The 4th Of July Fix!

Biere (6-4, 260) was a team captain that started 10 of 11 games for the Jayhawks in 2011. The Omaha, Neb. native generated interest from several NFL teams following the draft, but chose to stay local and signed a rookie free agent deal with the Chiefs.

“It was pretty crazy, just the whole not knowing where I was going to go and then I end up in Kansas City where I played college ball 30 miles down the road,” Biere said. “It kind of just worked out that way. I’m so happy that I’m here, having a lot of friends here and family really close and everything like that.”

The Arrowhead faithful grew increasingly nostalgic with each passing year.

Fast-forward to 2010: Out with the old, in with the new. Romeo Crennel invigorated Kansas City’s lambasted defense. The familiar 4-3 scheme flipped to a 3-4, and the intricate philosophy was simplified.

But where does the front seven currently rank in its conference?

The answer: somewhere in the middle.

Those who played football against Davidson had no choice but to pay attention or risk being flattened by one of the game’s premier defensive ends during the 1960s. After his playing days were done, he remained in the spotlight with a slew of acting roles.

Davidson died Monday after a lengthy battle with cancer at the age of 72, according to Raiders owner Mark Davis and former teammate Tom Flores.

Davidson wasn’t the most talented Raider, Flores said, but everyone was well aware of his presence on the field.

“Ben was the epitome of what a Raider is: loyal, service to the community and a big persona,” Flores said by phone. “He did things in his own style and had a charisma of his own.”

Erin Wishon is about to throw a legendary barbecue. Aramark’s executive chef plans to cook 50,000 pounds of meat for All-Star Week, in the Southern Pride smokers behind the right-field fence at Kauffman Stadium.

“We’ve got to show people what Kansas City is about, and I embrace the barbecue,” Wishon says. “We do everything in-house. We make our own sides and sauce, and smoke everything on hickory and cherry.”

Because she expects an estimated daily crowd of 50,000 people (that’s more than twice the average of the 21,000 who attend a regular-season game at home), Wishon has been crafting the menu since late January, when she began overseeing the 550 people who prepare and serve food at each Royals game.

“Hot dogs and nachos are probably 95 percent of what we serve,” she says. “They are in every suite. Even the commissioner will be having hot dogs. But the other 5 percent can be extremely high-end.”

Former NFL wide receiver Johnnie Morton Jr. was sentenced Monday to two years of probation for lying to a grand jury during a criminal probe of his California business associate, federal authorities said.

Morton, who once played for the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, conceded he lied during 2009 testimony when he said he didn’t have business dealings with 32-year-old Neang Chhorvann, the Internal Revenue Service said in a statement.

Morton, 40, later acknowledged he had given the Bishop, Calif.-man more than $2 million to be invested and had placed a call to one of Chhorvann’s associates posing as a potential investor at Chhorvann’s request, the agency said.