Now that the dust as all but settled on the Jared Allen trade, and I have had time to evaluate what has recently taken place with Kansas City Chief offseason events, I have a few thoughts on the upcoming season and what I would do if I were the the GM in Kansas City (Oh, how I love to pretend I run my own NFL team).


Allen led the NFL in sacks last year, despite
playing in only 14 games.

As a Chiefs fan, I'm quite obviously upset, and my initial reaction was that of fury. But then, I was able to read further into the details of the trade, and I realized a few things:
1) Getting a first and two third round picks for a franchise player isn't all that bad of a deal.
2) There was no way Allen was ever going to sign a long-term contract with Kansas City (and could you blame him?), and they would have lost him for nothing at the end of the season.
3) The Vikings completely overpaid for Allen financially.

I wrote in December that the Chief's top offseason priority should have been to sign Jared Allen to a longterm contract. At the time, the figure I had in mind was around 5 years and $55 million. He ended up signing a contract getting in excess of $70 million for 6 years, which reportedly includes $31 million in guaranteed money.

Allen is easily one of the top three DEs in the NFL, but he's not quite worth that much dough.

Just because I have come to the realization that Allen and the Chiefs were just not a match made to work out, doesn't mean I'm happy about the trade, however (Likewise, even though pulling the plug on Grandma's life support is the right thing to do, that doesn't mean I'm going out to the bars to celebrate).

I'm happy for Allen, who becomes rich beyond my wildest dreams. And I'm happy for the Vikings, who now own the NFL's best pass rushing end and best overall defensive front four. But I'm upset as a Chiefs fan, primarily because I know the Chiefs have absolutely no chance to make the playoffs next year, and most likely will not sniff .500 for several years to come.

If the Chiefs were serious about trying to win this upcoming season, they might have followed a plan similar to what I outlined in my December writing (link above). But it appears that they will not come close to achieving any of my goals.

I could much more easily come to accept this trade if Tamba Hali, the other starter at DE for Kansas City, were almost as good as Allen, and if they had a third DE about as good as Hali. As of now, the Chiefs have nobody capable of applying consistent pressure on the passer, which weakens their entire defense. The Chiefs likely figure to draft a DE in the first round, and if that player is drafted fifth overall as speculation has, the Chiefs will have to pay him about $20 guaranteed (last year's fifth pick got $18.1 million). I don't often make guarantees, but I will guarantee that neither Chris Long nor Vernon Gholston will be anywhere near as good a player as Jared Allen, a DE who comes around once every 8-10 years. Which tells me that either Long or Gholston would be paid about two-thirds the amount Allen would get for about a quarter of the production.

Another thing to take into consideration is the opportunity cost of drafting a DE with that 5th pick. As terrible as the offense was last year, I was desperately hoping for that pick to help the offensive side of the ball. Now they have a big void to fill at their rush end position.

The Chiefs do have gaps all over the place, but their one major malfunction, as I have written about so much recently, is that their GM, Carl Peterson, has an awful track record of drafting, especially recently. Over the past 8 NFL drafts (dating back to 2000), he has drafted only three Pro Bowl players. Two of them are no longer with the team (Dante Hall and Allen) and the third will probably never be the same due to overwork and injury (Larry Johnson). Peterson had his run in the early 90's but the game has changed and his way is outdated. I don't trust the Chiefs to draft a quarterback because that player is doomed to failure due to the fact that coach Herm Edwards runs an offense not conducive for a young QB to learn and develop (far too conservative). The Chiefs need a front five to protect whomever their QB is next year, but a Peterson drafted offensive linemen has not made the Pro Bowl in a Chief's uniform since.... Will Shields, picked in 1993. In the Peterson ERA (going back to 1988!), the Chiefs have yet to draft a Pro Bowl QB, WR, OT, or DT.  The last Safety to go to a Pro Bowl was Jerome Woods (selected 1996), the last CB was Dale Carter (1992), and the last LB was Derrick Thomas (1989).  So yes, Kansas City has 13 draft choices in 2008 and will need every last one of them to fill the myriad of holes on both sides of the ball. But I have ZERO confidence in Peteron's ability to adequately fill those holes given his recent failures in the draft. Alex Marvez recently rated the Chiefs number 21 out of 32 NFL teams in best drafts over the last five years.

There are a few players left on this team that I still like and will root for, but I find myself feeling sorry for them. Which is why I am sad to admit that I hope the Chiefs will attempt to trade Tony Gonzalez, Donnie Edwards, Patrick Surtain, and Johnson to contending teams. It kills me that Gonzalez, who in my opinion is the best TE in NFL history, gets knocked on by fans of other teams because he has never even won a playoff game, let alone a Super Bowl.

I am also sad to admit that I am hoping that the Chiefs go 0-16 in 2008. It has nothing to do with wanting a top draft choice (remember, I don't believe Peterson is adequate enough to successfully draft a Pro Bowl player in any round). It's because I think that might be the only way the Hunt family ever gathers enough stones to send Carl Peterson and Herm Edwards to the unemployment line. Edwards is a good defensive coach but he has ruined the once proud Chief's offense. The year before Edwards got to Kansas City, they had the #2 offense in the NFL and finished with a 10-6 record. In his first season they won 9 games, and last year they went 4-12, lost 9 games in a row, and had the 31st ranked offense. Hali and Derrick Johnson are much ballywhoed starters recently drafted by Peterson, but they have combined to make 0 Pro Bowls and Edwards has failed to develop them. I expect more from first round picks. Being a "good player" isn't good enough for me. Johnson was the 15th pick in the draft. I expect that by his third season he'd be one of the top OLBs in the NFL by now. He's not.

The worst thing that could happen to the Chiefs is that they rebound next year and finish 8-8. That gives the Hunt's a false sense of security seeing that they have improved. Peterson and Edwards absolutely must go. The Kansas City Chiefs will never win a Super Bowl under their leadership.

And isn't that what this league is about? Winning the Super Bowl? It's high time for the city of Kansas City to wake up and stop being content with "being a contender," "showing improvement," "making the playoffs," and being "a team on the rise." I don't care if they win the division. And I'm not happy with settling for an AFC Championship appearance. I want a Super Bowl win, and this trade of Allen sets the team back a few more years.

In recent years since steroids have become such a hot topic in sports and especially in baseball I've heard many sports writers say or write that they wouldn't vote for the accused users on the first ballot for the Hall of Fame (HOF) but would vote for them thereafter. Or, some people have predicted that Mark McGuire, who was snubbed in his first year of eligibility in the summer of 2007, will make it.

If you've read my blog in the past you may already know that I am firm in my stance that no steroid user should ever make the HOF. I'm going to challenge the seemingly popular public opinion that getting into the HOF after waiting umpteen years is somehow less satisfying than getting in on the first ballot.

Sure, it might be somewhat anguishing waiting all that time, but if you won the lottery at age 45 does it mean any less than if you had won it with the very first ticket you purchased on your 18th birthday? Who cares? You're still a millionaire.

Using steroids is not on the same moral plane as murder, but what if it was? What if a judge reduced a life sentence down to 5 years because he thought the guy really learned his lesson? That prisoner is saying "hey, that wasn't so bad, my crimes were well worth it."

We live in a society that does not reward the bad guys. Baseball should be no exception.


Cheaters don't win, in any sport, or in life.

Using steroids is cheating, and cheaters aren't supposed to win. Major League Baseball should, by any means necessary, see to it that anybody ever suspected-that's right, I said suspected, not proven-of using performance enhancing drugs never even sees his name on the ballot.

There is too much left open to subjectivity in this debate, and this is the only way I see that works. You were indicted by a grand jury on charges of perjury, Mr. Bonds? Bye bye Cooperstown. You failed a steroid test, Mr. Palmeiro? No HOF for you. Your name appeared on the now notorious Mitchell Report, Mr. Clemens and Mr. Pettitte? Sorry, no can do.

While in previous posts I have argued that baseball should retroactively pull post-season awards (MVPs, Cy Youngs, etc) from users and erase their stats from the record books, I have now come to the conclusion that even if it did so-a nearly impossible slippery slope to maneuver around in and of itself-not every sports publication would acknowledge such a move. Would ESPN.com actually remove all references to Barry Bonds from its website? No, but the one thing that is constant is that name on a plaque in the halls of baseball glory in Cooperstown, New York.

There are several reasons why I believe that proof of steroid usage is not necessary in enacting this baseball law. The first, and the most obvious, is that baseball law is not synonymous with and is not governed by the court of law. In this regard, users are not "innocent until proven guilty" because they are not being sent to prison. Rare it is that a player actually fails a Major League steroid test for several reasons. First, the Player's Association has not approved a test involving blood, which would be necessary to detect certain drugs, including Human Growth Hormone (HGH). Other drugs, like erythropoietin (EPO) and insulin, are difficult to detect using any means. Also, many cheaters were able to successfully cover up their usage with other drugs. Norbolethone (aka "The Clear") is a drug that balances the levels of natural testosterone and epitestosterone, which means, according to Bonds' currently imprisoned former trainer Greg Anderson in the book Game of Shadows "You can take [the steroids] the day of [a drug test], pee, and it comes up clear."


Anderson explained how easy it was to beat
the steroid tests.

This is all very important because, for most of the past decade, there has either been no steroid testing in baseball, not a strict enough test, or too many subsidiary drugs to conceal drugs that were being tested for.

There is also precedence for banning cheaters in spite of there being no criminal evidence or intent. The first commissioner of baseball, Kennesaw Mountain Landis, banned all 8 members of the Chicago "Black Sox" even after they were all acquitted of charges by the judicial system. Landis was a real commissioner who ruled baseball with tough love. The current commissioner, Bud Selig, is a cowardly pud who apparently feels no action is obligatory to restore the sanctity of the game.

Many have stated that it is hypocritical for voters to keep Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa out of the HOF when they are same people who voted for these guys to win the Cy Young and MVP. This logic is not valid. Just because they were wrong then doesn't mean they have to be wrong for the rest of their lives. In the same way, it is asinine to make any argument that says "Player X (Ty Cobb, Gaylord Perry) is in the HOF, so Player Y (Bonds, Clemens) should also be." In hindsight, it was probably a mistake to put Perry, an admitted ball doctor, into the HOF, but that doesn't mean we have to make the same mistake over and over and over again forever. Times have changed. It's time to raise the bar. This is the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Pretty Darned Good or the Hall of Spectacular, but I Cheated.

In 2005, two Chicago based radio personalities read an all-inclusive list of baseball HOFers. They then spent approximately 45 minutes "kicking guys out" who didn't deserve to be there, thus reducing the list by at least 40%. Though this was done just for fun, it is something I keep in mind when deciding who should go and who should not. The HOF is too watered down anyway. Phil Rizutto? Bill Mazerowski? Puh-leeze.

(Oh yes, and before you spout off the "Rizutto was a key member of a Yankees dynasty winning many World Series'" argument, you may want to read this July 2006 post stating that Individuals Don't Win Championships, Teams Do).

If baseball has stood firm this long with the decision to ban Pete Rose, there isn't much in the way of taking it one step further with steroid cheats. What these guys have done; bulking up and hitting jaw-dropping, tale-of-the-tape home runs in awe inspiring quantity, is far worse than gambling. Betting on a game doesn't affect the outcome.

Just because everyone else was cheating doesn't mean it was ok for Player X to cheat too. To quote myself when I wrote in August of 2007 in The Difference Between Ruth, Aaron, Maris and Bonds, McGuire, Sosa, "So if 20 guys all get busted robbing a bank does the police let them go because they had strength in numbers? More importantly, and more realistically, if the CEO of a tax firm turns a blind eye to his accountants fudging numbers on purpose would the public brush the incident off its collective shoulders and chock it up to an oversight? Hell no! They'd all be punished, all arrested, all fired. Selig is just as much to blame as the McGuires and Sosas of the world."

Putting cheats in the HOF is a slap in the face to people who actually deserve to be there. This feeling is equivalent to an injured U.S. soldier going down to the corner Wal-Mart and seeing Purple Hearts on sale for $19.99 plus tax. That act of heroism during battle doesn't seem all that heroic now that everybody has the medal.

And making a guy wait X number of years before finally letting him in is not punishment enough, either. I wouldn't let a murderer out of prison early, just as I wouldn't allow my toddler to have the cookie 10 minutes after saying "no" the first time. Not only should steroid cheats never be voted into the HOF, but their names should never even appear on a ballot.

The "Roy Williams Rule."  It was put into place because the Dallas Cowboy safety was the player primarily responsible for ending several player's seasons via the horse collar tackle.  Williams has been at this since entering the league, and it's time the NFL makes an example out of him.

Most recently, Williams put the hurtin' on Eagle's QB Donovan McNabb.  Though McNabb was not seriously injured on the play, Williams drew a 15-yard penalty.  Williams' current teammate and former Eagle, Terrell Owens, was a 2004 victim of Williams and ended up missing the team's first two playoff games, almost costing them a trip to the Super Bowl.

The horse collar tackle adds significant and unnecessary risk to the game.  Through the years, it has caused many Achilles and calf injuries, and also has broken several ankles.  It's frustrating and painful for the injured player to go through rehab, his team is worse off without him, and the fans become angry. 

Though Williams is not the only culprit in this crime, the rule was put into place because of him and he remains today the primary offender, as the McNabb penalty was Williams' fourth in the last two seasons.

A one-game suspension is not nearly enough, as it has now become blatantly obvious that Williams has not learned from his previous mistakes.  He should be given a 5-game suspension, and be forced to serve it during the playoffs if the Cowboys advance.  This sort of punishment is unprecedented, but it's high time the NFL take proactive action against this ferocious penalty.  And Williams should be made the example.

Dallas coach Wade Phillips, furthermore, is off his rocker for defending his player.  Attributing his actions to having "strong hands" and not being able to adjust to the new rule, Phillips apparently gives merit to the appeal that Williams filed today.  Phillips continued "And the way it is now, they tape those jerseys in the back, so you can't grab them, you can't hold on to them."  Yeah, Wade, they do it so their career doesn't come to an abrupt end, no thanks to foul play from a certain Cowboy defender.

Here's hoping the NFL upholds the suspension and issues warning that further penalties, especially from Roy Williams, will not be taken lightly.