I think we are the chiefs of 1998. Its like a carbon copy, except we have a franchise qb. everything else is very similar. They even had joe horn and andre rison and we have you know who...
The Year of Big Promises and Little Returns
Chiefs end the season 7-9
Just after this page was created in early July, the preseason football media hype was all abuzz with all sorts of predictions about the upcoming season for the Chiefs. During the off-season, the Chiefs had aquired big name defensive players from around the AFC-WEST. Chester McGlockton, desiring to get out of Oakland, and Leslie O'Neal from the Chargers were to be joined with Derrick Thomas to form the Best-Defense-Ever-Assembled-In-The-History-Of-The-NFL. On offense, Elvis Grbac was set to have an injury free season and lead the Chiefs to new heights never before reached in the history of the Kansas City Chiefs. And while the Chiefs did not have much of a running game, the coaching staff had little concern. And why should they concerned? The Chiefs were picked by the so called NFL experts to walk away with the AFC-WEST title, despite the fact that the Denver Broncos were the defending champions. Then, racing to the Super Bowl would be no more difficult than a walk across the lawn. However, things happened along the way to the Super Bowl.
The 16-0 talk: Embraced by the Chiefs, their fans, and the media came claims of the Chiefs having the first undefeated season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. With all of the off-season acquisitions on defense, and the offense having a healthy starting quarterback who had a great rapport with this receiving corps, the Chiefs were declared unbeatable. Someone forgot to give the undefeated script that was created in Kansas City to the rest of the NFL. The Chiefs had found their first loss in Week Two of the 1998 season.
Best-Defense-Ever-Assembled: Another outrageous prediction made, involving the Kansas City Chiefs, came from the Chief locker room. With the Chief defense looking so impressive, on paper, and the idea of the 16-0 season so firmly rooted in everyone's mind as a forgone conclusion, wouldn't it make sense that the Chiefs would easily shut-out at least half of their opponents? Apparently it only made sense to the Chiefs and their fans. This "fact" also did not get out to the rest of the NFL. The Chiefs not only failed to shut-out eight of their opponents, they failed to have a single shut-out. Worse, for the Chiefs, by season's end, they had not even defeated eight of their opponents. Despite the hype of the preseason, the Chiefs had not created the Best-Defense-Ever-Assembled-On-The-Face-Of-The-Planet-In-NFL-History. The Chiefs spent millions and millions of dollars on their defense and for what? For 7 wins out of 16 attempts. All of that money also brought about the benching of Derrick Thomas. The Chief defense would eventually fall behind the Oakland Raider defense in the season's final rankings, a team whose defense ranked 30th the year before.
Elvis returns: To the horror of many Chief fans, Elvis was seen in a Chiefs' uniform. The man the Chiefs looked to to lead them to the Super Bowl became one of the most despised members of the team. Before too long into the season, the home crowd could be heard chanting for the backup quarterback Rich Gannon. Still booed by the home crowd, Elvis Grbac ended the season as the "Chiefs' future" by the head coach. There are still doubts as to whether or not he can complete an entire season. And with some noted tirades directed towards his teammates on the offensive side of the ball, there may well be some legitmate concerns about his ability to lead the team.
Dirtiest Team in NFL History: By the end of their game in Week 17, the Chiefs had taken sole possession of the most dubious records in the NFL. Finishing ahead of the 1969 Oakland Raiders, the Chiefs had accumulated the most yards in penalties in a single season (1304 yards). The Chiefs had also jumped ahead of the 1994 Los Angeles Raiders, and the 1996 Oakland Raiders as the team to aquire the most penalties in a single season (158). The 1998 Chiefs took the most yellow flags and marched the most yardage, in the wrong direction, than any other team in NFL history. This matches the reputation the Chiefs developed as the dirtiest team in the NFL with their leg whips, chop blocks and player ejections. While many Chief fans will readily point to the Oakland Raiders as representing all that is evil in the NFL, in truth, they only have to look as far as their own team,
Kansas City Raiders?.
The Coach resigns: Despite some heroic words following the end of the season, Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer walked away from the Chiefs on January 11th, 1999. While fans, and some of the local media, clamored for Schottenheimer to leave as the disastrous season moved along, he maintained that he would not resign. Apparently something happened between period after the Raider game in Week 17 and January 11th (please do not email me about any alleged personal or martial problems--I will not participate in the gossip). It is with mixed emotion that I report his departure. Without a doubt Lamar Hunt, owner of the Chiefs, was correct to remark that Schottenheimer brought a "golden age" to the Chiefs, being that he has the most wins in Chiefs' history, causing Anti-Chief fans to cringe. But, he also brought an unmatched level of frustration to Chief fans, holding a 3-7 playoff record with the Chiefs, including two losses at home. After 10 years, and lots of promises, Coach Schottenheimer did not lead the Chiefs to the Super Bowl. It will be difficult for the Chiefs to find another coach who can bring so many smiles to the readers of this page. Coach Schottenheimer leaves a team branded as outlaws, proven by their NFL records in most penalties in a season and most penalty yardage in a season, and a locker room full of bad attitudes. He also leaves a big question mark in the quarterback spot. There can only be doubt about the commitment to Elvis Grbac as the quarterback of the future. Of course Anti-Chief fans would love to see this happen, but a coaching change certainly leaves the Elvis Question up in the air. Coach Schottenheimer plans to do some traveling and to attend to his golf game. Perhaps he will have better luck putting the golf ball in the cup than in leading a team to the Super Bowl.
End result: The Chiefs did not finish the season 16-0. The Chiefs did not finish the season with 8 shut-outs of their opponents. The Chiefs did not make it to the Super Bowl. The Chiefs did not make it to the playoffs. The Chiefs did not finish first, second, or third in the AFC-WEST. The Chiefs did not finish with a winning record. The Chiefs did finish with a 7-9 record. They did finish with the most penalties in the NFL's history. The Chiefs did finish the year looking like the team they hate the most. They finished the year with a locker room of discontent and concern about the very nature of their team. They finished the year with the fans wanting the head of their starting quarterback, and some calling for the head of their head coach. They finished the year with antagonism between themselves, the local media, and their fans.
Jumping Ship: As if all of this were not bad enough for Chief fans, here is a list of players who have jumped ship, and the team they jumped to:
Anthony Davis--Green Bay Packers (unlike the Chiefs, the Packers have been to the Super Bowl since the early 70's)
Pellom McDaniels--Atlanta Falcons (maybe he likes doing the "dirty bird" better than playing in Kansas City)
Mark "Mighty Mouse" McMillian--San Francisco 49ers (funny about this one, usually it is the Chiefs that are in the habit of using
Recycled 49er Trash, but in this case, the 49ers are using recycled Chief trash)
Rich Gannon--Oakland Raiders (ouch, it really must hurt to have their best QB go to the Raiders)
Dale Carter--Denver Broncos (hey, he just got tired of waiting for the Chiefs to make it to the Super Bowl. Can you blame him?)
Next Year? Let's hope all of this happens again.
