In the history of the hated—from Al Davis to John Elway to Philip Rivers and everyone in between—the name Brandon Siler doesn’t exactly make the blood boil. Still, when it was announced that the linebacker, who had spent his entire four-year career with the San Diego Chargers, would be the newest Brandon on Kansas City’s defense, it was another small victory, and not only because Siler will hopefully fill a real need for the Chiefs. Our gain is a little sweeter when it’s also a rival’s loss.

Brandon Siler, being interviewed while changing out of his Chargers rags and into his new Chiefs uniform.

And that got me thinking about those times in recent Chiefs history when we’ve had the chance to see an old rival reborn in red and gold—and even wash away his sins with a game-changing or dominating performance against his old team. Even something as relatively mundane as a well-executed third-down conversion or defensive stop for short gain has an added ounce of gratification. There’s that feeling of “Yeah, that’s right—he’s with us now.”

So, in no particular order, here are a few of the notable former AFC West adversaries who saw the light (or were traded, or discarded by the forces of darkness and picked up as a steal in free agency, etc.) and used their football force for good.

(more…)

That would be Marcus Allen.

According to ESPN.com, a group of retired players, including Carl Eller, Franco Harris, Marcus Allen and Paul Krause are asking Judge Susan Nelson to halt the current labor negotiations she ordered that are now taking place under the supervision of U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur J. Boylan.

Why? Well, basically the retired players believe they deserve a seat at the table because their benefits will be impacted by the terms of a new CBA.

Here is a bit from ESPN:

The retired players say that NFL owners, the NFL Players’ Association and a group of current players including star quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are “conspiring to depress the amounts of pension and disability benefits to be paid to former NFL players in order to maximize the salaries and benefits to current NFL players.”

From sports.espn.go.com (share this quote)

Sheesh. Will it never end?

1. LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego: This is not a courtesy pick. Tomlinson was a dominant player. He compiled 12,490 rushing yards in nine seasons. He is eighth on the NFL’s all-time rushing list. He is among the league leaders on several other record lists. In his prime, he was among the best players in the league. He’s the best running back ever to play in this division.

2. Marcus Allen, Los Angeles Raiders and Kansas City: Allen was a special player, especially for the Raiders. He was a key to a Raiders Super Bowl team and he was a game changer. His 12,243 career rushing yards are 12th on the league’s all-time list.

3. Terrell Davis, Denver: Davis only played from 1995-2001 in a career that was cut short by injuries, but he made the most of it. He had 7,607 career rushing yards. He was a catalyst to Denver’s two Super Bowl championships. When he was in his prime, Davis was unstoppable.

4. Floyd Little, Denver: Little was just elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He played in Denver from 1967-75. He played on several bad teams, but Little was a workhorse who was deserving of his enshrinement in Canton.

5. Priest Holmes, Kansas City: Holmes played in Kansas City from 2001-07. He was dominant in his first three seasons in Kansas City before injuries plagued him. He is the team leader in career rushing yards with 5,933.

I think this is a pretty good list. I don’t really like that Tomlinson is ahead of Marcus but Williamson is probably right. The numbers don’t lie. I sure do miss Priest. Had it not been for his injury issues I think he would have had a real shot to make it to the top of this list.

I am also glad to see no mention whatsoever, of Larry Johnson.

With all to respect to Adam, my employer, I’m going to have to disagree that Tomlinson can be the Chiefs next Marcus Allen.

LaDanian Tomlinson is not worth his contract. He is at most, worth the league minimum as a veteran presence and mentor. That is it. Even behind a good line, Tomlinson probably isn’t going to perform very well. He has a ton of mileage on his legs, more than a guy like LJ who rode the pine for a while. He is also an unnecessary injury risk.

In the NFL, if you have good blocking, you can plug almost any talented back into your offense and he will get yards. If a guy is fast and he isn’t blind, he can run through a gigantic hole, untouched, for 5 yards. Mike Shanahan proved this by plugging any dirt bag he wanted into the Broncos lineup. They were all fairly successful, however, none of them were Terrel Davis. They weren’t special, but they got the job done.

If you have crappy blocking, you need a special back who can make things happen on his own or who can squeeze through the smallest of creases. Like Jamaal Charles does for the Chiefs. Like Barry Sanders did for the Lions.

If you have both of those things, well, then you have Ladanian Tomlinson of old. You have Chris Johnson.

(more…)

However, when my doctor diagnosed me with BCFS this week (Battered Chiefs Fan Syndrome) I was in denial.

BCFS? Not me. I swore to him the shiner I had was because clumsy me walked into a doorknob. He got up slowly and shut the door, held my hand and told me I was in a safe place.

“Did Herm do this to you?” he asked quietly. I shook my head.

“Carl? Was it Carl?” I shrugged.

“I had it coming,” I said slumped in my chair. “I thought we’d get beat by Denver, so I didn’t go to the game. Next thing you know, Bing! Bang! Boom! To the Moon! Its my fault… for not having the tailgate set up when he got to the stadium.”

The good doctor then proceeded to tell me that despite the Denver game, there is no excuse for BCFS.

“We have seen an extreme uptick in the number of BCFS cases since 2006,” he told me. “You are not alone.”

That’s when I broke down sobbing and let it all come out…”It started in 1991, the Dolphins game…when Nick the Kick had no kick left in his balls against Miami. That was the first time I was abused. I gave the Chiefs the benefit of the doubt that there wouldn’t be a next time.”

“Go on, its OK,” he said.

“1993… Joe Montana, Marcus Allen…Buffalo. AFC Championship it happened again. I never thought I would get over it. Just when I had put it behind me, it happened again in 1996 – Lin Elliot missed three field goals and it was my fault. It left me emotionally scarred and I wore sunglasses around for a week to hide it.”

I started to get choked up…”Then…BAM! in 1998, I began cheating on Elvis Grbac…with Rich Gannon, but I took Elvis back against my better judgment. Call me Priscilla, ’cause I was “all shook up”. Then Rich left me for the Raiders, Neil left too, and Marty retired. It was what I considered until last year, rock bottom. In 2000, Derrick died and we were never the same.”

The doc scribbled some notes on his clipboard, and said “What about now with Herm? Has it gotten worse?”

“Herm has come into my home on Sundays time and time again – 12 times in a row at one point, and beat my ass as a fan. Sometimes painful, sometimes with a smile on his face, but the result was always the same. ‘You play to win the game!’ He lied as he kept battering me and other fans that were used to and spoiled by winning. Carl even got into the mix, letting Jared Allen go and leaving us $39 mil under the cap and I couldn’t take any more. It got so bad that the police were called. This is what I told them.

“He didn’t mean to hit me officer. He’s a good man. I was lying in the driveway when he ran over my head with the truck! He’s a good man, he didn’t mean to hit me… he’s passed out under the trailer, with his dog, Skeeter!*” *hat tip

That’s when the doctor offered me this sage advice, “Being a Chiefs fan is a lot like being a Cubs fan. You’ve tasted ultimate victory 100 years ago, OK maybe only almost 40 years, and been close as recently as the 2004 season when you went 13-3 with one of the league’s highest scoring offenses. Even in 2005, you finished 10-6 and were only the fourth team since 1990 to miss the playoffs with that record. You took one of the highest scoring offenses in the league and let Harm Edwards do his best Tom Landry/Herschel Walker-circa-1988-impression in ’06 and literally run it into the ground by giving your new star running back, Larry Johnson, over 400 attempts, you backed into the playoffs – hoping to run roughshod over a shoddy horrible Indianapolis defense and avenge your 2004 defeat at the hands of the mighty Colts in Arrowhead. That, as you know, didn’t happen.”

He continued, “Hell, Kansas City was 13-10 (over two seasons) going into the middle of 2007 after losing Trent Green and Willie Roaf, cornerstones of the team. So what’s the problem? Herm wanted to be a G.M., not a coach. The answer is the same as the primary cause of the current economic crisis. Negligence. Negligence with a dose of Herm Edwards.” Click the link to return the favor (oldie but goodie). A win against Denver, like an apology and some roses from the wifebeater, doesn’t put Humpty-Dumpty back together again. Good luck this week Chiefs, you’ll need it.