacy. He wants to go down as an all-time great, just like Tom Brady or Joe Montana, and maybe even go down as the greatest.

And just like Brady, who certainly “left some money on the table” during his career in New England, Mahomes prioritized that over more cold, hard cash.

Sure, Mahomes is getting paid a ton but as the greatest asset in pro football, he could have pushed it to the absolute limit. Had he done that, negotiations — which were kept very quiet — might have gotten contentious. Maybe hard feelings start to develop. And by commanding even more, it would have been even harder for the Chiefs to put a team around him like the one that just won a Super Bowl.

Chris Jones plans to earn ‘five-plus’ rings with Chiefs; here’s why his prediction isn’t too far-fetched | CBS Sports

So it’s easy to roll the eyeballs and laugh at Jones, but he does have some validity to his statement. The Chiefs did sign Patrick Mahomes to a 12-year deal worth up to $503 million, but the franchise quarterback admitted he left some money on the table to keep the franchise in contention for Super Bowls over the life of the contract. This was how the Chiefs were able to sign Jones to a five-year, $80 million deal, which is really for two years when looking at the details of the deal — a strategy Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has used in retaining 20 of the team’s 22 starters from the Super Bowl title team.

The Chiefs have nine players making over $10 million in salary this season, which doesn’t include Mahomes (his cap number doesn’t reach over $20 million until next year). Their key players are signed for the foreseeable future as Sammy Watkins is the top free agent on Kansas City’s roster heading into 2021, making the opportunity to win a championship even greater over the next two seasons.

Terrell Owens, 46 years old, raced Tyreek Hill and kept it surprisingly close | Yahoo! Sports

Owens raced Tyreek Hill, the Kansas City Chiefs receiver who is recognized as one of the fastest players not just in the NFL, but has also considered trying to make the Olympics. He has tremendous top-end speed. And again, Owens is 46 years old.

Given that, T.O. didn’t do that bad (the race is at about 16:40 of this YouTube clip that was posted on Hill’s channel):

To finish 3-4 yards behind Hill in a race isn’t too bad for anyone, much less a guy who is nearing 50. There are probably some receivers currently in the NFL who couldn’t keep it that close. Hill won the race, but Owens being that fast might be the most impressive thing about that clip.

Chiefs Unveil 2019-20 Community Report, Providing a Look at the Franchise’s Championship-Caliber Efforts Off the Field | Chiefs.com

The eighth-annual report highlights several of the specific outreach efforts included in those areas, such as the staff-wide service project as nearby Lincoln College Preparatory Academy, an unforgettable surprise for a single mother at the Guadalupe Center, the Chiefs’ support of the City Year program in local schools, the 265,000 meals collected through the Chiefs Kingdom Food Drive, the launch of the “Chiefs Flag” youth program across the metro area, a player visit to Whiteman Air Force Base, player-led events aimed at promoting social justice, the Chiefs Charity Game and the record-setting funds raised for Ronald McDonald House Charities through Red Friday flag sales.

If Chiefs Fans Don’t Want to Lose Their Name, They Have to Evolve | SI Arrowhead Report

As human or human-ish mascots or team names go in just the NFL, we’ve got cowboys, a meat-packing company, saints, giants, titanic gods, prospectors, and citizens of Texas. But if the theme of a club is Native American, it’s almost inherently also war.

So when these teams are crafting their imagery and fans are dressing up for games, they are ostensibly appropriating a cartoon version of many cultures’ militaries into one conglomerate headdress-and-tomahawk identity. In case that wasn’t clear, that’s pretty much the definition of racist stereotyping. It’d be one thing if Native mascots were as diverse and eclectic as literally all other human mascots, but every single one is essentially the same mascot repackaged infinite times over.

Around the league

NFLPA tells players there’ll be no preseason, training camp rosters reduced to 80 players | CBS Sports

In a call with players on Tuesday evening, the NFLPA has confirmed a number of changes to training camp and the leadup to the 2020 regular season that the union has been negotiating with the NFL, as the two sides continue to construct a feasible foundation to operate amid the pandemic. As initially reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, and confirmed by CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, there were five main points of discussion, which includes zero preseason games in 2020. Having no exhibitions this summer has been the stance by the union all along, but the NFL just recently came down from its one-game proposal on Monday and has now suggested no preseason games at all.

Along with that change, the Players Association noted that roster sizes for training camp are expected to be set at 80 players to start camp, which is down 10 from the traditional 90-man rosters you typically see under normal circumstances. The union is also pushing for a longer ramp-up period in camp, per Pelissero, and there are general agreements on voluntary and high-risk opt-outs along with an agreement on stipends if games are lost.

REPORT: NFL Helmet Decals to Feature Police Brutality Victims | SI.com

The NFL has taken an anti-racist stance on the matter after many of its players spoke out on police brutality and the systemic racism that occurs in America. To follow this up, it was recently reported that players will be able to wear helmet decals that feature victims of police brutality.

While having the victims’ names on helmet decals won’t be as noticeable on television screens as having “Black Lives Matter” on the back of the jerseys, it does seem like a nice gesture toward the movement. Hopefully, the NFL will continue to make an active effort towards social justice.

NFLPA: 59 Positive COVID-19 Results Among Players Tested Through Tuesday | Bleacher Report

The results come as teams begin welcoming rookies to training camps, with full rosters expected to report by July 28.

On Monday, the NFL and NFLPA announced testing for the coronavirus would occur daily for the first two weeks of training camp as part of an agreement reached by the two sides. If the positivity rate falls below 5 percent after two weeks, testing will move to every other day.

Players must produce two negative tests that are separated by 72 hours before they can enter team facilities.

In case you missed it at Arrowhead Pride

Andy Reid made sure everybody heard his compliments to Brett Veach

During Jones’ press conference on Monday, friend-of-the-site Matt Derrick of Chiefs Digest had two questions, and one of them pertained to Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s thoughts on the job Veach has done this offseason. After Matt’s first question was answered, Reid made him ask the Veach question again, so that “everybody could hear it one more time.”

It is a very small moment, but one that holds weight — and another example of why the league’s figures love Reid as much as they do. Matt repeated the question so Reid could properly shine the light on one of his own — the man he suggested get into personnel in the first place more than 10 years ago.

A tweet to make you think

Follow Arrowhead Pride on Social Media

Facebook Page: Click here to like our page

AP Instagram: Follow @ArrowheadPride

AP Twitter: Follow @ArrowheadPride

AP Editor-in-Chief: Pete Sweeney: Follow @pgsween

610 Sports Twitter: Follow @610SportsKC