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[Hat Trick]

Please..........

[Flypaste]

Should the Chiefs trade Johnson?

posted: Thursday, February 15, 2007

filed under: NFL

 

Jason Whitlock, one of the two great columnists for the Kansas City Star, makes an interesting -- some would argue unthinkable -- case today: He thinks the Chiefs should consider trading Larry Johnson.

 

"Three years ago, when the Chargers made [LaDainian] Tomlinson the richest running back in the history of the league with a $60 million contract and $20 million in guaranteed bonuses," Whitlock writes, "here's what the Chargers' team president was quoted saying about L.T.: 'LaDainian represents everything you want from a player. He is our role model. Every young player should aspire to be like L.T., the way he carries himself on and off the field. He has demonstrated he can do and will do what it takes to be a winner and to be the best.' "Could Carl Peterson say that about L.J. with a straight face?"

 

As much as Peterson loves Johnson -­ after all, he weathered the heat for drafting the Penn State product when the Chiefs needed anything but a new tailback -- he can't. Johnson has had problems in the past, both with the law and his coaches. When I interviewed Johnson a year ago for a story in ESPN The Magazine, he detailed the lengths he went to in 2004 just to be traded.

 

"It got to the point where I didn't talk to them," Johnson said of his coaches. "And they didn't talk to me." He fought at practice, skipped meetings, didn't pay attention in meetings he did attend, anything to get out of K.C.

 

"He was pissing me off," Tony Gonzalez told me. "He was being a baby."

 

That said, LJ has rehabbed his image nicely the past two years with consecutive 1,700-yard seasons and Pro Bowl appearances. He's a good guy who had issues, did some dumb things and has tried to learn from them. On his own desire, he's become a better teammate and leader, even though Whitlock was told by anonymous teammates that Johnson texts friends during team meetings.

 

Now, some would consider the Chiefs crazy to shop Johnson. He is the face of the team and, unlikely the majority of players on the Chiefs' aging roster, he is entering his prime. But the same case was once made for Herschel Walker. I'm not convinced that rewarding Johnson with an LT-type payday will bring the Chiefs any closer to a Super Bowl. You don't need a top-flight back to win it all. Seven of the past eight champs did so without featuring a runner who averaged 20 carries a game. Guys like Antowain Smith, Kevin Faulk, Michael Pittman, Willie Parker and Charlie Garner have won rings lately. You need a good running back to win it all, not a great one.

 

This trend is bizarre. After all, it's silly to suggest that Tom Brady wouldn't want to hand off to a back like LT or LJ. The superstar back isn't at fault here; it's the cost of a superstar back. As a 1-1A package, Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes rushed for only 93 fewer yards than Tomlinson this year, but together their cap hit was $2 million less than the MVP's $6 million figure.

 

Running back is a star position, and the best want to be paid as stars, which I have no problem with considering their career span, not to mention the recent wave of stories detailing the problems many former players have with their bodies and pensions. LJ deserves a raise. That much is clear. But whether the Chiefs will be closer to a Super Bowl by giving it to him is less so.

[Hat Trick]

TY

[Bill Swerski]

He fought at practice, skipped meetings, didn't pay attention in meetings he did attend, anything to get out of K.C.

 

"He was pissing me off," Tony Gonzalez told me. "He was being a baby."

 

Wow, who woulda thunk that a guy who flashes the "Roc-a-fella" sign after crossing the stripe would act like an obnoxious mister?

 

If LJ does indeed want a raise this year, I'll bet that Peterson gets on the phone with Dominic Rhodes' and Thomas Jones' agents soon.

Edited February 16, 2007 by Bill Swerski

[fitzkek]

Wow, who woulda thunk that a guy who flashes the "Roc-a-fella" sign after crossing the stripe would act like an obnoxious mister?

 

If LJ does indeed want a raise this year, I'll bet that Peterson gets on the phone with Dominic Rhodes' and Thomas Jones' agents soon.

 

It isn't the "Roc-a-fella" sign I don't believe. I think it's actually "LJ." L from left hand, J from right hand.

[CarryTheRock]

LINK

 

I know the media may have made it more of a race issue than said, because I didn't actually see the show but...

 

“I wouldn’t pay attention,” Johnson said of playing under Vermeil. “My eyes, I would be up in the sky. You know, I would be sleeping in my locker. I wouldn’t carry my playbook because I was just trying to get away from this building, you know, when Dick was here.”

 

Carter asked LJ, “Do you think Herm Edwards, being an African-American and you being raised, of course, by an African-American, that you see a lot of similarities in Herm that you saw in your dad that made you open up to him?”

 

LJ’s response: “I think so. I could relate to Herman. I couldn’t do that with the other coaches I had because they had not done it. You know, they haven’t put those pads or they haven’t been in the situation as a young black athlete and know what we had to go through.

 

“You know, when we go out, you know, we like to go out. You know, we like to hang out. We like to have fun. But then you got to worry about the guy around the corner with the gun. You got to worry about this girl on the block. You got to worry about, you know, your parents. You got to worry about your homeboys taking advantage of you.

 

“There’s so much things you got to worry about being a young black athlete. And to be able to have a father like mine and have a coach like Herm, I was able to escape a lot of those realities and find myself in a new ray of light.”

 

That put a sour taste for me on Johnson. Your Coach is your Coach, regardless of if he is from "the block."

[Hat Trick]

Wow, who woulda thunk that a guy who flashes the "Roc-a-fella" sign after crossing the stripe would act like an obnoxious mister?

 

If LJ does indeed want a raise this year, I'll bet that Peterson gets on the phone with Dominic Rhodes' and Thomas Jones' agents soon.

 

 

It's not that he wants one (which I'm sure he does)...it's that he deserves one and Carl has already stated he will get. The "Roc-a-fella" sign is actually in the form of his initials LJ.

 

He's damn good and Whitlock is just rambling like normal, they aren't trading him.

[Hat Trick]

It isn't the "Roc-a-fella" sign I don't believe. I think it's actually "LJ." L from left hand, J from right hand.

 

 

Your belief would be correct

[Bill Swerski]

It's not that he wants one (which I'm sure he does)...it's that he deserves one and Carl has already stated he will get. The "Roc-a-fella" sign is actually in the form of his initials LJ.

 

I thought that he had "Roc-a-fella" shaved into the side of his head during the playoffs?

 

I've seen Jay-Z make a similar sign with his hands, so that's where I made the (apparently incorrect) correlation.

[Hat Trick]

I thought that he had "Roc-a-fella" shaved into the side of his head during the playoffs?

 

I've seen Jay-Z make a similar sign with his hands, so that's where I made the (apparently incorrect) correlation.

 

 

Yes, he hass that shaved, but that's to promote the clothing line with Jay-Z he's partnered with. He's stated on record the sign is for his initials. Him and Jay-Z are buds, LJ bought a condo in NY and is spending the whole summer there hangin with his bud and working on the clothing line. Jay-Z was just throwing his friend a bone maybe? dunno

[Bill Swerski]

Yes, he hass that shaved, but that's to promote the clothing line with Jay-Z he's partnered with. He's stated on record the sign is for his initials. Him and Jay-Z are buds, LJ bought a condo in NY and is spending the whole summer there hangin with his bud and working on the clothing line. Jay-Z was just throwing his friend a bone maybe? dunno

 

 

Check out Jay-Z's hands in this photo. Looks a lot like LJ's initials, no?

 

[Hat Trick]

Check out Jay-Z's hands in this photo. Looks a lot like LJ's initials, no?

 

 

 

Yep, and LJ could have been just saying that at the time as to not to appear to have taken his friends "sign". I'm just saying that I have heard him state that he does it as a way to promote himself and his initials.

 

Also, sure does look alot like the initials LJ, doesn't it? ;-)

Edited February 16, 2007 by Hat Trick

[Bill Swerski]

Yep, and LJ could have been just saying that at the time as to not to appear to have taken his friends "sign". I'm just saying that I have heard him state that he does it as a way to promote himself and his initials.

 

Also, sure does look alot like the initials LJ, doesn't it? ;-)

 

 

I'm sure he's using it to both promote himself and pay homage to his buddy.

 

Anyway, so you think that when LJ wants a new deal, Peterson will give it to him? Not that he doesn't deserve it, but the Chiefs O-line can make a star out of almost anyone and they could save a ton of coin on somebody like Rhodes or Jones. Plus, they're going to need to spend on skill-position offensive talent soon.

[Hat Trick]

I'm sure he's using it to both promote himself and pay homage to his buddy.

 

Anyway, so you think that when LJ wants a new deal, Peterson will give it to him? Not that he doesn't deserve it, but the Chiefs O-line can make a star out of almost anyone and they could save a ton of coin on somebody like Rhodes or Jones. Plus, they're going to need to spend on skill-position offensive talent soon.

 

 

Peterson has said he'll get a new contract, much like he said Gonzo was going nowhere. He's only going to make $800,000 this year I believe. That's laughable.

[GhostFace]

Wow, who woulda thunk that a guy who flashes the "Roc-a-fella" sign after crossing the stripe would act like an obnoxious mister?

 

 

 

 

It isn't the "Roc-a-fella" sign I don't believe. I think it's actually "LJ." L from left hand, J from right hand.

 

 

 

The "Roc-a-fella" sign is actually in the form of his initials LJ.

 

 

 

 

Yes, he hass that shaved, but that's to promote the clothing line with Jay-Z he's partnered with. He's stated on record the sign is for his initials. Him and Jay-Z are buds, LJ bought a condo in NY and is spending the whole summer there hangin with his bud and working on the clothing line. Jay-Z was just throwing his friend a bone maybe? dunno

 

 

I don't have a link, but IIRC, when LJ first started doing the symbol, it was referred to as the "Diamond Cutter". Jay-Z has a clothing line that features the "Diamond Cutter", and I believe that LJ was going to sign with them. When Reebok found out that a player was promoting a symbol on apparel by another company, they freaked out. I think that is when LJ came up with the initials explanation. Also, if anyone cares, it was first conceived by wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, and he's trying to sue, for copyright infringement, anyone who uses the "Diamond Cutter" sign.

 

Also, I believe there is a zero % chance that LJ will be traded.

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

At this point, with the lack of stars on the Vikings offense, why not pull a Herschel deal and get LJ in purple and gold.

[TheGrunt]

At this point, with the lack of stars on the Vikings offense, why not pull a Herschel deal and get LJ in purple and gold.

 

That would do it.

 

However unlikely.