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kANSAS CITY STAR
December 23, 1979




OK KC! Now settle down for a smack of reality. Please try and contain yourselves and not kill the fatted sow and slap it on the Barbie just yet. It's just a wild card birth and as quick as it came it could and may likely be gone .This team is far and away from the team that has graced the field at Arrowhead the past few years. While the game may be the same the rules are different. We are now in the grips of a great experiment. Perhaps not at socially poignant as FDR but equally as crippling. I digress..

While Meatman and head coach Keneth Graham may have saved there jobs. The awful trith is that this team is aging and with 6 players at the 30% retirement rating we are older than most. Meatman's (71-42) contract that was due to expire next season will probably get an extension. Graham (118-50) at 55 is approaching his final days. The Chiefs backed in to the wild card spot and got all the lucky bounces in week 14 vs the Raiders. After a dismal 1-3 start this year a 6 game win streak brought the chiefs a golden opportunity to secure a spot early and hit the post season with some momentum. Reality hit and the chiefs limped in. Suffering a loss in Houston that seemed as if the offense had taken the wrong flight and ended up in Dallas. The loss in Jacksonville was equally a painful as the Jags stifled the Chiefs offense in the 4th Quarter. Holding the offense to 6 yards in 7 plays in the final two attempt to tie the game with a FG. Yes Walter Azevado (the ACE) has come a long way and in his 5th year he has arrived. The changes in the game have hurt his TD/INT ratio 25/22. Finishing 2nd in the AFC in total yards and 4th in completions while only letting the opposing defenses sack him 4 times. At times he has shown signs that he has matured into the players he was drafted to be. Ace was drafted as the Chiefs QB of the future before the shift in the game play and has come along slowly. We were all hoping he would shine long before our long time offensive weapons Frank Bell WR, Mathew Smith RB, Charles Varney TE, Kieth Willis MLB fell victim to the passage of time. This writer only hopes that Meatman can pull off his magic when it comes to replacing the long list of retiring (or soon to be) players.

I'm not saying the Chiefs are bad or that they don't or can't win. A post season game or two. Everyonre in the KC camp can attest that this is not the best or most accomplished team that They have put on the field the past 4 seasons. They are certainly the luckiest and some time that is all you need. Fate is fleeting and The Chiefs luck may have run it's coarse. The last two weeks have been costly costly in the personnel department. 13 injuries added to the season ending inures to David Ali and Thomas Martinez will certainly test the resolve of this team. It's great that the Chiefs got a WC birth and I hope they do well.

As a realistic point of view I am only saying that this could very well be a be a one and done deal as the competition is very tough. The Good news is that Meatmen has a contract extension. We will soon be out from under the Sawyer debacle and there is plenty of salary cap and draft picks to rebuild the defense that has long been the core of this team as well as replace the long time offensive players that have been around since the advent of the league. It may take a few seasons. It's a tough league as free agency is always a mosh pit and players go for much more money than they are worth. The shrewdness of the GM's in this league makes trading a risky and often frustrating venture. The Chiefs having double digit wins in 6 of the last 7 season Meatman has been the GM has seen them relegated to low round picks and the above mentioned Sawyer bust cost them 2 #1 picks that have made the draft tough the last two years. While we have had some very productive lower round players it won't be enough to win in this division. SO KC, enjoy the game and lets cheer on our Chiefs keeping in the back of our minds that this may well just be our tip of the cap to the long time Players of the past decade that we love so much. I look at it as the opening of the door to the future of the chiefs as the 80's are upon us and it will soon be time to look toward the future.

R Cunningham
sports editor

Can anyone tell i'm nervous LOL GOOD LUCK TO ALL !

****, even I’m rooting for you.

Great article.

Very impressive!

Thanks guys! I appreciate the feedback. I was driving my Girlfriend crazy! LOL! She is a nurse and works the night shift so when she is off we are up pretty late. So she suggested I write about it and "leave me alone" LOL! (she was bingeing some chick series on Netflix). I always read the team news and enjoy seeing others take on the game.

Great I'm gonna need all the help I can get to beat the super Chargers!

OMG
That’s hilarious

KANSA CITY STAR
December 30,1979

WELL OK, Chiefs fans. We won one in a real squeaker over the Texans. My last column did more to fire up Chiefs nation than the offense did last week. It seems the story went viral or maybe just caught a Virus? I got responses from all Paydirt America. Trust me when I say that the out of town responses were much kinder than the ones I got from the Chiefs nation. Two in particular stood out: I was offered a plane ticket to Wisconsin to hang next to “Big deal” Davis's effigy? The other had something to do with my genitals, my mother and a horse. (you can figure it out).

Meatman was spotted at the Rockies game for fireworks night last night and then again at the Denver Pavilion for more fireworks on the 4th! He sure has become accustomed to shiny, sparkly things like his new big dollar contract extension! Hope he can live up to his billing.

It's a holiday so I will make this short and sweet. Chargers and Chiefs in a must win situation. Where do I start....MM vs Jcruz 2-10. since 73, Chiefs post season w/ MM 1-1 Chargers post season w/ jcruz 7-5 which in it self is misleading. The Chargers are not nor have they been a mere bump in the road. They are for real. 3 division titles, 4 WC and a league championship to their name they are no joke!Only a heartbreaking FG with 38 seconds left has divided them from the Holy Grail!

Happy 4th, Keep on dreaming KC, Sometimes dreams can come true. It's gonna be a brutal game no matter what! May the best team win.


Editors note: you are more than welcome to speak your mind and send all the ugly thoughts, prayers and social media posts about me...please leave my family and pets out of it!

I hate your dog! ;-)