CANTON, Ohio -- Derrick Thomas' induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame may have taken longer than his family wanted. It took longer than the loyal Chiefs' Nation wanted. In the end, their perseverance paid off – even if Thomas is not alive to see it.
The Kansas City Chiefs' pass rushing legend, who was arguably the most feared defensive lineman of the 1990s, finally received his reward for an NFL-most 116 1/2 sacks on Saturday when his bust and legacy were enshrined posthumously in the Hall of Fame.
Thomas' NFL career spanned only 11 seasons, tragically cut short when he died on Feb. 8, 2000 at the age of 33 of complications from injuries sustained in a car accident.
Conventional wisdom suggests that such turnarounds might take a couple seasons, but after what the Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins were able to accomplish, expectations are almost certainly higher -- which means that Kansas City could be just a few personnel moves from returning to the playoffs. The issue, of course. is which personnel moves will give Kansas City the best chance to make a postseason run in '09.
Jared Allen plays the game of football in a pretty intense fashion. Therefore, I tend to think it's fairly unsurprising to find out that he's pretty outspoken. Of course, that doesn't mean I thought he would get on Sporting News Radio and unleash on Carl Peterson. But he did! (Translation props to SbB.)
Tim Montemayor: "What are your thoughts about Carl Peterson leaving the Chiefs organization?"
Jared Allen: "(laughing) Later!"
TM: "Come on, is there no love loss there?"
JA: "Absolutely not, you know what I'm saying? I believe in karma. Good things happen to good people. I'll leave it at that."
I can't tell you just how freaking awesome that "karma" chatter is (although Matt Schaub can probably say better than I ...) considering that Allen nearly lost his leg against the Lions shortly after taking what some would call cheap shots at Schaub, when Gosder Cherilus went after him on one of the biggest low blows I've seen in a while. But if Allen had his way, no one would have held him back after the play and there would have a rumble.
"I guess everybody's telling me I should thank Ray Edwards for holding me back. I wish nobody would have held me back and we could have settled this thing right then and there."
Now, I'm not judge of fighting ability, but if there's one guy in the NFL (other than Ray Lewis) I don't want to tussle with, it's Allen. Still, you'd have to imagine that Cherlius won't let this go -- we are talking about football players here. It's not like they're bloggers who can just let stuff like this go.
Fresh off an epic fourth quarter collapse against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs are plodding along at a steady 2-12 pace, staring another top-five draft pick right in the face. The man making that draft pick, normally, would be general manager Carl Peterson, who has been running the ship out in Kansas City since the 1989 season.
After this season, that will no longer be the case.
Peterson announced today that he is stepping down from his position, effective once this season ends. Here's a statement from Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt, courtesy of Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star:
"On behalf of my family and the entire Kansas City Chiefs organization, I want to thank Carl for his two decades of service to the Chiefs," Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said. "Both Carl and I agreed that immediately initiating the search for the next Chiefs general manager would be the best thing for the future of the organization, and he will be resigning following the 2008 season.''
The most surprising thing about Tuesday's trade deadline wasn't that Roy Williams wound up in Dallas. It was that Tony Gonzalez stayed in Kansas City. Why a going nowhere team thinks they need a veteran tight end coveted by other teams is beyond me. It's also above my pay grade to figure out why said tight end would pass up the chance to go to another team with a chance to make waves in the NFL this season.
It was a little of both that kept Gonzalez in K.C. The Chiefs and Packers had agreed to deal Gonzalez for a third-round pick when, according to the Wisconsin State Journal, Chiefs GM Carl Peterson called back at the last minute to say it had to be a second rounder or the deal was off. That call came 10 minutes before the deadline.
The Packers "sent the papers and everything, thinking it was going to happen," the source said.
Peterson did get two better offers for Gonzalez. The Bills and Falcons were the bidders but Gonzalez, who claimed he wanted out of K.C., turned down the chance to go to two teams where he would have been a major piece in a puzzle that could lead to the playoffs. Neither one may fit the bill of a traditional Super Bowl contender but they've both got better records than the Packers and, in the Falcons case, a clearer path to the playoffs.
The Giants may have had a little misplaced faith in Kevin Boss this season. It's easy to do, sure, after you win a Super Bowl while Jeremy Shockey hangs out pantsless* in a luxury suite, just watching, and your team dominates one of the greatest offensive juggernauts of this era.
Of course, Tony Gonzalez may have had a little misplaced faith in the abilities of the Chiefs to actually be decent this year. So, really the match of Eli + Gonzo might be made in heaven. Or just in Jay Glazer's brain. Either way, it's picking up steam.
The Giants are the perfect fit as they'd provide Eli Manning with one of the most reliable targets in the league. Between Gonzalez and Plaxico Burress, their red-zone threat would be downright scary. The Giants should take the second- and fifth-round picks they got for Jeremy Shockey's trade and offer them to the Chiefs for Gonzalez. Shockey for Gonzo? Who doesn't do that?
The reason it's picking up steam is that reportedly, via the moving thing on the bottom of my television, Gonzalez asked for a trade. And if Carl Peterson has a heart (he seems like the Phil Collins listening type), then he would go through with getting Gonzalez to a contender.
And as Glazer points out, this is the type of trade that makes way too much sense from both teams perspective not to pull on. It's asking a lot for Peterson to be sensible, sure, but any sort of logical thought goes into this process, something similar will go down over the next week and a half.
Here's what we know: the Chiefs have the fifth-overall pick in the NFL draft. After that, it's all speculation. And while who Kansas City will take on April 26 is still a mystery, one thing's for certain: top-five picks don't go as far as they used to.
President/general manager Carl Peterson ... expects fewer inquiries than the Chiefs received the past couple of years, when they made their first selection beyond the midpoint of the first round.
"Financially, it's a pretty big step what these top five, top 10 players are getting," said Peterson ... "Compound that with having to pay a high price in draft picks to move up and people are very reluctant to do that. That's why you don't see much trading up in the top 10 and probably won't see any trading up into the top five.
"We've got to be prepared to take the fifth pick."
It sounds very antiquated, but I take Peterson's point. It's not news that the draft's salary structure is top-heavy and in need of some tweaking, but this is also why the Dolphins are working under the assumption that they won't be able to trade out of the top pick.
The current set up makes it tougher for teams selecting in the top-five
In the meantime, the Chiefs have to concern themselves with getting the best player while weighing the economic considerations (along with all the other stuff). That means no "high-upside" guys because the financial risk is too great. That isn't necessarily an issue for Kansas City -- even if they select Matt Ryan -- but it's something that could be an issue for a team that takes, say, Darren McFadden.
It seems like just three years ago that Ty Law was Larking it around Jacksonville while the Patriots were winning their third Super Bowl in five seasons. The former Pro Bowl cornerback was released that off-season, played a year with the Jets, and spent the last two seasons with the Chiefs. And now it looks like his tenure in Kansas City is coming to an end too.
Arrowhead Pride does a good job putting Law's two-year stint with the Chiefs in perspective:
Looking back to when Ty Law was signed, I'm embarrassed about how excited I got. His time in KC wasn't a failure but surely didn't meet expectations. To be fair to Law, he was supposed to be a final piece of the puzzle of sorts but the team declined as quickly as he did. He only totaled six interceptions in his two years with the Chiefs. Six isn't too shabby but he did come off his last year in New York with ten INTs. The Chiefs thought they were getting the 10-INT Law but instead got a capable but aged veteran. Sound familiar?
The good news, though, is that the Chiefs will have even more available salary-cap space to begin the rebuilding process. Last month, general manager Carl Peterson admitted that he underestimated the effects of age on performance when evaluating the offensive line.
I had no idea it was this bad, but some people think the 2007 Chiefs team was the worst in franchise history. Sure, they won just four games (something they haven't done since 1988), and ranked near the bottom of the league in every offensive category, but the worst outfit since the team came to Kansas City in 1963?
[GM] Carl Peterson has another high-risk [rebuilding] project ahead. Some believe this year's Chiefs team was the worst in franchise history. But [former GM Jack] Steadman knows the mistakes the team made in the 1970s - ignoring signals, remaining loyal to aging stars and making quick fixes - led to the darkest era in Chiefs history and a long playoff drought. Those are mistakes Peterson cannot afford to repeat.
Whether Peterson avoids these mistakes is something else entirely. I guess admitting that he dropped the ball on the Chiefs' aging offensive line is a start, but it's not like that wasn't too obvious to most observers during preseason.
I suppose we shouldn't put all the blame on Herm Edwards -- he inherited most of these issues, and Peterson has been around for two decades doing ... something -- but he's also the head coach; the buck stops with him. If anybody's getting fired, it'll be Edwards, because Peterson, like a rash, just won't go away. But I think we're a few years away from that, assuming the Chiefs don't go 4-12 in 2008.
CANTON, Ohio -- Derrick Thomas' induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame may have taken longer than his family wanted. It took longer than the loyal Chiefs' Nation wanted. In the end, their perseverance paid off – even if Thomas is not alive to see it.
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 
Jared Allen
The most surprising thing about Tuesday's trade deadline wasn't that 
The Giants may have had a little misplaced faith in 
