Johnson leads by example, hungers for Lombardi

Kansas City Chiefs beat writer Bob Gretz put together a phenomenal column today for kcchiefs.com. If his words are accurate, if what he conveyed in print mirrors what Chiefs running back Larry Johnson actually said, then there will be no distraction beyond the 16 contests Johnson and the Chiefs will face in the 2007 season.

That’s a breath of fresh air for Chiefs Nation.

The Chiefs needed to get the Green-to-Miami deal done. Head Coach Herman Edwards and his coaching staff need to let the Damon Huard/Brodie Croyle competition be just that. And a fair one, to boot. This is the first time in recent memory the Chiefs have ever had an abundance of semi-if-not-fully legitimate receivers heading into training camp. Naturally, that will play itself out as well.

As I mentioned last week, the Chiefs defense will continue to improve, regardless of the naysaying four-letter network that ranks them last in the AFC West. If you look at stats from last year’s divisional defensive squads, I’m sure that’s correct. I’m not going to dig up boring charts and endless lists of numbers to counter the claim, or display solid reasons for it.

The San Diego Chargers, as everyone in the world well knows, had and likely will have a fierce D. The Denver Broncos D, what with their D-line additions of large, measty men and self-proclaimed best secondary in the world, looks to be a marked improvement from last year’s display of defensive mediocrity. And the Oakland Raiders, with all their miseries of last year’s 2-14 campaign, still put together a decent pass rush and good pass protection. How, with this guy (left) running the D and this guy at the helm, they managed to do that, is beyond me. But they did.

The Chiefs, regardless of slow progression towards acceptable defensive play on a professional level, still managed to give up the Greg Robinsonesque big plays. But I digress.

Most NFL fans know that Johnson broke the single-season-carries record last year. He won’t do that again. He will, however, be the leader of this Chiefs squad.

“I feel like I have to lead by example,” said Johnson. “That’s what I like to do. You can get an older guy up there and have him talk all day about what he did or didn’t do, but what it comes down with those young guys, seeing is believing. If they don’t see you doing it on the field, they are not going to follow you. I would rather have guys feed off my energy and what I do on the field. I will say something every now and then, but I won’t be making any Al Pacino speeches. I’m going to make them follow me by what I do on the field.”

That means nothing shy of getting off on the right foot to winning this division. It’s imperative. It’s what the Chiefs need. It’s the only thing that will keep this team focused on Sundays, and not concerned with what the media writes, says or publishes.

Edwards made it clear before he even came to Kansas City what it is that you do.

Johnson, in reference to said game, wants that message to be more specific.

“I want to win a Super Bowl,” said Johnson. “I’ve never played in a big, big game in my whole career. I had one big game and that’s when I played 115-pound Pop Warner football and we won the championship. At that time, it didn’t feel like a championship because I was just into having fun. I didn’t realize it was a championship game and what that meant.

“I really want to get to the Super Bowl and be in that atmosphere.”

With this mentality, and the notion Gretz writes about Johnson having in terms of letting the contract situation “develop on its own,” is a recipe even Bobby Flay can’t fudge.

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