How Far Have We Really Come?

By the end of 2008, the future of the Kansas City Chiefs looked like hell from my seats in the upper sections. Carl Peterson was booed off the field. We had no quarterbacks that could stay in the game, and no options to get one that I knew about. We did not have a kicker that could score three points. We did not have a kicker that could score extra points. Our legendary tight end Tony Gonzalez jumped ship. Jared Allen, the only player worth watching through my Tascos, abandoned our team and his restaurant and high tailed it to Minnesota.

The only owner our team had ever known, referred to as “the best man I ever knew, including my father” by Marty Schottenhiemer, was dead.  The team was passed on to his son who had a lot to prove in Kansas City, having graduated from a university known for one of the most corrupt sports programs in history. I wasn’t sure he even planned to retain ownership of the team.

Larry Johnson couldn’t rush for shit. Dwayne Bowe didn’t seem to give a crap. The last straw was the loss to Miami, a team used to equatorial climates, that came to our home turf and kicked our collective butts, on the coldest home game in the history of the Kansas City Chiefs.

I’d been blogging for AA for a while, but as I started the three-hour drive back home after the Miami game (by myself; nobody would go with me), I was ready to throw the whole Kansas City Chiefs interest in the garbage.  I unpacked my gear, sat in front of the computer, and realized I had nothing to say.

I took the easy way out and posted “Fifty Things I Saw At Arrowhead in 2008” or something to that effect, and called it a night and a weekend. As I lay in bed, I wondered just how long I could keep doing this Chiefs thing. How much worse could it get?

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But change was in the air. More change than this Arrowhead Adventurer could have imagined on that cold below zero night.

Carl Peterson was fired. Herm Edwards was shit-canned as well. Matt Cassel came to KC. Millions of dollars were committed by the Hunt family to redo Arrowhead (the team was staying in KC for sure). Tamba Hali started kicking (or sacking) ass. Scott Pioli was the new GM. Todd Haley was our new coach. We  brought on board two of the best offensive and defensive coordinators in the business. We took advantage of our high draft picks over the next couple of seasons.

We won a Monday night game against the Chargers at home, one of the most exciting games at Arrowhead I have personally witnessed. We welcomed aboard two of the best kickers and punters in the NFL. Todd Haley and Scott Pioli delivered the biggest turnaround in Kansas City Chiefs history, delivering us a division championship. And best of all, I watched all this from the second row of the greatest NFL stadium in the world. Seats I could not have dreamed of getting five years before. During the offseason as the labor problems seized the headlines, I wore a T-shirt that said “Kansas City Chiefs 2010 AFC West Division Champions.” Things were looking good.

Last Sunday we got our butts kicked by a team we underestimated. A team that almost kicked our butts the season before. Our team was unprepared, and played like it. As my girlfriend and I drove home, I couldn’t help but fume over Haley’s presence at the “Lil Wayne” concert.

Well, Patrick has access to the NFL Draft, but we don’t have access to the Chiefs training facility yet, so I can’t say what steps Chiefs management is taking to correct this cluster, but I can make a few guesses.

I’d say that the offensive is doing some inside running drills. Romeo and Todd are busting ass to improve our defensive skills. Pioli is figuring out what the hell we are going to do about Moeaki and Berry.

And your Arrowhead Adventurer? Well, gang, I’ll be taking a week off from work to evaluate the state of the Kansas City Chiefs and the state of life in these United States in general.

I think we have come a long way and will keep getting stronger. How about you?