Arrowhead Filled With Stories … GameDay Cup O’Chiefs

There’s one thing that Chiefs-Raiders games have no matter the season, not matter the fortunes of either team and no matter who is coaching and playing.

These games always are filled with a plethora of story lines. There are plot twists everywhere and they always seem to play out on the green grass of Sunday and Monday night.

This Sunday that grass is at Arrowhead Stadium as the Chiefs host the Raiders for another meeting of this 50-season rivalry. Kickoff is noon on CBS-TV.

Both teams enter the game 0-1. According to one guy who used to play in these games, that means their seasons are over.

“I look at the NFL, and I look at one thing,” former DL Warren Sapp said this past week. “It’s unforgiving. As you look across the league, there’s a certain amount of teams that this season is over before it ever begins. And we’re talking about Detroit, St. Louis, Kansas City, Cleveland, Oakland … . Those five right there, write’em off. You’re talking about blackouts? Be happy that you got a blackout. Maybe they’ll beam a game that means something to you.”

No matter what the 2009 season looks like in the end for both of these teams, we know that this game is very important to them. It’s the rivalry yes. It’s the not wanting to go 0-2, absolutely. But both of these teams are just hungry to experience winning. Combined in the last two years they’ve won just 15 of the 64 games they’ve played.

They’ve both stumbled around in the last few seasons and at this point the Raiders appear to be ahead of the Chiefs on the building of a contender. Even former Chiefs head man Marty Schottenheimer thinks so.

“I’m going with the Raiders,” Schottenheimer said on Sirius NFL Radio. “Right now there’s just too much that has to get done with Kansas City for them to be able to compete even with the Raiders. I think the Raiders gave evidence the other night that maybe they’ve got some positive things going for them.”

Can you believe that came out of the mouth of the biggest Raiders Hater who has ever worn red and gold? I’m sure a little something came up in Marty’s mouth as he was saying that.

How about QB Rich Gannon agreeing with his old coach about both of his old teams?

“I think Richard Seymour will continue to have an impact once again and I think the difference in this game is going to be Oakland’s ability to run the football,” Gannon said on Sirius NFL Radio. “I think that will be the difference. I’m going to take the Raiders on the road.”

The oddsmakers in Vegas have the Chiefs as three-point favorites, but that’s for the home field, not that Arrowhead has been much of an advantage lately. They are 3-13 over the last two seasons in the friendly confines. That includes losing at home in both 2007 and 2008 to the Raiders.

Story lines are everywhere. Will Matt Cassel start at quarterback for the Chiefs? What’s up with the Chiefs defense after last year’s 501 yards allowed to the Ravens? Can they stop the run, after last year’s team gave up 300 rushing yards to the Raiders three-headed assortment of running backs? How about Larry Johnson; can he get his season off the ground after a miserable 20-yard performance against Baltimore?

Over on the Raiders side, there are story lines as well. Just where is QB JaMarcus Russell in his development as an NFL quarterback and the leader of the silver and black? His statistics in the opener against San Diego were not very pretty. But Russell kept his team in the game.

His old running buddy says it’s about time.

“I told him his time is running out in the NFL,” said Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe who played with Russell at LSU. “I want to see now. You have to take the show to yourself. I told him he’s got to be more … not screaming in guys’ faces, but going to the side, tell them what they did wrong.

“I know what he can do. It’s just, when can he do it?”

Will the Raiders be overconfident? How’s that you say; they are 0-1 just like the Chiefs. Listen to what CB Nnamdi Asomugha said this week: “We’re trying to stay focused. What we’ve been stressing in practice is, we’re not there yet. When you start stressing that, ‘Oh, we’re this dominant team, we should go out and beat everyone,’ that’s when people might start to relax. But we’ve been stressing we’re not there yet.”

Are they even in the same area code of dominant teams? Sapp said he saw it happen all the time with the Raiders during his four seasons with the club.

“Oakland plays worse when they have confidence,” Sapp said. “Oakland plays worse when they feel good about themselves. I was there for four years! Trust me. Whenever we felt good about going into the week, we would lay an egg.”

What effect will Seymour have on the Oakland defense with a full week of practice under his belt? Has Tom Cable been able to turn around the Raiders ship? Can talented RB Darren McFadden do it for 16 games like he did last year at Arrowhead when he dented the Chiefs for 164 yards? Will Al Davis be there? The early word is yes, the octogenarian Darth Vader will be in the house at Arrowhead.

And, will Chiefs fans show up loud and proud? The TV blackout was lifted, but this game is not a sellout by any means.

Stories are everywhere; they always are when the Chiefs and Raiders play.

KYLE TURLEY STRUGGLES WITH EFFECTS OF HEAD TRAUMA

“I’ll probably have to sue the NFL, but the reality is the NFLPA is as much to blame as anyone. It’s just (expletive) criminal and it’s gonna come to a head.”

Those are the word of former Chiefs OT Kyle Turley in a disturbing story that can be found at Yahoo.com. Turley tells writer Michael Silver that he’s experiencing multiple neurological problems including vertigo, seizures, depression, migraines and disorientation. He believes it stems from his football career that included two seasons (2006-07) with the Chiefs. He feels that team doctors and trainers are more worried about getting players on the field than possible complications to the players from injuries.

Turley tells a story about his last season with the Chiefs, when a teammate had a problem. He was sitting in a cold tub after a game at Arrowhead when LB Rich Scanlon joined him in the tub.

“He came in and had a broken nose that was cracked all the way across,” Turley told Silver. “All of a sudden, in 50-degree water, he passes out. I went and told the trainers and doctors and they said, ‘He’s all right.’ I said, ‘No, he’s not. If you guys let this guy go home right now, I’m gonna file a report against you for negligence.’ He ended up in the hospital, and they kept him for a couple of days.”

Turley know lives outside of Nashville and he’s the father of a five-month old son. Some experts he’s seen fear he may be on the way to suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative condition that contributed to the violent deaths of two former NFL players, Andre Waters and Justin Strzelczyk.

“I never considered myself a guy that had a lot of head injuries,” Turley says. “But the doctors I’ve seen are very concerned about my past history, and when I look back on some of what I experienced, it makes me angry. Guys are going crazy, and my wife and I just had a baby boy. I don’t want that to happen to me.”

Here’s the link to the story, that’s not just about Turley, but about the whole question of football and head injuries.

FAMILIAR FACES IN TRAINING CAMP WITH THE UFL

In Arizona and Florida, the four teams of the United Football League are going through training camp, preparing for the start of their inaugural season. A quick check of the rosters shows a few familiar names in camp, trying to continue their football careers:

CALIFORNIA – WR Bobby Sippio (left), TE Michael Allan, WR B.J. Sams and DB coach Martin Bayless.

LAS VEGAS – WR Samie Parker and LB Gary Stills.

NEW YORK – S Oliver Celestin, QB Quinn Gray, WR Craphonso Thorpe and defensive coordinator Don Blackmon.

FLORIDA – P Todd Sauerbrun and D-Line coach Carl Hairston.

SIGNINGS, INJURIES & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE

• BUCCANEERS – WR Antonio Bryant will not play against Buffalo on Sunday due to knee injury.
• CHARGERS – placed NT Jamal Williams on the injured-reserve list due to a triceps injury.
• COLTS – S Bob Sanders and WR Anthony Gonzalez will both miss Monday night game against Miami because of injury.
• EAGLES – named Kevin Kolb as starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against New Orleans.
• PATRIOTS – LB Jerod Mayo will not play against the N.Y. Jets because of his knee injury. Gary Guyton replaces him in the starting lineup.

FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY

On September 20, 1970, the Chiefs lost their season opener 27-10 to the Minnesota Vikings at Municipal Stadium in Bloomington (right). A rematch of Super Bowl IV, the Vikings dominated this game from the start in what turned out to be a defensive struggle. The Chiefs had just 218 yards in offense, the Vikings managed 220 yards. The Minnesota defense got on the board first, as DE Carl Eller hit RB Mike Garrett forcing a fumble that was picked up by DE Jim Marshall who then pitched the ball to LB Roy Winston for the TD. The Chiefs only TD came on a 59-yard TD pass from QB Len Dawson to WR Otis Taylor. K Jan Stenerud had a 28-yard FG. Taylor had five catches for 100 yards. CB Jim Marsalis had two interceptions of Vikings QB Gary Cuozzo.

On September 20, 1976 the Chiefs lost to the Oakland Raiders 24-21 in a Monday night game at Arrowhead Stadium. Oakland QB Ken Stabler had a big night, completing 22 of 28 passes for 224 yards and three TD passes. Those went for 15 yards to TE Dave Casper, 10 yards to WR Cliff Branch and 14 yards to WR Mike Siani. The Chiefs touchdowns came from RB McArthur Lane on a one-yard run, QB Mike Livingston on a one-yard run and a 25-yard pass from Livingston to TE Billy Masters. Overall the Raiders had 446 yards in that game.

On September 20, 1987, the Chiefs were beaten by the Seattle Seahawks 43-14 at the Kingdome. With a strike by NFL players looming over the second weekend of the season, the Chiefs went to the Pacific Northwest with the idea of alternating quarterbacks. Todd Blackledge was to start and handle the early downs, but when it was a passing situation, Bill Kenney was to come in the game. Both of them ended up throwing TD passes, as Blackledge found WR Carlos Carson for a 10-yard score and Kenney hit Carson for 10 yards in the fourth quarter. The problem for the Chiefs was they could not run the ball, picking up just 75 yards. Seattle QB Dave Krieg threw three touchdown passes on the day and RB J.L. Williams ran 15 times for 112 yards.

On September 20, 1992, the Chiefs lost to the Houston Oilers 23-20 in overtime at the Astrodome. It was Al Del Greco’s 39-yard field goal in the extra period that was the winner for the Oilers. They entered the fourth quarter trailing the Chiefs 13-6 but tied the score on an eight-yard TD pass from QB Warren Moon to WR Leonard Harris and then took the lead on a Moon scoring pass of 21 yards to WR Ernest Givins. But the Chiefs got a four-yard run by RB Todd McNair that sent the game into overtime. RB Barry Word ran for 114 yards o n 22 carries. Defensively, S Bennie Thompson picked off two of Moon’s passes and the Chiefs got sacks from Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith.

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …

Born on September 20, 1937 in Wilburton, Oklahoma was CB Duane Wood. He was a member of the original Dallas Texans, joining the team out of Oklahoma State. Wood played five seasons with the Texans-Chiefs (1960-64), appearing in 65 games and holding down the left cornerback spot. He picked off 20 passes, including five in the 1964 season.

Born on September 20, 1980 in Indio, California was C/G Jonathan Ingram. He spent the 2005 season with the Chiefs, appearing in two games. Ingram played his college football at San Diego State.