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WHEN THE LIGHTS TURN ON

August 14th - 12:48 PM

The Sprint MiFi card comes through once again from the team bus…very clutch. Speaking of clutch performances, which players will possess that quality tomorrow night?

“I’ve seen it go both ways,” head coach Todd haley said regarding player performance in the first preseason game. ”I’ve seen some guys that when the lights go on they hit the deck and some other guys when the lights go on you say, ‘hey, this guy’s got something.’ I’ve seen it work both ways a number of times.

“Once you get out there, and it’s as close to the real thing you’re going to get here for the next three or four weeks, it’ll tell us a lot about the majority of these guys.”

For the Chiefs, this is one of the more exciting and important preseasons in recent memory. With the amount of positions up for grabs, preseason game performance truely factors into makeup of the final 53-man roster.

There will be a number of little things to watch tomorrow night that will give hints as to who currently has the upper hand on some of the fringe spots on this roster…particularity on special teams. 

For instance, is there a rookie free agent running on the first-team kick and punt coverage units? Who is returning kicks? Could the winner of a return battle also be the winner of the team’s final roster spot at receiver or running back? Is there a second or third-team guard on the front line of the field goal unit. Is that same reserve lineman on first-team kickoff return?

Keep your eyes open and take mental notes. I’ll make sure to have my notepad ready. Tomorrow night will be both informative and exciting.

TRAINING CAMP UPDATE: QUARTERBACK

August 14th - 10:50 AM

Number on 53-man roster in 2008: KC - 3; NE - 3; ARZ - 2.

What we’ve learned: QB Matt Cassel has the look of a pro. He not only acts like a pro on the field, he sounds like a pro off the field as well. Although Cassel has yet to be officially annoited by Chiefs leadership as the club’s starting QB, he’s taken first-team snaps throughout camp and appears to be in one of the starting positions that Haley said, “is a little more obvious,” a few days ago. 

Questions remaining: Who will win the battle for the Chiefs second quarterback position? Right now it looks like a two-man battle between Brodie Croyle and Tyler Thigpen. Both players have taken significant snaps with both the second and third teams this camp. Where does Matt Gutierrez factor in? Gutierrez got a late start in camp and has been working on picking up the Chiefs playbook. Will he factor into the equation as well when he has all of the terminology and x’s-and-o’s down? Finally, the biggest question involving the Chiefs QBs is how many do they keep? Was Haley serious when he said that keeping three quarterbacks can’t be assumed? Belive it or not, the Cardinals (coordinated by Haley) opened 2008 with only two QBs a year ago.  

CHIEFS HALL OF FAMERS TO GET AN UPGRADE TOO

August 14th - 10:14 AM

They were the best to ever wear the Red and Gold. Historic figures in Chiefs history, members of the Chiefs Hall of Fame have been featured on Arrowhead’s “Ring of Honor” throughout the Stadium’s tenure. Numbers, names and years of duty…they were cast in black iron around the inner bowl for all to see. An honor indeed.

Unfortunately Chiefs fans only had the opportunity to pay tribute to these Chiefs greats 10 days a year…on gameday at Arrowhead. On Saturday night you’ll notice that those names will still be posted inside Arrowhead’s inner bowl, but as part of a new HD video ribbon board display instead of iron. History has not been lost, however, it’s actually been preserved and upgraded as fans will be able to enjoy these great names in the first-ever Chiefs Hall of Fame structure.

The Chiefs Hall of Fame will opening at The New Arrowhead in 2010. Each name previously cast in iron will have their own prominent space inside the world’s biggest tribute to Chiefs football, open to Chiefs fans year-round. Much more than names and conversations, Chiefs fans will be able to relive the greatest Chiefs moments produced by the greatest Chiefs player. 

QB MIKE VICK TO PLAY VS. CHIEFS IN WEEK 3?

August 14th - 9:28 AM

By far the biggest story in the NFL today, QB Mike Vick signed with the Philadelphia Eagles last night. As Vick joins his new NFC team some 1,200 miles east of Kansas City, what impact could his signing have on the Chiefs? 

ESPNs Chris Mortensen reported today that he thinks Vick could be reinstated by NFL Comissioner Roger Goddell as soon as Week 3 of the regular season. If Mortensen is correct about Week 3, that means Vick’s return to the NFL will come against Kansas City on September 27th in Philly.

AFL TURNS 50 YEARS OLD TODAY

August 14th - 9:05 AM

We have so much to be thankful for when it comes to Chiefs Founder Lamar Hunt. The modern-day NFL, the Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs…none of them would be what they were today without the impact of hunt.

On this day, 50 years ago, the AFL was born. On August 14, 1959 Hunt called a meeting in Chicago, IL with a number of the AFL’s original investors. The league was born following the meeting and the AFL’s eight original franchises began play in 1960.

Amazingly, Hunt was only 27 years old when he created the AFL.

BACK TO KC - TRAVEL DAY FROM RIVER FALLS

August 14th - 8:16 AM

Chiefs head coach will literally walk into Arrowhead Stadium for the first time tomorrow night since becoming the Chiefs head man back in February. He’s intentionally saved his first Chiefs experience at Arrowhead for gameday. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have vivid memories of Arrowhead as an opponent though. Haley shared some memories of Chiefs classics a few days ago

11/1/98 - Chiefs vs. N.Y. Jets - “WR Wayne Chrebet meets KC Wolf”

“When we came (to Arrowhead) with the Jets in 1998 the Chiefs were just coming off a long winning streak,” Haley remembered. “They had just lost, I think, to Pittsburgh the week before which, in my superstitious mind it was if they had just lost now, then they’re going to go back on a streak and I figured we had no chance.”

“It was a huge game for us,” Haley continued. “It was raining and in pregame KC Wolf was out there on his four-wheeler running the dummy of Chrebet over and the crowd was going and we heard the ‘Home of the Chiefs.’ We were able to win it in a tough game on a late FG by K John Hall. (Chiefs WR coach) Dedric Ward, who was playing at that time, we put up in the small tight locker room and he said, ‘Home of the Jets.’ We carried that with us all the was to the AFC Championship game.”

12/28/03 - Chiefs vs. Bears - “Chiefs All Day”

“I was (also) in a regular season game with the Bears,” Haley recalled. “We got our butts kicked. It was a mess of a game.”

Surely Saturday night will be another memorable Arrowhead moment for Haley.

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