The columnists dissect the 2003 season and take a look at what's ahead for the Chiefs in '04. Read it here in a series of columns beginning next week.
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By Bob Gretz
January 14, 2004 (morning)--Last year, Dick Vermeil showed his loyalty to Greg Robinson by retaining him on his coaching staff.
Robinson paid back that loyalty on Tuesday by resigning as the defensive coordinator of the Chiefs.
It was an extraordinary act by Robinson. He put aside ego, all pretense and he fell on his sword for Dick Vermeil. Team and Vermeil came ahead of himself. No small wonder why the head coach was so emotional when he talked about Robinson and why he felt like he let his assistant down.
In more than 25 years of covering the NFL, I’ve never witnessed anything that came close to Tuesday’s morning gathering. The raw emotion was unforgettable. It was a window into the world that Vermeil has created with his football team. It was a window into the world of coaching and all the twists and turns that make the business so exciting and so heart breaking.
First, Robinson did the right thing in offering to resign. Secondly, Vermeil did the right thing in accepting. After everything that happened with the Chiefs in 2003, the focus was entirely on Robinson and the defense. It would have been impossible for this organization to make enough changes in other areas to overcome the negativity that would have surrounded Robinson’s further employment.
There’s no question the defense was broken. Robinson and the defensive staff tried their best, but in the end it did not come together on the field. Last year, Robinson was handicapped by a defense that had few talented players. This season, the talent level was improved, but it still wasn’t enough.
What was missing was a defensive mind-set that’s absolutely imperative to success in the NFL. Yes, football today is more complicated than it was years ago. Defenses must react to offenses, they must take part in the chess game.
But they must do it with an attitude that was seldom evident around the Chiefs defense. It was never there in 2002, showed itself early in 2003, but then disappeared, returning just briefly for the Chicago game. For that, the players, Robinson, the defensive staff and Vermeil must share the blame.
Beyond scheme, beyond talent, what this Chiefs defensive unit needs is an infusion of passion. When Vermeil picks Robinson’s successor, that’s should be the most important part of his resume.
There are many people celebrating Robinson’s departure, reveling in kicking a man when he’s down, laughing at the raw emotion he was willing to share on what was probably the worst day of his professional life. If you are one of those people, like the classless folks who started a web site to promote the firing of Robinson, please seek help. You believe the success of the team is more important to you, than the people who give their blood, sweat and tears each and every day to make it work. You are deranged and can not a hold a candle to a man like Robinson.
Anybody who witnessed what happened at Arrowhead Stadium on Tuesday morning should now have a better understanding of what the people who coach in this business put on the line. They don’t always get it right, they don’t always produce. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dirk digler:
I agree with you Bob, I spend a ton of money on tickets, merchandise, and emotions and if I want to bitch and moan about the team I feel I have every right.
I totally take exception to what he said and I think it is a disgrace that he would call us that and especially to Lattimer and headsnap. I think we should start a new website called http:\\www.bobgretzisanazzclown.com
I completely agree. Every time Carl Peterson crosses his legs, you can hear Boob Gretzs' neck pop.
I suspect Boob Gretz has no facial hair due to fear of getting it caught in a zipper.
He hasn't had an original thought in over 10 years. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
I also must admit I find it extremely ironic that a Raiders fan is making comments about how inappropriate a picture is when they support a team and organization who's legion of fans is known nationwide as a very violent group that has gone to the lengths of stabbing and urinating on people, among other things.
First of all, this isn't about the Raiders or about a football team or coach but about manipulating pictures to appear that someone is going to be shot in the head...and people justifying that type of behavior as somehow being a legit response to losing a FOOTBALL GAME. FWIW, I've been on Raiders boards for four years and have never seen something like that picture being held up as funny...MOF, the times I've seen someone try they were removed. Go figure. [Reply]
Originally Posted by memyselfi:
I understand they were supposed to be 'parody' but putting a gun to someone's head is not funny.
Face it, there were hurt feelings :-) and angry people :-) on the board who temporarily put their sense of common decency on the back burner while their emotions were running amok...
can't blame you for suffering from PMS or PTSD or whatever...Just don't expect people who aren't as angry or depressed as you to find holding a gun to someone's head to be funny.
This from a person who takes such joy in the troubles of our Nation, president, Or certain right wing radio hosts. [Reply]
Originally Posted by memyselfi:
First of all, this isn't about the Raiders or about a football team or coach but about manipulating pictures to appear that someone is going to be shot in the head...and people justifying that type of behavior as somehow being a legit response to losing a FOOTBALL GAME. FWIW, I've been on Raiders boards for four years and have never seen something like that picture being held up as funny...MOF, the times I've seen someone try they were removed. Go figure.
Oh - my. Did the mods not live up to your expectations again? Shocking, indeed. I guess we understand satire and you do not. Of all the people that viewed those threads, I didn't receive one complaint using the proper channels, just some opportunistic whining on the board. Go figure. [Reply]
Originally Posted by 2bikemike:
This from a person who takes such joy in the troubles of our Nation, president, Or certain right wing radio hosts.
Show me where I equated their miserable failures to needing to be shot in the head or executed.
It's not being angry with Greg Robinson or being disrespectful to him. It's about the lengths of which the anger and disrespect got here and the move to justify it as a response to a loss and to excuse it as somehow normal. [Reply]
Originally Posted by memyselfi:
First of all, this isn't about the Raiders or about a football team or coach but about manipulating pictures to appear that someone is going to be shot in the head...and people justifying that type of behavior as somehow being a legit response to losing a FOOTBALL GAME. FWIW, I've been on Raiders boards for four years and have never seen something like that picture being held up as funny...MOF, the times I've seen someone try they were removed. Go figure.
I never said the picture wasn't necessarily offensive. I just wondered how you could support a team who's fans are 1000 times worse than this because they've actually done physical harm to people over a FOOTBALL GAME. Me, you, and everyone else posts something stupid from time to time, it's just an internet message board.
I sure hope you aren't insinuating that there are people on this board that actually want to shoot Greg Robinson in the head. If that is the case, I've got some oceanfront property here in Indiana I can sell you. [Reply]
Originally Posted by memyselfi:
I understand they were supposed to be 'parody' but putting a gun to someone's head is not funny.
Face it, there were hurt feelings :-) and angry people :-) on the board who temporarily put their sense of common decency on the back burner while their emotions were running amok...
can't blame you for suffering from PMS or PTSD or whatever...Just don't expect people who aren't as angry or depressed as you to find holding a gun to someone's head to be funny.
I have to make jokes about guns. When I was seven years old, some people broke into our house. They were on drugs or something, and they beat us up and then they forced us to play Russian roulette with a revolver. I still remember that revolver, because it looked a lot like a toy one that I had at the time. My mom was first, and she lasted three shots, and then my dad went on the first one. The sweat was dripping down the side of his head when they held the gun up, because our hands were all tied behind our backs so they pulled the trigger for us. First shot - bad luck, I guess. My oldest brother Tom was next. He was kind of pudgy and they said that was why. Then it was Kenny. I don't really remember how many pulls of the trigger it took for them, because everything was going real fast for me by then. I guess by that time the neighbors had heard and called the police, because right as they put the gun to my head for the first pull, a bunch of police officers busted down the door. You would have thought that there would have been a shootout, but there wasn't. The bad people just dropped the gun and the police took them away while I sat there on the floor with my hands tied behind my back watching it all and not even thinking about leaving or moving. The funny thing was that no one said a word to me afterward. They just moved around and checked pulses and talked to themselves, and I just sat there, and I had a cold spot on the side of my head where the gun barrel had been. We had a gold shag carpet, and it turned orange, and I remember thinking that it was a really beautiful orange, almost an apricot when the light hit it. Well, my aunt and uncle picked me up, and I had a lot of trouble with guns after that - really freaked me out, even if it was just on TV - and finally the therapist took me to a hypnotist who trained me to think of guns as just being those old joke guns where, when you pulled the trigger, a little flag came out and said "BANG!" That's how I think about guns now - BANG! Not a bunch of drugged up hippies murdering everyone I loved while I was helpless to do anything about it. So I apologize if you all think I'm being light about this stuff, but it's a product of who I am.
As for the napalm stuff, remember that kid on the left side of that picture? Well, you should know that all of this stuff happened in 1970, and my Aunt Phuong and Uncle Tran lived in a small village in Vietnam at the time... [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rain Man:
I have to make jokes about guns. When I was seven years old, some people broke into our house. They were on drugs or something, and they beat us up and then they forced us to play Russian roulette with a revolver. I still remember that revolver, because it looked a lot like a toy one that I had at the time. My mom was first, and she lasted three shots, and then my dad went on the first one. The sweat was dripping down the side of his head when they held the gun up, because our hands were all tied behind our backs so they pulled the trigger for us. First shot - bad luck, I guess. My oldest brother Tom was next. He was kind of pudgy and they said that was why. Then it was Kenny. I don't really remember how many pulls of the trigger it took for them, because everything was going real fast for me by then. I guess by that time the neighbors had heard and called the police, because right as they put the gun to my head for the first pull, a bunch of police officers busted down the door. You would have thought that there would have been a shootout, but there wasn't. The bad people just dropped the gun and the police took them away while I sat there on the floor with my hands tied behind my back watching it all and not even thinking about leaving or moving. The funny thing was that no one said a word to me afterward. They just moved around and checked pulses and talked to themselves, and I just sat there, and I had a cold spot on the side of my head where the gun barrel had been. We had a gold shag carpet, and it turned orange, and I remember thinking that it was a really beautiful orange, almost an apricot when the light hit it. Well, my aunt and uncle picked me up, and I had a lot of trouble with guns after that - really freaked me out, even if it was just on TV - and finally the therapist took me to a hypnotist who trained me to think of guns as just being those old joke guns where, when you pulled the trigger, a little flag came out and said "BANG!" That's how I think about guns now - BANG! Not a bunch of drugged up hippies murdering everyone I loved while I was helpless to do anything about it. So I apologize if you all think I'm being light about this stuff, but it's a product of who I am.
As for the napalm stuff, remember that kid on the left side of that picture? Well, you should know that all of this stuff happened in 1970, and my Aunt Phuong and Uncle Tran lived in a small village in Vietnam at the time...
That's the absolute funniest thing I've ever read on the Planet. I can't stop laughing. Even if it's true, it's funny as shit. [Reply]
