Remember him? Former Super Bowl winner again taking a back seat

He may be the most unceremonious Super Bowl winning quarterback this side of Trent Dilfer (and perhaps Mark Rypien). But Brad Johnson, who guided the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 48-21 rout of the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, has had an above-average career that currently has him holding a clipboard for Tony Romo in Dallas. He will be entering his 17th NFL season in 2008 after being drafted in the 9th round of the 1992 Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. He is among the most accurate passers in NFL history, becoming the first player to complete over 60% of his passes in 12 straight seasons. Yet he has always taken a backseat role to flavors of the month despite his steady production. First it was Randall Cunningham in his 1998 renaissance year. Then it was Jeff George in a 2000 season in Washington gone awry. Tavarais Jackson helped give him the boot in his second stint in Minnesota before Johnson became Romo's backup this past year.

So perhaps it was only fitting that Johnson's performance in 2002 was overshadowed by the Buccaneers' dominant defense. He almost assuredly will never be a starter again in the league, but if Romo succumbs to injury, the Cowboys would be in steady hands with Johnson.

Johnson had a potentially promising career with the Redskins before injury and ineffectiveness in 2000 led to George taking over at the helm. Johnson left as a free agent in 2001 to join the Bucs, but a one-and-done in the playoffs had many questioning if he was capable of taking Tampa Bay deep into the playoffs. But Johnson flourished in Jon Gruden's first season as head coach, and was as instrumental to their Super Bowl run as their vaunted defense.

Alas, he will not end up in Canton. He may not even be remembered by the casual football fan when his career officially ends. But he'll always have his Super Bowl ring and a place in the history books.

Minus fanfare, D-Backs could still slither to top of NL

They certainly aren't baseball's sexiest team. Considering they have Randy Johnson, how could they be? But despite their pedestrian 40-37 record, the Arizona Diamondbacks still may be better equipped to make a run at the NL pennant than the recent fan-favorite, the Chicago Cubs. They have last year's NL Cy Young winner and last year's AL All-Star starter heading their starting rotation, perhaps the most lethal 1-2 punch in baseball. They have two of the top up-and-coming outfielders in Chris Young and former first-overall pick Justin Upton. While the Cubs possess a much deeper lineup, their pitching, namely their starting pitching, is a cut below Arizona's. Johnson, Doug Davis, and Micah Owings round out the D-Backs' starting staff.

I am sticking to my guns of my preseason pick of Arizona as NL champions. Yes, it's early. Yes, the Cubs are the darlings of the Midwest, a team starving for a championship for 100 years now. The Cardinals and Phillies will have a say. But last year's league-runner up, Arizona, could be best-assembled to compete in a playoff series. While I have whiffed thus far on my AL pick, the Detroit Tigers, I will stand by the Diamondbacks. Very quietly, they could snake their way to National League supremacy.

Interleague Play has lost its luster

I am saying enough with interleague play. It was a novelty for the first few years, and then again when they rotated it so teams could play teams from other divisions in the opposing league. But really, all it does it highlight the major discrepancy between the quality of American League teams and National League teams. When I see Kansas City beating up on Arizona and the Tigers regaining life against the Dodgers, I realize that while those NL teams are considered solid in their respective league, they are a cut below the majority of American League teams.

Interleague play, in addition to feeding the top AL teams easy wins against NL bottom feeders, also can spoil some of the potential World Series matchups. In the old days you knew the only AL-NL showdown you'd see was the World Series, a pair of teams with no past history on a collision course for destiny. Now, it's not the case. The last three years have featured World Series matchups that played out in the regular season.

I'd rather see the AL teams beat up on the AL teams and the NL teams beat up on the NL teams all the way up until late October. But I also want a salary cap, and world-class commissioner Bud Selig doesn't figure to take that path either.

Real fans don't need to wear paraphernalia

Maybe it's just frustration stemming from the countless baseball hats with the dreaded "B" logo on it (technically stands for Boston, but actually stands for Bandwagoner). A few years prior, the "NY" Yankees hats were seemingly the only sports gear people wore, with an occasional Lakers jersey or Cowboys t-shirt mixed in.

Which brings up an interesting question. Ever talked to a Kansas City Chiefs fan? How about a Cleveland Indians supporter? As crazy as it sounds in this Boston/New York universe that we are victims of, there are, in fact, fans of some of those other sports organizations. While the Tony Gonzalez jerseys and Grady Sizemore tees are scarce, it doesn't mean that those teams, like many others, aren't well followed and supported. Most sports fans are not spoiled by their teams' success and have to stick with their teams through the rough patches (I should know, I support Baltimore sports teams and follow the Blue Jays rather closely up here in Toronto).

The fact of the matter is, as many knowledgeable sports fans as there are, many do not have to flash their teams' logos to prove to others that they are fans. As many fashionable logos and jerseys as there are out there, sometimes sports paraphernalia is as much a fashion statement as anything else. And that's where one can separate the paraphernalia from the true fans.

While it seems like most all sports teams outside of Boston aren't allowed to ever win championships, there is an occasional ray of hope. Every now and then I'll spot a Steelers' Super Bowl XL hat or a Florida Gators National Championship shirt. Of course, Steelers and Gators fans are certainly more hardcore than the average team. It's just that not every one of them needs to show it off.

Fantasy race: LT vs. AP

LaDainian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson have flat out separated themselves from the rest of the running backs in the NFL. Peterson took the league by storm last year in his first year, just like Tomlinson did six years prior as a rookie.

If these two phenomenal running backs were to in fact race, it would be a dream matchup. It isn't that they are the two fastest backs in the league. That may in fact be far from the truth. But if one were to apply a guantlet of defensive players to them, it would simply be dazzling to watch them maneuver their ways to the end zone.

Tomlinson does it with his vision as much as he does with his speed and power. Peterson's cut backs top that of even Fred Taylor. Both can catch the ball out of the backfield, but LT is more adept at it than Peterson.

For them to start at midfield and dash to the end zone would be exciting, to say the least. Tomlinson would get there primarily on the strength of his initial burst, while Peterson would be more likely to utilize his patience, then draw defenders one way just to juke them back another way. The end result would have the two mild-mannered backs high-stepping into the end zone just a few split seconds apart. In a dead sprint, Tomlinson might win. But any time these two backs go head to head, it would be worth the price of admission.

Just think back several months to their only encounter. Peterson stole Tomlinson's thunder and Jamal Lewis' old rushing record by ripping LT's Bolts for an NFL-best 296 yards. What will they have in store when their teams meet again in 2011? It's a shame we will have to wait that long.

Now the Patriots are snitches, too

The team that Eric Mangini ratted out, much to the delight of many NFL fans, now has its own personal snitch. Nick Kaczur, and offensive lineman, helped the feds bust his supplier after Kaczur was arrested for illegal possession of a painkiller.
Kaczur is the third Patriots player to be arrested on drug charges since the Super Bowl, a time that the NFL’s dirtiest team on the field is starting to have their noses covered in off-the-field business. After Willie Andrews and Kevin Faulk were caught with marijuana, Kaczur was caught with painkillers. As a true Patriot, he turned into the golden boy all of a sudden, cooperating with the feds to save face. Maybe the feds simply didn’t want to smear the Patriots’ “good” name.
Or maybe it’s yet another heartwarming story, a Boston athlete doing a good deed. Of course, being a spy is nothing new to the Patriots. Kaczur surely was well-prepared seeing as how he learned from the best in Bill Belichick.

Can Detroit or L.A. reign supreme as top sports city?

Boston has had their little run. The Patriots videotaped their way to the top. John Henry increased the Red Sox budget by more than $100 million so they could slay the Yankee dragon, which is all that Red Sox fans really care about anyway. And the Celtics traded for Kevin Garnett because the rest of their roster was atrocious.

People (at least those from Boston, anyway) will claim Boston is the top sports city right now. Maybe. But where there is a king, there are always princes waiting in the wings.

Who could the next king of the sports nation be? Will it be Detroit, the Motor City, with the Pistons and Red Wings leading the charge? How about Los Angeles, the City of Angels, with the Lakers, Angels, and Ducks all among the elite teams in their respective sports.

I am leaning more towards the latter. Unfortunately, even with the Yankees slipping (no complaints here), New York can never be overlooked. But Los Angeles boasts one of baseball's best teams in the Angels, who appear the have the best chance to overtake Boston in the American League, and another solid team in the Dodgers as well. In basketball, the Lakers have always been thought of as an elite team, especially with their early-decade dynasty. They are back on top again, frontrunners to win their fourth championship in nine years. And then you have the Ducks, winners of the Stanley Cup a year ago and playoff entrants once again in 2008. Even the Clippers have dug themselves out of their usual doldrums the past few years, and it's getting easier and easier to overlook the fact that L.A. hasn't had an NFL team since the Rams and Raiders left following the 1994 season.

The tossup between Detroit and Los Angeles may ultimately come down to the NBA Finals. The Red Wings are comfortably ahead of the Penguins and figure to coast to the title. The Pistons are locked in a tie with the Celtics and their luck of the Irish, and would almost certainly be facing the Lakers should they win the Eastern Conference. The two teams met in the finals in 2004, which was won by the Pistons. The Pistons, by the way, are in the Eastern Conference finals for the sixth consecutive year. Pretty impressive.

Ted Kennedy will recover, hit winning homer for Sox

It's not like the Red Sox need a 76-year-old U.S. Senator to help their baseball team, either on or off the field. They have purchased a pretty handy team to stick it to the Yankees. They have two cancer survivors (which bests the Patriots, who only have one stroke survivor), and they are trying to tug at more heartstrings by claiming they took a chance on overweight and over-the-hill pitcher Bartolo Colon when no one else wanted him. But when discussing the Red Sox and all their karma and good fortune, you can't help but wonder what Boston native Ted Kennedy, recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, could do for their spirits.

My first thought was that he will throw out the first pitch (a perfect strike right down the middle, I might add) at a World Series game, which will be pitched by fellow cancer survivor Jon Lester, and of course won by the Sox. But then I realized that would just be too easy and, frankly, boring.

Kennedy will, in fact, not only miraculously recover from the tumor, but then sign a one-day contract and smack a game-winning home run for Boston. That will turn the last of the unturned stomachs of those who have to endure the Red Sox winning on an almost-daily basis and provide yet another great, inspiring story for ESPN to air to honor one of their beloved Boston teams.

Just wait until the so-called "pennant" race in the AL heats up. You thought being reminded 75 times that Jon Lester is a cancer survivor was annoying. How about when lifelong Bostonian Ted Kennedy finds his way into the mix?

Trading Tejada bringing good karma for Orioles

As an Orioles fan, I was absolutely thrilled the day the Orioles finally dumped the excess baggage that was Miguel Tejada, shipping him off to Houston in a six-player deal. I was so sick and tired of his negative attitude. Not once did I ever feel sympathy for a guy who supposedly was a great player stuck on a bad team. His involvement in the Mitchell report, lying about his age (which came out after he had left Baltimore), and his constant pouting never prompted me to feel bad for him.

The day he left, the Orioles clubhouse became more unified, thanks in large part to a youth infusion that was boosted by the arrival of Adam Jones in the Erik Bedard deal with Seattle. Bedard is a fantastic pitcher, but even he was a bit of a sourpuss, mostly keeping to himself.

The Orioles are 22-19, and I am not drinking the Cool-Aid and feeling false hope. The O's are notoriously fast starters and slow finishers, but it's more the fact that they are a young team with very few expectations that leads me to believe they are playing a little over their heads right now. Nevertheless, first-year manager Dave Trembley has the O's playing hard every game, and there is no doubt the team chemistry is much improved. The thing that has impressed me about this year's Orioles, believe it or not, is how they've handled themselves in defeat. They have kept most of their games close and have battled back on a number of occasions. They have also managed to stay upbeat and have, to this point at least, avoided any major losing streaks.

As the season progresses the Orioles will be tested more and more. They may crumble as they seem to do almost every year, but at least they will stick together. Even if they fall apart.

NFL needs to keep applying pressure to solve Patriot games

While it's annoying to see U.S. Senators sticking their nose into NFL business, I can live with Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter keeping the heat on the Patriots to keep digging into their shady past (and present). The NFL Network recently aired some footage of some of the game tapes former video assistant Matt Walsh turned over to the league, and it only enhanced the scumminess of an already pitiful situation. And so where to begin?

The one excuse that bothers me the most is that these tapes are useless and have no bearing on the game. Bill Belichick has been doing this ever since he got to New England in 2000, so this is just another dirty habit of his. My question keeps being, if the tapes aren't used for any advantage, then why need them in the first place? And even if halftime adjustments aren't able to be made using the tapes, what about the games against division rivals, when the Patriots would play them a second time that same season?

It always puzzled me how nobody receivers like David Patten, David Givens, and Troy Brown consistently got so open over the years. If they weren't pushing off, they simply knew where to be in advance. And 15 second-half screen passes in Super Bowl XXXIX against the Eagles? I don't care if Jim Johnson walked over to Bill Belichick and told him he was going to blitz every play, that's simply not right.

Unfortunately we will never know how and when those tapes were used, but more answers are sure to come. The Rams feel cheated and feel that their Super Bowl XXXVI loss to New England ruined their once-formidable enterprise. That's why it's good to see Specter and NFL officials prying as much as possible to get to the bottom of this. The Patriots keep trying to brush it off and say the issue is dead, but when I see Willie McGinest giving lame half-denials in interviews (this, by the way, the same McGinest who once faked an injury to grant New England an extra timeout in a critical game against the Colts), I can't help but wonder if the players knew about and ultimately benefitted from these spy tactics.

So Mr. Specter and the NFL, keep applying the pressure. Unlike the Super Bowl, the Pats won't have an easy out against this all-out blitz.

Who tops list of NFL's biggest dirtbags?

Whenever I think the word "dirty" in the NFL I immediately think of Rodney Harrison. It's hard to imagine how most football fans don't readily agree that Harrison is the most hated player in the game. It started for me in 1999 when Harrison took the cheapest of cheap shots at Trent Green, taking out his knees, ending his season and ultimately, changing the course of history for that Rams team. Of course, Harrison plays for the Patriots, who have a plethora of bottom-feeders.

Meanwhile, I don't want to even include Pacman Jones and Chris Henry in this discussion. They are troubled individuals, to say the least, and their problems off the field are far too well-documented to even get into detail here.

Joey Porter has always been a player I've loathed, from his foul mouth to his even fouler antics. Somewhere between him ruffling up every pregame warmup by the opposing team, spitting in William Green's face, and shoving Todd Heap so hard he missed half the season with an ankle injury I guess I conjured up some negative feelings toward Porter.

Leonard Little can't not draw your ire considering what he did in 1998, when he drove drunk and was in an accident that resulted in a woman's death. Little served four months in jail, but apparently that didn't seem to teach him a lesson, as he later incurred another DWI arrest.

And of course, without rambling on too much here, I can't omit Kyle Turley from this list. Turley recently blew up on Dan Lebatard's radio show, dropping an F-bomb directed at fellow former NFLer Robert Smith. Turley was a hothead during his playing days. He will be most remembered for ripping off and throwing Damien Robinson's helmet during a 2001 game, then later erupting at Mike Martz and threatening to kill him after Martz cut him from St. Louis.

Now that I've aired out some of my dirty laundry players, I'd like to hear your thoughts of who some of the most hated players in the game are.

Are the Rays for real?

It’s hard for me not to call them the Devil Rays. The team name they carried from 1998 to 2007, a 10-year stretch when they incurred nine last-place finishes and never won more than 70 games in a season. A team that fed the Yankees and Red Sox double-digit wins each year yet always seemed to beat up on my team, the Orioles.
But now they are simply the “Rays”. A new name, and apparently a new feeling surrounding the team. Their bullpen is much improved, complementing a strong young starting rotation. Their lineup isn’t exactly Murderers Row, but is filled with up-and-coming players like Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton.
Of course, they don’t throw money at players like the Red Sox and Yankees do, and never once has a baseball god even batted an eyelash towards the Rays. So it’s almost impossible to think they have a real shot in the AL East.
But maybe one day, when the Red Sox actually have something go wrong for them, or when the Yankees finally miss the playoffs after their annual mediocre start, the Rays will stand up and be counted for as an American League playoff contender.
The talent is there, but there is a ways to go. The Rays are making more and more believers every day.

OUCH! Take a look at some Japanese baseball collisions

Maybe they play the game harder over in Japan. Or maybe just differently. Or maybe they're just plain clumsy. But if you watch this video of some of the best (or worst) baseball collisions in this video from Japan, you see a contrast in style to the American game.

At any rate, this video, which I happened to just find while perusing YouTube, is enhanced by this great Japanese song. The video is about eight minutes long, which is asking a lot to watch the whole thing, but if you're in a hurry, my favorite collision happens at about the 4:19 mark.

So without further ado, here you go:

Dungy aims to finish his coaching career where it started

The scenario doesn't seem to play out for guys like Tony Dungy, even though he is one of the most revered men in all of football. Dungy had his fair share of heartbreak in Tampa Bay as a head coach. After all, he built a championship team, only to see his successor Jon Gruden reap the rewards. He has also dealt with his own personal tragedy, with his son James taking his own life in 2005. Yet Dungy has found inner peace within his faith and has stayed strong through it all.

So imagine this. Dungy standing on the podium in the middle of Raymond James Stadium, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in his final game as head coach in the city where his legacy began. After turning the Buccaneers from laughingstock to powerhouse, Dungy gets to ride off into the sunset a la John Elway and Jerome Bettis, and do so in the same place his journey began.

The Colts have as good a shot as anyone to win it all in 2008, and even if they fall short next year Dungy will retire as a world champion regardless. But the Colts want to show everyone they were not a one-hit Super Bowl wonder. Dungy, who became the first African-American head coach to win a Super Bowl, could find his own poetic justice if his team captures Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa Bay next February.

I hope the Red Sox repeat... their 2006 season

You couldn't have been fooled by the title. Certainly, you all remember the way the Red Sox's 2006 season unfolded. The first half was similar to last year and this year, with the very real possibility of another World Series title. But then came the downfall.

Injuries started piling up, some of the bizarre variety. David Ortiz came down with an irregular heartbeat and missed some time. Jon Lester was diagnosed with cancer after complaining of back pain. Josh Beckett was getting rocked in his first season in the AL. Before you knew it, Eric Hinske was a regular in the lineup and Devern Hansack had cracked the starting rotation. While the Yankees were busy with their annual sob story ("oh, we showed SO much character bounding back from a .500 start to reach the playoffs with a $200 million payroll, isn't it just heartwarming?"), the Tigers swept America's hearts with their surprise playoff berth and subsequent run to the World Series. The Red Sox were home for October.

So could that dream become a reality again in 2008? Curt Schilling is out until at least July. Mike Lowell, Sean Casey, and Josh Beckett have already spent time on the disabled list. At times even during a 17-12 start, the Red Sox have, dare I say, looked beatable. Yet we all know that come the second half, they have the almighty powers above on their side, which is the toughest foe of all to beat.

But before this recent high the Sox have gone on, believe it or not (I'm still trying to convince myself, actually) Boston baseball fans suffered a few late-season meltdowns. So I for one will be keep my fingers crossed that history does indeed repeat itself. And that would mean that the word "repeat" does not get uttered once we reach October.

Giants' White House visit brings smiles

It was a typical day for Boston sports. Another baseball god smiling on the Red Sox and pissing on the Blue Jays. The Celtics clobbered the Hawks. The Bruins were probably issued a pardon from the NHL and somehow found out they weren't technically eliminated from the playoffs.

But then I saw this.


And it certainly brought a smile to my face. I remembered back to that oh-so-happy evening of February 3, 2008, when the Patriots' run at history* was mercifully denied by yet another Manning. Imagine soon-to-be-former President Bush giving a speech on sportsmanship with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick standing behind him, about to present him with a "190" jersey to symbolize going 19-0. Throw that into the mix with everything else going on right now in Boston sports and it could make enough people sick to represent a national outbreak of the Ebola virus.

But because of Eli Manning and David Tyree's heroics, an otherwise-downtrodden late April evening serves as a reminder that indeed, cheaters never prosper (at least since 2004, anyway) and sometimes nice guys DO finish first. Thank you, Giants.

Does Hart to Indy equal Alexander to N.E.?

The Colts definitely need depth at running back, and they got a pretty solid back in the 6th round in Michigan's Mike Hart in the draft. The Colts were rumored to be interested in Shaun Alexander, but now maybe that interest has diminished. Hart is a productive player who should fit nicely into the Colts system. So guess who the other team rumored to be interested in Alexander the Not-So-Great is? Of course, the New England Patriots.

Alexander appears way past his prime, but things have a funny way of working out for players like that in New England. Since the Patriots couldn't rub it in to the Dolphins by stealing either Zach Thomas or Jason Taylor, they may try and rejuvenate Alexander's career to prove a point. Belichick will never let the media and fans' animosity over Spygate go, so he will keep going for players like Alexander to show off his so-called genius "system".

I hope for Alexander's sake he maintains some integrity and goes to a team with a young running back core to mentor them while still providing productive yardage, but for a guy entering his ninth season and still without a Super Bowl ring on his finger, he may take the easy way out and pull a Junior Seau.

At this moment I still have a lot of respect for Shaun Alexander, but that could all change with one quick bolt to the Patriots.

Seau's return to the Patriots would be pathetic

A return to the New England Patriots by Junior Seau, who is currently unsigned, would be nothing short of pathetic, and also quite hypocritical. Seau, who has long craved a Super Bowl ring, is still in search of his first one. Surely he assumed he could get one the easy way by signing up with the Patriots, but it hasn't worked out that way. Now with the Patriots drafting a pair of linebackers this past weekend (let's face it, even their sixth-round pick, Bo Ruud, will probably end up in Canton seeing how as his coach will alert him of all the opponents' plays before they are run), a return by Seau would only spot him a part-time role. For a guy who rants on about his passion for the game, he might even be, dare I say, selling himself short.

Seau is 39, but he may be able to find more playing time elsewhere. Let's say a team like Indianapolis came calling. Last I checked the Colts were pretty good but could use some help at linebacker, and it's not as if a guy like Seau couldn't live with playing for Tony Dungy. But obviously he is so in love with Bill Belichick's "system*" that such a scenario is unlikely. Love for the game? Or just love for the quickie ring?

If Junior comes back as the senior citizen that he is, it would be nothing short of weaseling, a way to just put in enough reps to try and get that long-awaited ring the easy way. Seau, who once retired for a few days after Miami cut him and no one wanted anything to do with him, would lose the last ounces of respect that anyone should even have for him now. If he really was the heart and soul of the Chargers all those years, what a weak heart and soul that was. Seau was part of some pretty awful teams, including a 1-15 squad in 2000, but that doesn't mean he deserves a ring any more than the next guy. Going to the Patriots should not make anyone root for you, because you are part of the problem.

If Seau returns for his 19th season, it would be just the opposite of heartwarming. It would be a pathetic rouge to make one last run at it for the most hated team in football.

Prise du jour: Reed Johnson goes all out vs. Nats

This is simply an appreciation of one of the finest catches I've seen. Reed Johnson, the scrappy center fielder for the Chicago Cubs, went all out in left-center to take extra bases away from the Nationals' Felipe Lopez in a tie game in the 5th inning on Friday.

Johnson is hardly known for his bat but earned a reputation as a throw-your-body-around type gamer with the Toronto Blue Jays. His catch against Washington was one of the finest you will see by an outfielder, between the distance he had to cover and the full out extension he had to make to reach the ball.

Here is the clip of that amazing catch, with broadcast calls courtesy of WGN Radio. Enjoy.

Chiefs come up big in Draft with Dorsey, Albert

The Kansas City Chiefs in my mind had one of, if not the, strongest drafts this past weekend. While losing Jared Allen hurts, they utilized the pick they acquired from the Minnesota Vikings and selected one of the best offensive lineman in the draft, this after they took a major step toward replacing Allen by selecting perhaps the best defensive lineman in the draft. Defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey and offensive guard Branden Albert will be plugged in immediately to the Chiefs lineup, as Kansas City has a major uphill climb after losing its last nine games in 2007.

For a team that has so many holes to fill, the Chiefs also added a top-notch cornerback in Virgina Tech's Brandon Flowers in the second round, then plucked Jamaal Charles, a running back from Texas, in the third round. After Ty Law was cut and Priest Holmes retired, depth at the cornerback and running back positions was extremely thin.

The Chiefs had 12 draft picks overall, and it would be no surprise if all of them were with the club come opening day. The Chiefs could have as many as eight new starters next year after a tumultuous end to last season.

Additionally, I will admit that often times you can't grade a draft class until after the ensuing season, but the Chiefs' success, or lack thereof, should be evident even sooner, considering the fact that many of these rookies could be asked to contribute right off the bat. My expectation is that like many young teams, the Chiefs will go through growing pains early and often, but the more experience their youngsters get, the stronger they will become as a team. If Dorsey, Albert, and Flowers can adjust quickly, the Chiefs rebuilding process should go smoothly. If not, there could be some lean years ahead in Kansas City.