Emmanuel Sanders Situation Gives Chiefs Fans Another Reason To Hate Elway, Broncos

Elway putting is dirty hands all over the Lamar Hunt trophy, something the Chiefs have never done. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Former Pittsburgh Steelers WR, Emmanuel Sanders and his agent Steve Weinberg have reportedly jilted the Kansas City Chiefs in favor of John Elway, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.

The story, if you haven’t caught up yet, is that Sanders came to an agreement to sign with the Chiefs some time Friday or Saturday. Sanders’ agent then apparently broke negotiating protocol by shopping around KC’s offer to other teams. The agent didn’t break any rules. Until a contract is signed, a player can change his mind.

Still, just because a player and agent CAN change course does’t mean they should. A situation like this makes Sanders look bad but in the end, the real negative impact will be on his agent. If teams feel that they can’t negotiate in good faith with Weinberg, then they may just forego negotiating with him at all. If teams refuse to work with Weinberg then it will likely be very difficult for him to find new clients.

An unnamed NFL executive seems to be making sure today that everyone knows exactly what Weinberg and Sanders did.

“This was one of the worst situations in modern football negotiations,” one executive involved told NFL.com. “Totally wrong. This needs to be stopped.”

I am speculating here but I’d be willing to bet that this quote either came directly from Chiefs GM John Dorsey or someone on his staff. What Weinberg did had to infuriate the KC front office. Weinberg’s actions aren’t just bad form, they also could have hurt the Chiefs’ offseason plans. If KC believed it had a deal in place with Sanders it is possible it missed out contacting other free agent receivers over the weekend. While there is no laws or league rules being broken here, you have to believe that the Chiefs want to make doubly sure this information comes back to bite Weinberg in the ass.

This situation gives Chiefs fans yet another reason (as if they needed one) to despise the Denver Broncos and John Elway.

The Donks are a long-time division rival of the Chiefs so there was certainly no love lost in this situation but you have to admit that the last few years have really helped fuel the KC/Denver rivalry.

The Broncos are now the classic villain to the Chiefs. Let’s look at a brief list of things the Broncos have done in recent years to fuel the hate.

1. Broncos have a falling out with Jay Cutler after then head coach Josh McDaniels inquires about possibly trading for Matt Cassel. In the end the Chiefs trade for Cassel and the Broncos get stuck with Kyle Orton. Chiefs fans are gleeful.

2. Matt Cassel sucks.

3. The Broncos draft Tim Tebow. Chiefs fans are forced to constantly hear about Tebow by proxy.

4. The Broncos hire John Elway to run the team. Chiefs fans are initially gleeful, assuming a former player won’t know jack about how to properly run a professional team. I mean, look at Michael Jordan.

5. Tebow sucks at playing QB but still managed to win a freaking playoff game. The Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game since the freaking Houston Oilers were still a team.

6. It turns out Elway is actually pretty good a drafting players. People start comparing Von Miller to Derrick Thomas.

Chiefs fans be like:

7. Elway dumps Tebow for Peyton Manning. The Chiefs couldn’t even get Manning to come to town. This hurts on a number of levels. Not only did the Broncos get Manning when the Chiefs wanted him, KC fans have been subjected to losing to Manning in the playoffs when he was with the Colts.

8. Manning makes the Broncos really good. Chiefs fans are forced to constantly hear about how awesome the Broncos are, how they are Super Bowl contenders, how Elway is a genius and how Manning is better than ever. Meanwhile the Chiefs start someone named Tyler Palko at QB and the more delusional of their fans start calling for someone named Ricky Stanzi to get playing time.

9. The Chiefs hire Andy Reid and start the season 9-0, all the while, national experts continue to rave about how awesome the Broncos are.

10. The Broncos whoop the Chiefs, ending the team’s undefeated season while exposing its terrible pass defense.

11. The Broncos beat the Chiefs again, this time at Arrowhead. They’re clearly the better team. Chiefs fans are not amused.

12. The Chiefs lose in the most heart-breaking fashion ever, in the playoffs, to the Colts. Despite the fact that Manning is no longer playing for the Colts, it is his fault Indy has Andrew Luck. In the subconscious of Chiefs fans, Manning managed to beat them again, without actually playing.

13. During the 2014 offseason, the Broncos, who just played in the Super Bowl and who already seem to have a loaded roster, sign pretty much every big-name free agent they can. Meanwhile, the Chiefs, who still can’t win a playoff game, lost a bunch of starters and still don’t have enough money to sign any players of note.

14. Sanders, who really probably would have just been an OK receiver in KC, and his agent, screw the Chiefs over and sign with the Broncos after agreeing to sign with the Chiefs. Elway lights a big cigar and laughs. Chiefs fans fume and take to Arrowhead Addict to call Sanders “scum.” As he has done with many an average receiver, Manning will likely make Sanders look way better than he really is in 2014, further infuriating Chiefs fans.

There could not possibly be a better bad guy for the Chiefs and their fans. Just take a look at that list above. That is some evil crap going on right there.

All those things aside, what really makes us Chiefs fans hate Elway, Manning and Denver is because they’re flat out beating our guys. They’re beating them on the field and they’re beating them off of it.

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Denver will keep beating the Chiefs on and off the field. But right now they are and that is a very bitter pill to swallow.

I haven’t felt this must hate toward the Broncos since the 90s. I love it. Every hero needs a credible villain. The Broncos are certainly that.

The good news is, if the Chiefs can find a way to take Denver down sometime in the next couple of years, it is going to be really, really satisfying.

What do you think, Addicts? Are the Broncos now the Chiefs’ biggest AFC West rival?