Thanksgiving Leftovers … Friday Cup O’Chiefs

There was enough of the turkey and stuffing leftover to feed an entire section of Arrowhead Stadium. Nourished and happy, there was plenty of time spent watching football on Thanksgiving Day, or at least until we fell into a tryptophan coma.

There were no surprises in the early Turkey Day games; they went as everyone predicted. Not so in the nightcap of the tripleheader with the Broncos 26-6 pasting of the Giants. As always in the NFL, there were plenty of story lines and performances to talk about beyond the games.

So here’s a column full of football leftovers for the day after Thanksgiving.

TRADITION TRUMPS BAD FOOTBALL

The Detroit Lions weren’t always one of the worst teams in pro football. It just seems that way. In this decade they will have just one winning season; that was back in 2000, when they finished 9-7. Overall, they are 42-113 in the 2000s; one of the worst decades in the NFL.

There has been a lot of grumbling around the league about removing from the Lions schedule a home game on Thanksgiving Day. Detroit has hosted a holiday NFL game since 1934, save for a few years were the game was not held during World War II.

This year’s Packers-Lions game was the 70th in the series. It was also one of the most lop-sided, as the Packers took a 34-12 victory. Detroit QB Matthew Stafford (right) threw four interceptions and showed he was in great pain from his left shoulder injury.

The Lions have lost six in a row on Thanksgiving, by an average margin of just under 24 points. 

Yes, Detroit has been bad. Yes, the games have been lop-sided and sometimes unwatchable. But, the Lions should not lose the right to host the holiday game. I know it’s fashionable these days to stomp all over tradition, to pay it no mind, to dismiss it as behind the times and out of step.

Consider me old-fashioned, but there’s no way there should not be a Thanksgiving Day game played in Detroit. A 70-game history trumps any other factor in the equation of this game. Just because the Lions have had an awful decade does not wipe out history.

Leave the turkey, stuffing and football in the Motor City, where it belongs.

CHARLES WOODSON HAS A BIG DAY

Forget about the fact that against the Lions, Green Bay CB Charles Woodson had two interceptions – including one he returned 38 yards for a touchdown – one sack, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and took part in seven tackles.

Yes, it was a remarkable defensive performance by the 33-year old, 12-year veteran. But the greatest thing Woodson did this week was announced on Thursday: he is giving $2 million to the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. The money will be used to fund research in childhood diseases and conditions.

The bulk of Woodson’s $2-million gift will help build the research center, an area for clinical trials, blood samples, specimen processing and researchers working on diseases such as cancer, congenital heart disease and sickle cell anemia.

“The few times I’ve been in a hospital like Mott, it chips away at you a little bit,” he said. “And it finally got through to me. You get with the right people who are on the same page, and you get what you have now.”

This isn’t a drive to collect $2 million in donations. This is $2 million on a check signed by Woodson and from his account.

“He’s a remarkable man,” said Dr. Valerie Castle, the U-M Health System chairwoman of pediatrics and communicable diseases told the Detroit Free Press. Dr. Castle said the National Institutes of Health only gives 10 percent of its research funding to pediatrics. “Over the last six months, he’s talked about his vision and what he wants to do, and he feels a responsibility as a very successful athlete to give back to the communities he’s been involved in. He’s a new father and is grateful for everything that’s happened in his life.”

On January 31, a healthy Charles Woodson Jr. entered the world. His first child gave him motivation to create his gift.

“For parents who go to that hospital and get news that’s devastating to their child’s life, at some point, you want to be able to go in there and have them tell you, ‘We’ve found a cure for that,’ ” Woodson said. “Right now, when a child has cancer and parents get that news, they may feel like, that’s it. What they’re doing here at Mott is special. They’ve been doing it a long time, and I want to be a part of getting over that hump.”

CLOSE YOUR EYES AND PICTURE DONALD DRIVER IN RED AND GOLD

It was the months before the 2002 NFL season and the league’s teams were picking through the available unrestricted and restricted free agents.

Anticipating Dick Vermeil’s second season as head coach, the Chiefs were looking long and hard at available wide receivers. Bill Kuharich was then the Chiefs director of pro personnel, and he was pushing to sign a restricted free agent, Donald Driver of the Packers. In his first three seasons, the former seventh-round draft choice had 37 catches for 520 yards and three touchdowns. Driver was 27 years old.

Dick Vermeil and Al Saunders wanted unrestricted free agent, Johnnie Morton. In eight seasons with the Lions, Morton had four years with more than 1,000 yards receiving. He was 31 years old going into that ‘02 season.

The coach and offensive coordinator won that battle, and the Chiefs signed Morton. He was an ordinary receiver over 43 games played in three seasons (2002-04), catching 134 passes for 1,932 yards and eight touchdowns. His last season was 2005 in San Francisco.

Driver caught seven passes for 142 yards and one touchdown on Thursday against the Lions. He has been one of the most productive receivers in the NFL over the last eight seasons, catching passes for over 1,000 yards in six of those years, with a real chance to make it seven in the ‘09 season.

The folks who run football teams have to make choices all the time when it comes to personnel. Sometimes they get it right, sometimes they get it wrong. In the case of Johnnie Morton-Donald Driver, they should have listened to Kuharich.

NO REALLY … THERE WERE TALENTED PLAYERS ON THE CHIEFS IN 2008

After 10 games of the 2009 NFL season, there are nine players who were on the Chiefs roster in 2008 who have found work elsewhere in the NFL.

RB Larry Johnson was the latest, as he found a new job with the Cincinnati Bengals just last week.

Here’s the complete list and what they’ve gotten done:

 

CHARGERS CAN’T EXCITE SAN DIEGO FANS

At the start of business on Friday, the Chargers will have 3,500 tickets remaining to be sold to lift a local TV blackout of Sunday’s game against the Chiefs.

Despite the team’s five-game winning streak and position on top of the AFC West, the folks in southern California are not turned on by the Chargers play. Of course, the Chiefs don’t exactly provide an opponent that others want to see play, not with a 3-7 record.

So far this season, there have been 12 games in the NFL blacked out, almost all of them in Jacksonville, Oakland and Detroit. Last year at this time of the season, there had been only three blackouts.

The Chargers have not had a home blackout since November 7, 2004 when they hosted New Orleans.

They will have until 3 p.m. CST to make it happen.

SIGNINGS, INJURIES & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE

• BILLS – promoted G Christian Gaddis from the practice squad.
• COLTS – re-signed DL Josh Thomas.
• RAMS – placed DE C.J. Ah You on the injured-reserve list; promoted TE Eric Butler from the practice squad.
• TEXANS – placed CB Antwaun Molden on the injured-reserve list; signed CB Mark Parson off the Saints practice squad.

FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY

On November 27, 1966, the Chiefs beat the New York Jets 32-24 at Shea Stadium with 60,318 in the stands. The Chiefs led 29-10 at the start of the fourth quarter, thanks to a 13-point third quarter. WR Chris Burford caught a 19-yard TD pass from QB Len Dawson and got touchdown runs of three yards by RB Mike Garrett (left) and RB Curtis McClinton. Mike Mercer had four FGs. WR Otis Taylor caught six passes for 136 yards and Burford had eight catches for 109 yards. Garrett had 50 rushing yards and 71 passing yards. CB Willie Mitchell had an interception of Jets QB Joe Namath.

On November 27, 1969, the Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos 31-17 in a Thanksgiving Day game at Municipal Stadium in front of a crowd of 48,773 fans. The Chiefs got touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams. RB Warren McVea scored on runs of one and four yards. CB Emmitt Thomas returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown. LB Bobby Bell returned an onside kick attempt 53 yards for a TD. Jan Stenerud added a FG. RB Mike Garrett had 88 rushing yards and 21 receiving yards. LB Jim Lynch added an interception and DE Aaron Brown had three sacks of Denver QB Steve Tensi.

On November 27, 1977, the Chiefs lost to the Houston Oilers 34-20 in the Astrodome. The Chiefs had plenty of chances in this game, failing to score a touchdown on five drives inside the Houston 20-yard line. They had three takeaways on defense, but the offense was able to produce just a field goal from those turnovers. The Oilers were up 34-6 in the fourth quarter before the Chiefs scored a touchdown, as QB Tony Adams threw a 36-yard scoring pass to TE Walter White. Kansas City’s other TD came on defense as DT Willie Lee returned a fumble 10 yards for the score. K Jan Stenerud had a pair of FGs. Houston ran for 296 yards in the game, with Rob Carpenter getting 149 yards and Ronnie Coleman running for 101 yards.

On November 27, 1983, the Chiefs lost one of the highest scoring games in NFL history, falling to the Seattle Seahawks 51-48 in overtime at the Kingdome. The Chiefs led this game 28-14 at half-time and they had a 42-31 lead in the fourth quarter. But the Seahawks kept coming back, led by RB Curt Warner (right) and QB Dave Krieg. Warner finished with 207 yards rushing on 32 carries and three touchdowns. Krieg hit 16 of 31 passes, including three touchdown passes. For the Chiefs, QB Bill Kenney had quite a day scoring twice on one-yard runs and throwing four TD passes. His targets were WRs Henry Marshall, Stephone Paige, Carlos Carson and RB Theotis Brown, who also had a TD run. The Chiefs last score was a 21-yard pass from Kenney to Brown, but the PAT kick by Nick Lowery was botched. That opened the door and allowed the Seattle to tie the score with just two seconds left in regulation on a 42-yard FG. Then in the extra period, Johnson hit another 42-yard three-pointer for the winning points. Carson caught seven passes for 149 yards. The Chiefs defense had an interception from CB Albert Lewis and five sacks of Krieg, but they gave up 531 offensive yards and 51 points.

On November 27, 1988, the Chiefs lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-10 at Three Rivers Stadium. The Chiefs had won their previous two games in the last 60 seconds and tried again against the Steelers. But a pair of passes from QB Steve DeBerg fell incomplete in the end zone to finish up the game. This game is remembered in Chiefs history because of the suspension the day before the game of RB Paul Palmer (left). The team’s first-round draft choice was sent home when an assistant coach heard Palmer say on the team bus that he was considering fumbling the pass on purpose because he was unhappy with his playing time. When the assistant coach reported his comments to team management, Palmer was sent back to Kansas City on a flight Saturday night.

On November 27, 1994, the Chiefs lost to the Seattle Seahawks 10-9 at the Kingdome. It was a good day for the Chiefs defense, not so good for the offense in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle managed just 266 offensive yards, with just 59 rushing yards. The Chiefs had 312 yards on offense but were unable to score a touchdown, putting just three Lin Elliott FGs on the scoreboard. Seattle forced a pair fumbles, while the Chiefs did not get a takeaway. LB Derrick Thomas and DE Pellom McDaniels each had sacks. Seattle WR Brian Blades had seven catches for 141 yards.

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …

Born on November 27, 1983 in Chicago was LB Corey Mays (No. 51 right). He joined the Chiefs as an unrestricted free agent before the 2009 season, after playing three seasons with the Patriots and Bengals. During training camp, Mays earned a starting spot in the Chiefs defense, and has opened all 10 games so far this season.

Born on November 27, 1965 in New Orleans was G James Harvey. He joined the Chiefs as a college free agent out of Jackson State in 1987. Harvey played in four games over two seasons (1987-88) with the Chiefs.

Born on November 27, 1955 in Stockton, California was C John Olenchalk. He joined the Chiefs in 1981 as a long snapper and played in 10 games over two seasons (1981-82). It was his only regular-season game action.