Kansas City king

Sporting News, The, Feb 12, 2001 by Joe Posnanski

Says Peterson: "I talked with him just about every Friday that he was in St. Louis. And he would tell me, `We're getting better. I can feel it.' That didn't show up in wins and losses those first two years, but you could see how much that team had grown that third season."

Vermeil plans to use a similar blueprint in Kansas City. He does believe the Chiefs are further along than the Rams were physically, but even that he says cautiously. He doesn't want to add any fuel to the city's white-hot optimism. Hey, the Chiefs did go 7-9 last season. They have no running back like Faulk and have not had a 1,000-yard rusher since 1991. The defense, minus the late Derrick Thomas, simply stopped making big plays last year. And, perhaps most urgent, the Chiefs are bumping their heads against the ceiling of the salary cap. They could have real trouble re-signing their franchise offensive lineman, guard Will Shields.

Then there's the biggest issue of all: Grbac. He comes off perhaps the best statistical year ever for a Chiefs quarterback, and he is due a $10 million bonus early in March, which the team cannot afford to pay. The team probably will ask Grbac to rework his contract, and he does seem eager to stay in Kansas City, so he is expected to renegotiate.

Still, there are many skeptics in Kansas City who believe Grbac is not a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback, and certainly not the type of quarterback to lead a high-flying, quick-decision, multidimensional offense, like they have in St. Louis.

Vermeil says Grbac has what it takes. "I like Elvis a lot," Vermeil says. "I really do. That's not a phony thing. I'm not just saying that because he's here. I've been a fan of his since college. And I want him back. Definitely."

Despite all those concerns, runaway hopes still bounce around this team. Tony Gonzalez, the Chiefs' All-Pro tight end, echoes what most of the players and fans are thinking when he says: "We have the nucleus to go to the Super Bowl this year. I hope people understand that. We're not rebuilding. We're ready to go."

It's that kind of expectation, that kind of talk, that Vermeil never has faced before. When he came to Philadelphia, the Eagles were a joke, and he was called a "nobody." When he arrived in St. Louis, the Rams were the losingest team in the 1990s, and he was called an old man. He was able to build both of those teams quietly.

There will be nothing quiet about expectations in Kansas City.

"I've not seen anything quite like this since we brought in Joe Montana to be our quarterback," Peterson says. "People are genuinely excited. They're thinking Super Bowl. And I would never want to discourage our fans.... I would hope they would give Dick time to get it done, but let's face it: It is exciting having Dick Vermeil here. He has won everywhere he's been."

No coach has won Super Bowls with two different teams, which seems to tell you how hard it is to re-create magic. Remember Jimmy Johnson in Miami. Now, Mike Holmgren is struggling in Seattle, and George Seifert is finding his way in Carolina. It's such a short fall from coaching genius to talk-radio punching bag. Only four coaches have managed to take different teams to the Super Bowl. One of those, of course, is Vermeil.