Report: Chiefs To Make Youngsters Stay In Hotel *Updated*

Update* I am hearing that Todd Haley denied this report at his press conference today and that he wanted to move the conversation on to football.

I have often defended Scott Pioli and Todd Haley, sometimes to the point of being accused of homerism. Just yesterday I was defending Todd Haley’s use of the depth chart.

Today, however, a report by Nick Wright of 610 Sports has me feeling a little queesy in regards to the Chiefs leadership. A few minutes ago, Nick tweeted the following:

"getnickwright  I have learned exclusively that the Chiefs are making players with less than 4 years experience stay in the Drury Inn after training camp… getnickwright  I will ask Haley about it now… hear more on 610am at 2pm"

Then a few minutes later…

"getnickwright  That was uncomfortable… for the record, I gave the Chiefs every chance to talk about this issue off the record and they declined"

For those who might not know, the Drury Inn is a hotel right across the street from the Truman Sports Complex.

Nick is a friend of ours here at AA and I know that he would not be saying this unless he absolutely believed it. I reached out to him directly and he confirmed that it is fact:

“I know it for a fact that the guys with less than 4 years experience are staying at the Drury Inn while the vets get to go home.”

I don’t know if this was Pioli or Haley’s call but it is going a bit too far. If there is one sure way to cause mutiny amongst your younger players, who by the way are the most important part of this team, this is it. The Chiefs said they looked for high character guys in April’s draft. Thus far, none of the players have gotten in to any trouble and all have worked exceptionally hard thoughout the offseason program.

Is this how Pioli plans on rewarding them? By locking them up in juvenile detention to make sure they don’t step out of line in the final few days of the offseason? Is Pioli going to station armed guards outside of their rooms after lights out? Is this how he plans on showing his players he trusts them?

This isn’t just the rookies either! It is any player with less than 4 years of experience. That means guys like Branden Albert and Jamaal Charles are going to be locked up along with Eric Berry and Javier Arenas.

I don’t like this at all. I think it sends a bad message to the players. Maybe there is a good explanation for this be we are not likely to hear one coming out of Arrowhead Stadium.

Be sure to tune in to “What’s Right With Nick Wright” today on 610 sports at 2:00 PM (CST) to get the whole story.