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View Full Version : Two sides to sad Green story



Chiefster
05-26-2007, 05:36 AM
As much as I hate agree with :fatlock: and as much as I like Green I had to agree with this for the most part. I feel so dirty.



By JASON WHITLOCK

Columnist

In the interest of fairness, we should spend a day examining the Trent Green fiasco from Carl Peterson’s and the Chiefs’ perspective.
In 2001, when Peterson gave the Rams a first-round draft pick to secure Green’s services, Trent was an unproven, 30-year-old quarterback with 39 TD passes, 19 starts and a surgically repaired knee on his resume.
Based on the recommendation of Dick Vermeil, Peterson and the Chiefs took a flier on Green and made a huge, questionable commitment to a quarterback many pegged as the next Scott Mitchell, the Dan Marino backup who cashed in with the Detroit Lions and flopped.
Peterson backed up his commitment to Green in 2003, handing him a seven-year $50 million contract that included an $11 million to $12 million signing bonus. During his six-year career in Kansas City, it’s safe to assume Peterson and the Chiefs paid Green $25 million to $35 million.
During that same time span, Peterson supported Green with Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, Tony Gonzalez, Willie Roaf, Will Shields, Tony Richardson and Brian Waters, offensive players who could argue they were the best at their positions.
With the exception of finding Green a true No. 1 receiver, Peterson can proudly say that he aided Green in every conceivable fashion.
So where is Green’s loyalty to the Chiefs and Peterson?
Listen, I enjoy beating up on King Carl as much as anyone. He’s been in power much too long, and he’s now clearly a detriment to building a Super Bowl-caliber team. It’s apparent that any success the Chiefs have in the future (and probably in the past, too) will be in spite of Peterson, not because of Peterson.
Having said that, given all that Peterson has done for Green and his family and given Green’s poor play last season, should Green really be at OTAs causing a major distraction?
You can’t turn on ESPN or the NFL Network, click on the Internet or listen to talk radio without seeing/hearing Green or one of his representatives bash Carl Peterson and Herm Edwards.
Is Green truly a victim? Or has he been studying from Vivian Stringer’s playbook?
Herm “Don’t Get It Twisted” Edwards said something very interesting Wednesday. He respectfully tried to put the Green situation in perspective.
“Remember, there was a season last year,” Don’t Get It Twisted said. “We keep forgetting that. We played a whole football season. I evaluated this team on the season — how they played, every player. We lose sight of that right now, but we did have a season.
“There are a lot of things said about a lot of people in these circles (media circles) who should be playing,” Herm continued. “Let’s get that straight, too, now. We get amnesia all of a sudden in the offseason. But we did play a whole football season. You (the media) evaluated this team as well as I did. Great thing about it is you’ve got an opinion, but you can’t make any moves. I can, and that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to create competition at certain positions, and it will be fair at all positions.”
Let me translate all of that for you: Don’t forget that Trent Green stunk last season, throwing nine interceptions and seven TDs. Don’t forget that all of you in the media wanted me to play Damon Huard down the stretch, but I was loyal to Trent Green and all that he’d done for the organization the previous five years. Don’t pretend like I’m not doing exactly what I should be doing, given how poorly Trent played last season. I can’t promise Trent the job or even a fair competition given what we saw against Indianapolis. I’m not crazy.
It’s not pretty, but there’s a great deal of truth in what Herm tried to convey politely. Peterson and Herm have been loyal to Trent. They gave him market-value money, a good supporting cast, and they stuck with him over the objections of the media, many Chiefs fans and common sense last season.
Is it too much to ask of Trent Green to repay that loyalty by sitting quietly while Peterson tries to bilk the Dolphins out of a fourth-round draft pick or a veteran player who can help the Chiefs this year?
Does Green owe the Chiefs nothing?
Now, look, I’m on Trent’s side, mostly because there’s a bigger issue at stake (Peterson needs to go), but there is a side to Carl’s story. Let’s be fair here. Green is acting spoiled and petulant. He’s failing to recognize that Peterson, Herm and Kansas City have been good to him, too.
As much as he says he understands the Chiefs’ right to go in a younger direction at quarterback, it’s obvious Green is upset by the decision. He wants to take his ball, go to south Florida and get as far away from Herm’s wing-T offense as possible.
Peterson is so unlikable that Green has almost unanimous support from his teammates and the local media.
“It’s overrated,” Brian Waters said Thursday of loyalty in pro football. “I’ll be honest with you. This is a business. You can be loyal to a point, but after that point you have to do what’s best for you, because that’s what they’re (the teams) going to do.
“…. Trent Green is one of the best football players to ever play in this uniform. You want the best situation for him.”
Waters is a football player. I can understand his sentiment. As a fan, I want whatever gets Peterson fired. As a journalist, as much as it pains me today, I’m obligated to tell you both sides of the story.