The greatest fear of Chiefs fans across the United States was realized this past weekend when Carl Peterson announced that not only would he be returning for 2008, but head coach Herm Edwards would be as well.
After the conclusion of the 2007 campaign, which can only be described as a complete and utter disaster, many expected at least one of the two co-conspirators would be gone! If not both! However, what we have received as compensation for our misery is the firing of some assistant coaches.
With the firing of offensive coordinator Mike Solari it is clear that Coach Edwards is living up to his reputation that he has established for himself as someone who will never take the blame for anything and will always use someone else as a scapegoat. This of course is not surprising and is one of the MANY reasons why Chief fans from coast to coast have called for his dismissal.
This dead horse has been beaten so many times that I refuse to continue my article and waste anyone’s valuable time discussing a coach who will go down as one of the worst in franchise history, but rather I would like to direct my ire at “owner” Clark Hunt and the Hunt family.
First and foremost it is important to note that the Hunt family is by and large a first class group of people, however it is now painfully clear that they do not have a clue as to how to run an NFL franchise without their great leader who has passed away.
The fact that Carl Peterson is still drawing a paycheck after this season is all that is needed to help Chiefs fans understand that we are in the midst of an ownership family that is allowing the inmates to run the asylum. The only explanation is that Clark Hunt is very young and is trying to learn this ownership thing “on the job”, and is relying on Carl Peterson to run the entire organization. There can be simply no other explanation after a nearly unprecedented nine game losing streak to end the season.
Any casual observer of the NFL could see that the powers that be at One Arrowhead Drive had every opportunity to save their dwindling fan base and future by turning things around and they refused to answer the call. Just take a look at what Baltimore and Miami did immediately at the conclusion of the season. Wayne Huizenga of the Dolphins and Steve Bisciotti of the Ravens are owners that did what was necessary to shake things up and try to get better. Whether or not the changes that they are making will make a difference is not the point, the point is they are not sitting back and waiting for good things to happen, but rather they are proactive and doing what’s necessary to be a successful franchise in the NFL. At this point in time Chiefs fans can only hope and pray that some day they will have an ownership group or management team that will do the same. The fans that formerly packed Arrowhead deserve the best, and they are getting far from it.
Chief’s fans are also not getting quality reporting from the media types who cover the Chiefs on a frequent basis. I am referring to one of the Chiefs biggest apologists, Bob Gretz. Mr. Gretz has repeatedly lambasted the Chiefs during radio broadcasts of Sunday games but when he gets an opportunity to back up his statements in print he refuses to do so. To save the reader from a laundry list of items to back up my point, (I’ll let JD do that! and a great job he does too!), I will just ask the reader to listen to tapes or transcripts of games and then read his column the next week. You’ll either get a kick out of it or it will make you sick! The only one around Arrowhead that seems to be consistent is Len Dawson, and he has consistently called for change. He may not have dropped names but you know where he stands.
Also, Mr. Gretz couldn’t help but take a shot at my “Apathy” column that I wrote a couple weeks back. He stated that a game in 1983 that drew only 11,902 fans and one in 1987 that drew only 20,370 to Arrowhead would be cause to create an apathetic feel amongst Chiefs fans were it to occur now. I believe his exact quote was “Those were disasters, that was ugly, that was apathy”. Yes Bob it was and you missed the whole point of my article. I am trying to make it clear that the direction we are heading in and in fact are already closing in on, is the same scenario and one in which it would be best to steer away from if at all possible.
Any wins that this current crop of misfits is able to secure next season will be a fluke. And if there are comments floating around about rebuilding the franchise, it is important for Chiefs fans to keep in mind that in the NFL no one rebuilds, they only reload. But unfortunately, in the case of this version of the Kansas City Chiefs, they reload but forget to put the bullets in the shotgun.
When the 2008 season rolls around it would not be surprising to see much less that half of the seats filled for home games next season at Arrowhead. The cries for help from Chiefs fans throughout the country have been loud and boisterous and one sided. Their educated cries for change were right on the mark, but unfortunately their loud cry for help was left unanswered.
