Would You? Could You? Chiefs Fans

It’s time again to play… Would You? Could You?

Like any other fan in the Addict, I dream dreams for the Chiefs of uber-superstar acquisitions, multiple Hall of Fame draft classes and decidedly dominating dynasties… among other dreams that I don’t want to get into here.

Yes, I have spent a lot of time in the land of “what if?” Like, I used to think about… what if the Chiefs had drafted Michael Jordan instead of Sam Bowie? Oops, wrong sport.

Now, my what iffing is all about the Chiefs’ future. So, let’s play…

Would You? Could You?

Could you imagine a sweeter victory moment than shutting out the Pittsburgh Steelers in week 10 this season?

Me either. I was a Todd Haley supporter while he was with the Chiefs. For the most part. However, his exit was not a smooth one and without assessing blame – because there’s plenty of that to go around – the further away from Haley that the Chiefs have gotten has made it clearer and clearer that he was not a good hire for GM Scott Pioli, and that is Pioli’s responsibility. In any event, it will be a sweet victory. It will be even sweeter if the Chiefs shut his Steelers out.

Now, the only victory that would be sweeter than that this season, would be a post-season victory.

Would you want your child to play in today’s NFL, knowing how violent it can be?
I’ve always taken the stance that I want my child to do whatever makes her (or him) happy. If they want to be a trash collector I hope they love as much as I love my job.

However, the issue is safety and with the bounty situation in New Orleans, maybe I’d think twice before wanting my child to be involved in such a dangerous profession. I was attempting to make a comeback of sorts in high school and rehab my knee at the same time. I was known for being really fast back then and I shared with a fellow youth member at church who played for a rival high school that I was working on returning to the field. His response, I’ll never forget, he said, “If you do, I’ll tell everyone on our team to go for your knees.”

Was that a bounty? Not really, but I can always recall how much everyone I ever played with, wanted to win so badly, most of them wouldn’t think twice about “messing you up.”

Would I want that for my child? It’s a good question because that was back in 1967.

Would you be fine with playbooks on iPads?
I don’t know why, but I’m so skeptic about security. I work with computers but it took me years before I started doing all my banking online. Then I realized, it’s all already online anyway.  If you think Spygate was bad, can you imagine what playbook theft would do to the league?

I say it’s a matter of security encryption and advanced user validations which already exist and it’s just a matter of training and informing the players. So, sooner or later some team is going to figure out how to do it and make it fail-safe. Yes… I know… “fail-safe” is an oxymoron.

Would you favor banning dreadlocks hanging out of players’ helmets?
Why not allow players to wear their hair as long as they want to wear it as long as they are willing to suffer the consequences of an opponent pulling it to bring them down? If a player chooses to grow their hair down their back then it shouldn’t be a “horse-collar” penalty if a defender grabs it to tackle them.

If the league decides to create a hair length rule, I could support that too but, if a player is going to be permitted to let their freak flag fly, then they should be ready for hair-tear and head jerk that comes along with it, which would be reminiscent of the Deacon Jones clothesline. I just don’t think they should call a horse-collar in that case.

Would you be willing to trade Dwayne Bowe for a late first-round pick?
If you’d asked me that two years ago I’d have said yes. Now, we’re talking about a Pro Bowl performer. I can understand wanting to trade him if he’s going to refuse to make a deal with the Chiefs that the Chiefs can live with but, that’s the sticking point, isn’t it? Even if you reasoned that the Chiefs could get another high quality receiver in the coming draft, most receivers don’t break out in their rookie seasons. So, there would be another waiting period before we’d know whether or not we have a top-notch wide out.

So, I say no, don’t trade him. Once Bowe sees that the Chiefs can win multiple playoff games, it will make it harder for him not to want to come back and sign with K.C. When he sees other receivers, like Jon Baldwin, succeeding this year, he’ll see that the Chiefs could get along without him and that may have him losing some leverage not only with the Chiefs but other clubs, too.

Would you now be willing to make a public apology (as a fan) for berating the Chiefs’ so-called “Right-53” policy?
Think back to the days of Jared Allen’s and Larry Johnson’s off-field issues. Not so long ago, huh. Now, ask yourself about when was the last time you felt the pain or embarrassment of having those players around? Every time I visit ESPN or PFT or CBS Sports, the lead stories sound like the local news lead-ins gone wild. “Lions Fairley Given DUI Caught Driving 100 MPH.” “Vanderjagt Accused of Grabbing Student by Throat.”  “Ex-Raven Jamal Lewis filed for Chapter 11.” And, bleh, bleh, bleh.

Just consider recent stories involving players in the Chiefs’ own division, the AFC West: “Raiders LB McClain Gets 180-day Jail Sentence for Assault.” “Broncos D.J. Williams’ DUI and Traffic Charges Trial Rescheduled After a Mistrial.” And San Diego will long be dealing with the Junior Seau tragedy.

Aside from the Thomas Jones/Jon Baldwin locker room scuffle, it’s hard to think of any big off-field stories involving the Chiefs. Not in the past few years... and don’t say Bobbi Sippio. The Chiefs are not only looking good on paper right now but, they’re looking good because they’re staying out of the papers.

BTW: I’m sorry, Mr. Pioli, for berating your “Right-53” policy.

Would you be willing to pay more for a Chiefs ticket than the current prices?
Randy Murawski pointed out on Monday that the current Chiefs’ ticket prices are the second lowest in the league.  Since I live in Dallas where families have to sell a child just to afford getting into a Cowboys game at the Death Star, I’d better leave that decision to the fans who regularly attend Chiefs games at Arrowhead.

What say ye?

Would you say the Chiefs are higher than #17 in terms of popularity nationwide?
I would. Absolutely. A recent poll says there are 16 other teams who are more popular than the Chief. I say, poppycock!

I live in the Dallas area and have traveled to different parts of the country. Whenever I go to sports bars to watch the Chiefs, the teams I see most represented there are the Packers, the Steelers, the Bears and then the Cowboys. It’s hard for me to say there are other teams with more fans who consistently show up who are more ardent fans than Chiefs fans. Now, some people want to base a team’s popularity upon the sale of apparel but, I don’t think that totally reflects a team’s true popularity.

Would you be interested in NASA taking a look at the NFL’s helmet problem?
I’m off the wall here, I know, but, if we can send a man to the moon, why can’t we, meaning humanity and specifically NASA, design a safer helmet? NASA is apparently not as busy these days and I wouldn’t mind seeing a few of our tax dollars go toward saving the football players of America, which happens to include our youth. Then maybe Kurt Warner will let his kids play football. I shouldn’t be busting Warner’s footballs because I basically agree with him. The question that keeps coming up: why can’t we design a helmet that will: 1) keep it from being a weapon and 2) make the head invulnerable to blows.

What would you… or could you… agree or disagree with?