FanHouse Larry Johnson

Larry Johnson's time in Kansas City is apparently over as the Chiefs announced Monday that they have released the oft-troubled running back into the ether of NFL free agency.

Johnson was, of course, fresh off a suspension based on his recent social media activity and attitude towards reporters, although the official release from the Chiefs doesn't really indicate why he's gone (though it should be obvious):

The Chiefs fans who want Larry Johnson off their team aren't your typical angry fans, lashing out over something as unpleasantly common as another losing season. The online petition they started, which was barreling toward 20,000 signatures Thursday afternoon amid a surprising run of national publicity, says nothing about wanting a coach fired or demanding that an owner sell. It is a petition from the heart, whose roots lie not in anger over the team's record or current stretch of on-field futility, but rather in a deep and abiding love of the team and its history.

"People in Kansas City, we don't mind losing," Dan Cataldi said. "We get used to it, actually. But it just gets frustrating when we don't like the team. That's what we can't stand."

Hence, this petition, which is addressed to new Chiefs GM Scott Pioli and makes the simple plea to remove Johnson from the field and/or the team before he collects 80 more yards and surpasses Priest Holmes as the team's all time leading rusher.

Running back Larry Johnson will not be in uniform Sunday at Jacksonville when the Kansas City Chiefs return from their bye and attempt to reverse the damage of a 1-6 start. That in itself is a small victory for a rebuilding Chiefs organization, which did its level best to severely punish a longtime problem player who crossed a line most agree constitutes conduct detrimental to the NFL.

And that disciplinary action -- a two-week suspension without pay imposed by Chiefs management, that was later arbitrated by the NFL Management Council, the NFL Players Association, Johnson and the Chiefs to return a week's salary to Johnson -- was neither endorsed nor encouraged by the league office, multiple NFL sources said.

Rather, the NFL told the Chiefs they should avoid issuing a suspension (and encountering the subsequent hearing, NFLPA involvement, settlement, etc.), and simply fine Johnson $10,000.

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Larry Johnson is a mere 80 yards away from passing Priest Holmes as the all-time leading rusher in KC history, but if the fans who put together an online petition have their way, he won't get there.

You see, it turns out that LJ's recent actions -- tweeting at coach Todd Haley, calling reporters homophobic names, being suspended by the team -- combined with his past transgressions -- police problems, being suspended by the team (again) -- have created a sort of pent-up anger within the fanbase.

Fed up with one of your players? Eyeballing a player on the wire, but don't know who to drop? So Long, Suckers examines a few players widely-owned that probably shouldn't be.

Far from canceled, the T.O. Show suffered a nice little reprise this week, scoring a TD on an end around. In fact, all but one of our featured drops last week had nice little games, proving that patience is sometimes a virtue.

Today, however, we'll find some more obvious players that have no business sitting on your teams any longer, one of which is the player from last week that failed to rebound.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Kansas City Chiefs, apparently fearful of losing in arbitration, agreed Monday to cut Larry Johnson's suspension in half for making gay slurs.

The agreement saved the running back about $315,000. The Chiefs issued a terse announcement saying they had made the settlement in conjunction with the NFL Management Council and the NFL Players Association. Originally, they suspended the former two-time Pro Bowler two weeks, which would have cost him about $630,000.

He will still miss the game at Jacksonville this week and not participate in team activities until Nov. 9. The Chiefs had said the suspension was for conduct detrimental to the team.

Sylvester Stallone has Hollywood all a twitter (the old school use of the word) right now over an action flick he is producing called The Expendables. Reason is, it stars a bunch of guys' guys including Jason Statham, Jet Li, Julia Roberts' brother Eric and Mickey Rourke, who back in the day I thought Bruce Willis was a cheap imitation of. The movie is about a team of mercenaries who go to some South American country to overthrow a dictator.

Silly me. I heard the title and thought it was about NFL players and wondered who was going to play Kansas City running back Larry Johnson (he was still employed by K.C. as I wrote this) or exiled NFL cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones.

After all, other than the food service workers chronicled by investigative writer Eric Schlosser in his best-selling 2002 tome Fast Food Nation, what laborers are more expendable than highly compensated NFL players?

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The Rams-Lions contest this weekend has the potential to be one of the most unwatchable games in years. The Lions have only won once in the past two seasons and the Rams are 2-21 in that span. Remember, though, in fantasy football every game is exciting to some extent. In FanHouse's latest fantasy football podcast, Tom Herrera and Matt Snyder explain why they like both running backs -- Kevin Smith and Steven Jackson -- to have a good game Sunday. We also tackle why T.O. reminds Herrera of a smelly homeless guy on the subway this week, reveal our Starting Six Pack and discuss several deep league plug-n-play options (like Brian Hartline).

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

You had to be crazy not to see this coming. And whether you think the penalty was too stiff or not harsh enough for the crime, just know that Larry Johnson is being punished. In a release from the Kansas City Chiefs, we find out that Johnson will receive a two-game suspension.

The Kansas City Chiefs have suspended RB Larry Johnson for Conduct Detrimental to the Club effective immediately. Johnson will not be permitted to participate in any team activities or be on team premises until Monday, November 9th. The Chiefs will have no further comment on Johnson's status at this time.

This punishment wasn't as harsh as I predicted, but since I have no say in the matter let's focus on what the Chiefs are doing to make sure their rushing attack doesn't suffer.