minibronco
03-26-2005, 11:14 AM
Whole lot of shake-up going on with Chiefs
By ADAM TEICHER The Kansas City Star
Down at his offseason home in Florida, where he's been insulated from the icy winds of change rattling other Chiefs defenders, Lional Dalton admitted to a certain lack of knowledge about current events.
"I really don't know what's been going on up there," said Dalton, a starting defensive tackle. "My wife keeps up with it more than I do. Last I heard, we signed a safety. What's his name? Samari Rolle?"
Obviously, some introductions will be in order Monday when the Chiefs begin the conditioning phase of their offseason program. Dalton will shake hands not with Rolle, a free-agent cornerback who signed instead with Baltimore, but new starting safety Sammy Knight.
Dalton also will meet another recent acquisition, linebacker Kendrell Bell — and perhaps soon a new cornerback, maybe Ty Law or Patrick Surtain.
That would make three new defensive starters, for those who are counting. Every one of the Chiefs' defenders is counting — even Dalton, who was arguably their best lineman last year and should feel relatively secure.
Dalton may not know their names yet, but their presence has him looking over his shoulder, too.
"You've always got to worry about your job," Dalton said. "That's one thing I've learned. As long as you've got somebody pushing you, you've got to get the job done. If you don't, they'll find somebody to take your job. I thought I had nothing to worry about when I was with Denver. I had the big contract, and I was released the next year.
"It definitely picks up the competition level when there's a guy behind you who can also be a starter. It helps you pick up your game. There's nothing wrong with competition."
That was the idea behind the signing of Knight, an eight-year starter with New Orleans and Miami. He was handed the strong safety job, leaving incumbent starters Greg Wesley and Jerome Woods to compete at free safety.
The Chiefs haven't been specific publicly about their plans for Bell, but he will probably wind up as their starting middle linebacker. That would displace Mike Maslowski and Kawika Mitchell, the starting middle linebackers from the last two seasons.
Law or Surtain would take a starting job from William Bartee and Dexter McCleon, who shared a position last year opposite Eric Warfield.
The moves also won't directly affect Jared Allen, a starting defensive end who last year as a rookie led the Chiefs in sacks. But they also got his attention.
"We had two great safeties, in my opinion, and they brought another one in," Allen said. "That just shows that everybody is going to have to earn his spot."
Even offensive players have taken notice. Fullback Tony Richardson, after making the Pro Bowl the last two seasons as part of one of the NFL's highest-scoring offenses, has a secure roster spot. The Chiefs have nobody capable of taking his job even if they wanted to replace him.
But Richardson was at the Truman Sports Complex on Friday getting a head start on his workout program.
"You can't get comfortable in our business," Richardson said. "Whenever you do, that's when you set yourself up for failure.
"It eventually comes to an end for everybody. There's probably only three ways you're going to leave this business. One is to retire on your own terms and have this big farewell party. It doesn't happen that way for too many guys. Another is to get hurt. The last one is when they bring somebody in to take your job. That's the way it happens for a lot of guys."
The first seven weeks of the offseason program are reserved for conditioning. The Chiefs aren't scheduled for their first practice until the middle of May.
But the first organized activity of the year, which includes a team barbecue Monday, is always an occasion.
"Regardless of whether you had a good year or a bad year, you always look forward to getting back to work," Richardson said. "The kind of season we had last year, it kind of lives with you, kind of haunts you. Coach (Dick) Vermeil always tells you to try to get away from football during this time and try to get it off your mind. But you still replay a lot of things that happened last year in your mind."
The Chiefs were expecting most of their players. They were not expecting tight end Tony Gonzalez, wide receiver Johnnie Morton and running back Priest Holmes to be regular participants until practice begins.
Those players expressed to the Chiefs an interest in conditioning at home — Gonzalez and Morton in California and Holmes in Texas.
By ADAM TEICHER The Kansas City Star
Down at his offseason home in Florida, where he's been insulated from the icy winds of change rattling other Chiefs defenders, Lional Dalton admitted to a certain lack of knowledge about current events.
"I really don't know what's been going on up there," said Dalton, a starting defensive tackle. "My wife keeps up with it more than I do. Last I heard, we signed a safety. What's his name? Samari Rolle?"
Obviously, some introductions will be in order Monday when the Chiefs begin the conditioning phase of their offseason program. Dalton will shake hands not with Rolle, a free-agent cornerback who signed instead with Baltimore, but new starting safety Sammy Knight.
Dalton also will meet another recent acquisition, linebacker Kendrell Bell — and perhaps soon a new cornerback, maybe Ty Law or Patrick Surtain.
That would make three new defensive starters, for those who are counting. Every one of the Chiefs' defenders is counting — even Dalton, who was arguably their best lineman last year and should feel relatively secure.
Dalton may not know their names yet, but their presence has him looking over his shoulder, too.
"You've always got to worry about your job," Dalton said. "That's one thing I've learned. As long as you've got somebody pushing you, you've got to get the job done. If you don't, they'll find somebody to take your job. I thought I had nothing to worry about when I was with Denver. I had the big contract, and I was released the next year.
"It definitely picks up the competition level when there's a guy behind you who can also be a starter. It helps you pick up your game. There's nothing wrong with competition."
That was the idea behind the signing of Knight, an eight-year starter with New Orleans and Miami. He was handed the strong safety job, leaving incumbent starters Greg Wesley and Jerome Woods to compete at free safety.
The Chiefs haven't been specific publicly about their plans for Bell, but he will probably wind up as their starting middle linebacker. That would displace Mike Maslowski and Kawika Mitchell, the starting middle linebackers from the last two seasons.
Law or Surtain would take a starting job from William Bartee and Dexter McCleon, who shared a position last year opposite Eric Warfield.
The moves also won't directly affect Jared Allen, a starting defensive end who last year as a rookie led the Chiefs in sacks. But they also got his attention.
"We had two great safeties, in my opinion, and they brought another one in," Allen said. "That just shows that everybody is going to have to earn his spot."
Even offensive players have taken notice. Fullback Tony Richardson, after making the Pro Bowl the last two seasons as part of one of the NFL's highest-scoring offenses, has a secure roster spot. The Chiefs have nobody capable of taking his job even if they wanted to replace him.
But Richardson was at the Truman Sports Complex on Friday getting a head start on his workout program.
"You can't get comfortable in our business," Richardson said. "Whenever you do, that's when you set yourself up for failure.
"It eventually comes to an end for everybody. There's probably only three ways you're going to leave this business. One is to retire on your own terms and have this big farewell party. It doesn't happen that way for too many guys. Another is to get hurt. The last one is when they bring somebody in to take your job. That's the way it happens for a lot of guys."
The first seven weeks of the offseason program are reserved for conditioning. The Chiefs aren't scheduled for their first practice until the middle of May.
But the first organized activity of the year, which includes a team barbecue Monday, is always an occasion.
"Regardless of whether you had a good year or a bad year, you always look forward to getting back to work," Richardson said. "The kind of season we had last year, it kind of lives with you, kind of haunts you. Coach (Dick) Vermeil always tells you to try to get away from football during this time and try to get it off your mind. But you still replay a lot of things that happened last year in your mind."
The Chiefs were expecting most of their players. They were not expecting tight end Tony Gonzalez, wide receiver Johnnie Morton and running back Priest Holmes to be regular participants until practice begins.
Those players expressed to the Chiefs an interest in conditioning at home — Gonzalez and Morton in California and Holmes in Texas.