Larry Johnson: Iron Man?

Yeah so what? At comment 44 (you know, the one that came right before comment 45?) you called into question my understanding of the game AND suggested I remove my head from my ass. And now you want to pretend that I'm behaving like a child?

Yeah.

I can't stand the Patriots & you can and this conversation has gotten beyond stupid so I say if only for the other reader's sake we call it a truce and just move on.

To me, it's as easy as this; Bill Belichick learned everything he knows from one person - Bill Parcells. How many other of Bill Parcells' assistant coaches have stayed with the family before branching off on their own?

Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
Tom Coughlin, New York Giants
Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints
Romeo Crennel, Cleveland Browns
Eric Mangini, New York Jets
Tony Sparano, Miami Dolphins
Al Groh, University of Virginia
Charlie Weis, University of Notre Dame

(there are others, and offshoots like Nick Saban who worked for Belichick in Cleveland). I'm not making blanket accusations here, but it seems like the 'big three' who turned the competitive advantage of taping signals into HUGE paydays are first and foremost Charlie Weiss, then Romeo Crennel, and Eric Mangini (who absolutely knew what was happening and is the one who eventually squawked on Belichick).

Perhaps the reason the NFL wants this to go away isn't so much that it's SO widespread among EVERY team, but that it's so widespread amongst these disciples of Bill Parcells who is still a LUMINARY figure in the sport. I'm very surprised never to find this even hinted at in the media - and I suppose it's because Parcells is such a sacred cow.

How hard is it to believe that Belichick wasn't the innovator of this system? How hard is it to believe that other coaches (people like Herm Edwards, Tony Dungy and Mike Martz) refuse to really put the dagger in when talking about the scandal, because there's not only a code amongst these guys - but that few people want to be the ones who bring down living legends... ?

Wow. Accusing me of being a fair-weather fan. Now that's funny. In fact, it's so ludicrous it's not even insulting.

The Royals are still my favorite baseball team for god's sake, and their big accomplishment last season was that they didn't lose 100 games.

I'm simply not closed minded enough to think that I can only cheer for one team.

(And about the insults, comment number 45 was pure insult and instigation. Pretty childish if you ask me.)

much less

The Walsh interview only further proves my point about the NFL doing its dead level best to keep its dirty laundry from showing. Also, until somebody proves to me otherwise, cheating is not in Herm Edwards nature much being a pathological flaw like it is with Bill Bellichek.

Also your point about me insulting you is bogus. What I said was that anybody who supports the Patriots can kiss my ass. Your choice to do so is on you. Moreover, I do believe you're the one who responded by suggesting I remove my head from my ass. What you said to me sure sounds a lot more like a direct personal insult than the public offer I proposed.

Last point and then I'm done. I'm a Chiefs fan no matter how bad the weather is. I don't get that same vibe from you.

Throw it down, Dr. Paine. That's the prescription!

Yet Spygate mania continues...

Double D -- it's become apparent to me that you are not only a conspiracy theorist, but delusional. Additionally, you choose to ignore fact in favor of fantasy.

I'm done helping you screw this topic up, so like I said, just talk to me in January.

Oh, and you might want to check out the latest New York Times interview with Matt Walsh. Apparently NEw England isn't the only team that cheats (surprise!)

seanbcool - whatever logic you believe your argument possesses is totally dependent on your belief that the NFL is providing you with the complete truth.

The truth I know is that NFL is extremeful powerful, will do whatever they need to do to protect their image, will show the world what they want it to see, and cover up the really bad stuff. I consider accepting the NFL's official propaganda about spygate to be naive. In any event, I am totally okay with letting it go because in spite of the bad stuff I really enjoy the overall experience that the NFL produces.

Back to the original point - what was intended by me as part humor / part slam about the Patsies obviously struck a nerve with you. I can't help that and won't apologize for attacking your loyalty to a team that I don't care much for. I believe Herm Edwards is somebody who respects rules and that Bill Bellichek is somebody who does not and that has a lot to do with my opinion of the quality and character of each and the teams they respectively coach. Why anybody not from Southie would choose to defend him or his team is beyond me.

And just so you know, I've been following the CHIEFS and pro football since the days when the only bar-b-q one would smell around a CHIEFS stadium on game day was that which was being churned out down the street at a place called Arthur Bryants. Point is I don't need any lectures or knowledge tests about this sport from you or anybody else.

You can have your Tom Brady man crush and love up on the Patriots all you want but as far I'm concerned the only conceivable good thing about Boston is the possibility that some CHIEFS fan might have the misfortune of being stuck there.

Now more than ever I can't wait to watch the CHIEFS crush them.

I got ur back Adam. I obviously agree with the points you made in the article. Swagger is a hell of a thing. Throughout his career, LJ has had to answer all the naysayers. Old School Joe Pa made him ride the pine until he was a senior. Old Schoold Dick Vermeil made him sit behind a franchise RB, but also Derrick Blaylock. I thank Vermeil for pissing LJ off to that degree. They told him he wasn't ready because he didn't know the offense well enough; instead of making the system make the player, they tried to make the player fit the system. Anyway, he finally got his shot to play when Priest and Blaylock were out, and showed that Peterson was right for overriding Vermeil in the war room. Who was he going to pick that year? Some bum whose name doesn't come to mind right now.

All the haters are going to be sucking at the teet come reg season. Keep hating. It just adds fuel to the fire that lies within a very misunderstood but outstanding football player.

@ xxxlp:

First of all, I'd like to express my appreciation for you presenting logical discussion and opinions in a reasonable manner. It's refreshing.

Now --

Yes the Pats cheated. It was unfair and WRONG. However, I do not the believe recording defensive signals can affect the outcomes of the games all that much. Even though it does possibly grant unfair advantages, consider the following:

- All the videos I saw were of game footage (and the Pats were caught recording DURING A GAME). NFL teams change their signals every week. Hell, for Super Bowl XLI the Bears changed theirs at halftime.
- Players can and have figured out opponents signals, (again: Jake Delhomme against the Giants) so it's not like taping would open some previously unattainable holy grail or something. Like I said earlier: this is over-predaredness to a fault. To the point of breaking the rules.

I really just think the whole thing has been blown out of proportion. They deserved to be punished, and were punished severely. At unprecedented levels. Why can't people just let it go now?

As far as the Giants' Super Bowl victory.. Yes, the Giants played their hearts out. They dominated throughout the playoffs and beat the Patriots fair and square. Congratulations to them. But I still maintain that the Patriots were the better team. 9/10 times it would have gone the other way. That's all I'm saying.

No team will EVER take the place of the Chiefs for me. I'm part of the Red Seas until the day I die. But that doesn't mean I can't root for other teams too. I pull for the Packers and the Steelers too, if they aren't playing the Chiefs. I pull for the Vikings right now because I like them as a team, and they are on the cusp of being something special. The same goes for the Cowboys.

And yes, I pull for the Patriots. They are the first dynasty I personally witnessed as a follower of the NFL, the "America's Team" of my time, and that means something to me. They also play with more energy and heart than any team I have ever watched. And they play for eachother. It's a team mentality in New England.

I know I can't convince anyone here at this point, so just talk to me in January after they've dominated yet again, and then say their success is due to recording some defensive signals.

Oh yeah.. GO CHIEFS (and Fuck those greasy thugs in Oakland).

I visit my old man for a couple of days and come back to Spygate Central. WTF?

I'd like to put my $.02 in on this 'rough patch', so be prepared to read. While it's true the Patriots were caught in week 1 (versus the Jets) with a man on the sidelines, videotaping signals, Matt Walsh, in his just-done interview with the commish, Goodell, said that Belichek, and I know I spelled that wrong, but Belichek told him, on games that started clear back in 2002, to NOT GET CAUGHT.

Those were the 3 biggest words in this whole ordeal. At first, old Bill said that he didn't know it was against the rules, and that he wasn't using it for that game, but instead using it for future games. But if he was telling the camera-men to NOT GET CAUGHT, then that blows this whole thing out of the water. He knew what he was doing, knew that it was against the rules, and his whole act thus far has been a sham. Secondly, it HAS affected teams in-game, ask the Steelers the year they played them in the AFC Championship. The Steelers publicly claimed that New England players were calling out their plays as soon as they had one signalled in, knowing exactly what they were going to do.

They also taped the Chargers, in 2002, and didn't play them again until 2005... That's not taping for further use, that's for help in the 2nd-half, my friends. Ever wonder why Billy B. has such a reputation of being 'a badass game-planner, coming out with changes in the 2nd half?' In my mind, it's because he sent his camera-men, WHO WERE NOT TO GET CAUGHT, to get signals in the first half, during that time, and during half-time, the formations and signals were analyzed, and the code was cracked, leaving the Patsies free reign to dominate when they knew where the team was going.

Thirdly; Yes the QB's (and now a defensive leader as well) have radio-installed helmets, but they are not 100% foolproof. Crowd noise/radio malfunction/confusion in the play being called, are just 3 possibilities of things that can hamper a play using the radios. It seems like once a week; if you watch the head-coach confrences, they say that the radio malfunctioned at some point during the game. But I do get what you are saying.

And fourthly, the Super Bowl was a fluke? How about the close-call they had with the Ravens, the lucky plays they had go their way against a handful of other teams? Or how bout the fact that the Giants nearly beat them in a 'meaningless' regular season game, in which all 22 starters (at the time) played for both teams, the whole game? They lost 37-34, but it was the closest margin the Patsies had encountered. It wasn't as much fluke as it was heart and desire shown by the Giants. They had to fight, on the road, through the playoffs, against tough, capable teams (I thought the Packers would take them,) and ended up winning it all. Call it a fluke all you want, but the Giants got the W, when it counted.

And lastly, finally, as it feels I've been typing long enough to grow back some beard stubble, as much as I hate the Pats, none of you can deny that they DID have a badass season last year, and their offense was unmatched in the history of the league.
I hate Tom Brady with a passion, but the dude is still one of the best QB's possibly of all time. I give them their props, but I still would put an asterisk next to their name and previous SB titles, as it was proven they started recording games as far back as 2002, seems a bit odd that that's when their team really kicked it into gear, eh? But props to them, and I'll end with a hearty LET'S GO CHIEFS!

bcool sorry but what did you actually say with logic and reason?

And another thing, it's funny that when I present logic and reason all you can do in response is spew insults. Nice.

Double D, do I have to remind you that you were the one who brought this whole thing up in the first place? And last time I checked this isn't a site for bashing the Patriots either.

bcool did YOU see the thrown away tapes? if not then dont say what was or wasnt on them. i think that they were thrown away to COVER SOMETHING PRETTY EMBARRASSING UP.

first off id like to say..yes this is a CHIEFS site so if you wanna defend the pats against a fellow CHIEFS fan then there are patriots sites you can visit.. you can gladly exit ours..stage left..and another thing..how bout givin credit where credit is due...the giants won that game and dominated so its not cuz of a fluke or cuz the pats choked but becuz one team played a hell of alot better than another and deserves credit for that..next thing is when we beat them in week one..is that gonne be a fluke..is that cuz they choked...we'll see

And that game you call a fluke was actually a choke when it mattered most.

seanbcool -

If you want to drink Roger Goodell's and the NFL ownership's Kool-Aid, that's your business.

However, last time I checked this was a site devoted to CHIEFS fans so as far as I'm concerned any closet Pats fans that come around here can go join a circle-jerk in one of their twink chat rooms.

Don't like what read? Then don't look.

And oh, pretty much everything about Boston sucks - how 'bout that?

Double D, I think you need to review your facts. The Patriots were caught during game one of last season. They went undefeated on nothing but a dominant team and record-shattering offense. The Giants Super Bowl win was a fluke. 9/10 times that game would have gone the other way.

The NFL didn't destroy further evidence. They destroyed the evidence that had already been reviewed. I'd also like to state once more that your comment about them knowing what plays the offense is calling ahead of time is complete bull, being that offensive signals were not involved in the situation at all. If you had a better understanding of the game, maybe you'd understand that.

Smart players can figure out the same things the Patriots figured out through the tapes they did have. Don't believe me? Jake Delhomme did it in the Panthers playoff shut-out of the Giants only a couple years ago.

These tapes were essentially nothing more than over-preparedness to a fault in my estimation. YES, it was cheating, but it did not grant that great of an advantage. Other than the Jets game, the tapes in question involved three other games, one of which the Patriots lost (to the Dolphins).

Don't come on here and tell me to kiss your ass when you've obviously just got your head up yours.

week 1 LJ runs for 137 yards i said that weeks ago

It's pretty amazing how short-term most memories are. Behind an excellent offensive line, LJ ran for 1700+ in just 9 starts. If he started every game, he was on pace to rush for 2,400+, which is Madden esque (on 10 min quarters) in both its ridiculousness and its improbablilty. In today's NFL, when linebackers and defensive lineman run sub 4.6 40's, it is truly amazing when a RB can dominate to that extent. He is a smart and savvy player (son of a coach has eaten and breathed football his whole lift) and who has played under two offensive masterminds (Vermeil, Saunders) and who has spent countless hours studying film of Brown, Sayers, Payton, Dickerson, Campbell, etc. to appreciate where the game came from and to make himself a better back. He is one of the few left of a dying breed: a true workhorse who gets better as the game and as the season wears on (freak accidents/injuries aside).

As far as his personality is concerned, I know someone who went to both high school and Penn St. with him who told me that he has always had his disposition. Nobody should ever ask you or try to change who you are (see Jay Z lyrics: no matter where you are, you are who you are playa). I would duck out of interviews too if I was about to be asked how I felt about getting tackled before I got the ball almost every play and having an O coordinator who has no clue what the hell he is doing.

As Herm has now truly transformed his roster into the mold of the football he wants the Chiefs to play (SMASHMOUTH!) and has picked up big, powerful lineman to plow straight ahead instead of getting out on the move and blocking on the perimeter (Vermeil/Saunders/Solari system), we will now have 3 units who work in concert to win a football game instead of one unit succeeding at the expense of the other (45-40 losses of several years ago were pretty frustrating.)

The defense has been transformed from a wet tissue to a fast, young, aggressive, and potentially dominant unit. The offense could be downright scary as well. A stable of horses to pound the rock and some young, hungry WR's gives whoever QB may be (don't count Thigpen out; if he wins the job, good for him) some weapons to flourish with. The schedule is more than tolerable. Even if they don't win a whole lot more games this season, they certainly won't be easy to beat and will be an energetic, fast, and fun team to watch. Arrowhead will be loud and bumpin once again with a crushing D

make that "regular season"

The Patriots can kiss my ass and those who defend them can do the same.

Anyone who believes spygate only involves "ONE GAME" is obviously "misinterpreting" what Bellichek and co did on a systematic basis for no less than 2 seasons (and ignoring the fact that the NFL chose to destroy additional evidence).

I can hardly wait for the Chiefs to have the privilege of being the first team to beat New England during the regular this fall.

Actually, my mistake. There were a couple of tapes but they were of DEFENSIVE signals. Meaning your theory about knowing what the offense is doing doesn't really work.

OK so the patriots were caught with footage of offensive signals for ONE GAME. They still went undefeated in the regular season after the fact. And tell me, with those green stickers on the QBs helmets and the radio equipment inside, how much significance do you really think offensive signals have anymore?

Let it go. It's over.

Yeah well it's pretty easy to have a "top defense" when you know ahead of time what play the offense is calling.

And don't be surprised when the Boston Cheat Party doesn't even make it to the play-offs this season because that poor baby daddy QB they got ends up eating more turf than he could imagine. I for one will be chearing wildly each time Brady comes eye-to-eye with Glen Dorsey as Tamba Hali applies the crush from behind.

Oh yeah.

I think 75-100 yards for the first game, with a game winning touchdown broken open at the goaline by rookie Branden Albert...

;)

OK I'm not being a pessimist, just a realist.. New England has a top defense, and even if our O-line gets to where it needs to be there's a good chance it won't be quite there yet in only week one.

But who knows? Maybe he'll just plow over a couple of those 45-year-old LBs.

I say LJ returns to the field with a vengeance. Over 100.

I'll take over.

^ and to follow up, since several of you have provided proof/info that the rap was a forgery, none of it matters anyway.

What's everyone's line on Larry Johnson's rushing total for week one vs. New England? Over or Under 100 yards?

Not to keep beating a dead horse here, but to me it's not at all about WHO he is, is what he ALLEGEDLY had said. When I heard the song, I thought it was pretty stupid, but I was incensed about the line "stuck in Kansas City like a postage stamp". To me, if I had the God-given talent that he does, I'd be thankful to play for a team so rich in history and steeped in lore (a subject that Larry Johnson supposedly takes VERY seriously). That was my entire issue with Larry Johnson. I still want the guy to murder his way through the line every Sunday - he's in our foxhole wearing red and gold and being paid very well for it.

I was at that party actually, it was actually me saying all that; I made a myspace site and put it on Wiki for proof.. Whats funny is when all that happened is all the people at my work how say the exact thing about Peterson were bent out of shape by it, but in all fairness, I dont think any of us believe that the hoopla was about what he said and was more about who he is..

Eli, I was really jut joking, but those guys did come out and admit that it was a hoax, and then L.J. put it to bed. Why wold he rap with some nonames from K.C. when he's best buds with Jigga? I'm just sayin'. I'll look back into it this weekend, but I still say the ENTIRE ting was a hoax.

Like you said--go Chiefs!

i will agree..a good debate is healthy..hey if i wasnt such a damn jock in school i probably coulda done real well in the debate club...football was all that mattered though..i played all through school and went on to play 2 yrs of semi pro ball..

No arguing - just a healthy debate :)

Man, I hope you're right. I was at that game when he planted the flag, and I agree, for me it was the high point of the entire NFL season!!!

WOW...are you guys really arguing over this...WHO GIVES A SHIT...LJ is here to stay..he's gonna return to the top and we are gonna love it...and none of this BS...NONE OF IT..will matter...we seen shades of IRON MAN last yr..i cant even explain how i felt when he ran that touchdown and planted the flag...boy my heart skipped about twelve beats..he's gonna be back this yr with a brick house on his shoulder..not just a chip..and the nay sayers will be silenced...and with the addition of charles in the backfield it will just open things up even more..give me alil time and ill have another version of the song iron man for you guys

Cool then. Thanks for the update on all that - who knows what really happened. Seems like Soren Petro was saying the week it happened that there were several locals at the 'party' who verified that Larry was in attendance for a bit - but seriously, who REALLY knows.

I think the one-two-three punch of Johnson, Charles and Smith will be formidable this season if we can get some pass protection (so defenses will stop stacking the box every play and absolutely blowing Larry up). I want Larry with a big, fat chip on his shoulder ready to break linebackers in half and break safeties' ankles on the way to the endzone.

It could happen :)

Apparently the NFL DID investigate (or at least put it on a to-do list, I don't know).

Additionally, the MySpace page featuring the song no longer exists. It has either been deleted by the users or shut down by MySpace. May be related, may not.

Wow, this board has a lot of attitude. I AM sure of myself, but thanks for the update. Don't know who to believe - I wonder how much pressure was put on Tinberg by Johnson's legal team to come out and say it actually wasn't him. Seems like a silly publicity stunt if you're just going to completely retract everything you had previously said. I think it's funny that he says he's had 'ongoing' problems with impersonations (like where?), and why haven't we heard anything about the NFL security department tracking down these evildoers? Surely Profootballtalk.com would be all over that story.

Either way, I think the points I made are valid - and we're talking a lot of semantics here. It's a given fact that Larry Johnson wasn't happy playing for the team that drafted him while Dick Vermeil was the head coach and while Priest Holmes was the starting back. It's also a fact that he feels the general public doesn't understand him because he's 'hard'.

I love the way Larry Johnson plays, and hope our line can block like crazy for him so he can go gangbusters again this year. The original question was why most people want to see Larry Johnson fail, and I AM sure of myself in the answers I gave.

Go Chiefs!!!

Eli (Jefferson City):

" Later James Tinberg changed his story when talking to AP, telling them that the rapper isn't Johnson at all, but someone imitating the athlete's voice. When asked about his previous statement, he said he lied and that he "used the media" as a publicity stunt to promote SBL Mob.

Chiefs running back Larry Johnson denied the authenticity of the song from the very beginning, a statement from Johnson read: "I've had ongoing problems with people impersonating me on MySpace pages. I've alerted the NFL security about the raps on the Internet that supposedly have been rapped by me which they are not. It's in NFL security's hands and I'm pretty sure they'll take care of it to the best of their ability." "

http://www.ogpaper.com/news/news-0999.html

Just throwin' that out there. Maybe you shouldn't be so sure of yourself.

Adam,
I don't believe Obama is a Muslim or that Richard Gere loves gerbils any more than the next rodent. Here's the last I heard on the subject from KC's Pitch:

The Truth About Larry Johnson's Rap
Fri Sep 14, 2007 at 01:45:58 PM
TV news and sports-talk radio stations howled yesterday at the latest Larry Johnson controversy: a free-style rap in which he glorifies guns, says the n-word about 14 times and disses Priest Holmes and Carl Peterson.

Johnson has denied making this rap, above, which appeared on the MySpace page of Kansas City group SBL Mob. But James Tinberg, owner of Basement Entertainment, confirmed Friday morning that the man saying “Fuck Carl Peterson” is definitely Johnson, except Johnson didn’t exactly say the phrase “fuck Carl Peterson.”

Tinberg tells the Pitch that he recorded the Chiefs running back free-styling at a going-away party for former Chief and Kansas State Wildcat Joe Hall. He says Johnson rolled up to Hall’s party in a Bentley two weekends before ending his holdout and signing a $43 million deal with the Chiefs, then free-styled for 10 minutes.

“Everybody’s rapping, and L.J. wants to get on the mic,” Tinberg recalled. “He gets on the mic and raps for a while. He gets off and everybody’s chopping around with the song … switching around what he says and stuff, and he didn’t care. He didn’t think it was a big deal, either.”

Tinberg says a bunch of DJs and engineers at the party edited Johnson’s free-style using an Internet program called Cool Edit Pro. But Tinberg says Johnson bounced out of the party 20 minutes later, so he didn’t hear the edited versions of the song.

Before Johnson left the party though, Tinberg says Johnson was told the free-style was going to be uploaded to YouTube and MySpace.

As far as Johnson denying making the rap, Tinberg says Johnson probably doesn’t remember doing the free-style. “I don’t think he even remembered what he said,” Tinberg says. “He’s probably confused why this guy who sounds just like him – it was him, though – is saying things that he never actually said.

“After his words got twisted around, he might have thought it wasn’t him and that it was someone impersonating him,” Tinberg adds. “His words just got misconstrued because there was a bunch of music DJs over there messing with it. There were points when we were making the song that we had him say fuck anything. It was saying it over again. Like, you could make him say 'fuck, fuck, fuck you.'”

Tinberg says he’s tried to contact Johnson via MySpace but hasn’t heard from him. -- Justin Kendall

Now, I hate dragging this stupid story back out, but I feel like Adam may think it was a complete fake, which it most certainly wasn't. You don't chop lines together like "stuck in KC like a postage stamp". Perhaps the F*** Carl Petersen part, but not that.

The point is, I still like Larry Johnson, but was trying to explain why some people have lost their zeal for him. I also think you can look back to the Bryant Gumbel interview on HBO where he said he didn't like playing for a white head coach, and his general posing as being 'from the streets' as if the kid of a Penn State positional coach could possibly be 'from the streets'.

Adam, please don't fly off the handle about gullible people and make sweeping statements like 'no wonder people believe, etc...' when you don't even know me.

Go Chiefs!

Eli, that rap was a fake--it wasn't him. The rappers even came out and admitted it on their MySpace page. No wonder people still believe Obama is Muslim and Richard Gere shoved a gerbil up his ass.

Ken, that makes sense. I've lived in L.A., Miami and now Austin, so L.J. doesn't rub me the wrong way. But if you are someone who has lived your entire life in Kansas, he might come off differently. Still, the guy doesn't have a bad attitude. Not if you ask me.

Again, one of the best threads in some time.

I also wanted to add, one of the reasons Solari's offense was so pathetic last season, especially early on, was because when the defense was shifted left and ready for the run left, Solari's offense didn't include audibles. He was all about motion to confuse and misdirect, but when that didn't work, he did not give the QB any room to chance the play to take advantage of the defense.

I've never been offended by LJ's urban sensibilities, but I do live in good ol' L.A., so that might be a part of it.

But I've always relished the bruising runningback more than any other skill set at that position, and LJ is that. I love the Iron Man moniker, and I hope someone makes a youtube clip of LJ highlights featuing that song. It will stick.

All this said, Chan is the Man LJ has been waiting for. Chan has made no-names 1,000 yard + rushers, and I honestly think a Chan Gailey designed offense, with a Herm ball control philosophy, and a much improved O-Line could actualyl give a resurgant LJ the chance to break the single season rushing record. That's right, you heard it here first.

Hey, by the way, I hope the "Iron Man" moniker sticks on LJ. That is a whole lot better than Mitch Holthus' "Centaur" which he keeps trying to hang on LJ. Bless Mitch's heart, I like the guy but the "Centaur" thing is WAAAAAAY to damned silly.

I think I really liked LJ until I heard his 'rap' song where he said he was "stuck in Kansas City like a postage stamp". Kind of made me feel like he didn't appreciate his job with the team... I hope the best for him, and want him to come out blazing this season behind a refeshed O-line and a new massive blocking tight end.

I do not know where this hatred or dislike of L.J. comes from. I never hear it, not out here in CA anyway.

LJ will be back! If you know his demeanor he is chomping at the bit to get back and prove he is the best back in the league.

I just remember him signing his contract and running out onto the practice field last year. Man that really got me going!!!!!!!!!!!! This guy plays with a chip on his shoudler, and we all love him for it!

First off, let me just say that I for one am glad that the Chiefs did not try to play LJ at some point after he was injured in an attempt to gain a meaningless win. What a waste and risk that would have been. Even though last season, RIP, was painful to watch, there would have been nothing to be gained and everything to lose with LJ in there at the end of season. On top of that, I've got to believe that the combination of more picks and less mileage on LJ will only be a good thing.

There's a part of me that even suspects that LJ was 100% healthy by around week 15 and purposely sat for the rest of season and if so, I'm okay with it.

Also, in terms of draft picks and other offseason acquisitions used for offensive players, I think there is a lot to be happy and hopeful about this coming year and those that follow. If one looks at who we took, one can only conclude that the Chiefs have every intention of bringing a punishing, run-based offense.

I personally see 3 players/roles as being pivotal to the success of this offense and LJ is not one of them (because I have no doubts or worries about what he can/will do in the proper system).

LT - When/if Branden Albert masters that role, the rest of the line will take care of itself. We currently have at least 2 other quality players - Waters and DMac. The C and other guard position will be fine. I expect most running plays to go right with some offcenter left stuff thrown in. So, job 1 for Albert this season will be to tie up defenders long enough to allow running plays, screens and swing passes to properly develop - usually away from him. More can certainly be done as he gains experience but just taking care of the basic stuff will reap immediate rewards. I feel pretty confidenct that D-Mac and whoever wins the starting RG role will take care of business on their side and start opening lanes that weren't there last year. The theme for this season's OL will be all about respect.

WR #2 - We clearly need a physical burner that breaks open deep and forces defenses out of the 8/9 man box. A successful deep pass only needs to occur 2 or 3 times in the 1st half of the season to start getting the attention of opposing defenses - once that happens the LJ Express will start rolling full steam. The earlier that happens, the better. To me, Will Franklin looks to have the right physical tools/attributes and if Brody has enough time (and accuracy) to get him the ball then look out.

Blocking TE/blocking FB - what's not to love about the bruiser mentality that guys like Brad Cottam and Mike Cox bring to this offense? I'm seeing 3rd & short, Red Zone dominance baby.

What about QB you may ask? Not a pivotal piece to this offense. Herm's rules for QBs are pretty basic - manage the game and don't turn the ball over. Herm starts Drew Bledsoe and benches Brett Favre, it's that simple. Given the right supporting cast, I have no doubt that Brodie is up to the task and maybe more.