Chiefs vs Bengals

[Chiefster]

It's the season opener, and our beloved Chiefs are at home against an obviously improved Cincy team. I say our revamp "O" line shows up for work and LJ pounds it down their throats in a hard fought slug fest of smash mouth football. I think what will be noticeably different in this game will be the much improved play of the Chiefs over-all "D". This will be the year that they climb out of the cellar.

What say you Chiefs and Bengals fans; sound off!
:hammer: :hammer: :hammer:

[3777]

I'm not sure if this is what you meant, but this should give you the story. Hat's off to the man!

"Chief's Green Has Walked in Palmer's Brace"

The American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament in South Lake Tahoe, Nev., afforded Trent Green time enough to do more than squeeze in a few offseason rounds.

The Chiefs quarterback took the mid-July event as a chance to pull Carson Palmer aside and share some insight with the Bengals quarterback about coming back from reconstructive knee surgery.

"We had a chance to talk a little bit about what training camp was going to be like for him, what the preseason games were going to be like ... with linemen falling around your feet and knees and all of the sudden with a knee brace on," Green said. "Just a lot of the mental stuff that goes on."


An injury similar to the one Palmer suffered in the AFC wild-card playoff game in January cost Green the entire 1999 season and his starting job with the Rams and ultimately led him in 2001 to Kansas City, where he since has flourished.

The two-time Pro Bowl invitee picked up the phone upon learning the extent of Palmer's injury.

"He called me a lot," Palmer said. "He always had some helpful insight. ... Just encouraged me to keep working hard. That nobody can set limits on your rehab. Nobody is going to tell you when you're ready. You're going to be ready when you're ready and work as hard as you physically can and try to get to that date."

The date is Sunday.

Eight months to the day since Dr. Lonnie Paulos repaired tears of the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in Palmer's knee, the 26-year-old will start the season opener against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. He started the Bengals' final two preseason games and played a total of six offensive series.

Green, 36, will make his 81st consecutive and 100th career start.

"I think physically if you look at what he's been able to do, that's pretty much been settled," he said of Palmer. "I don't think anybody has any doubt from a physical standpoint that he's going to be fine."

That Green reached out to Palmer does not surprise Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards.

"Trent's that kind of guy," Edwards said. "He went through that same deal when he got injured with that bad injury with the Rams, and he came off it and came here and has had a very productive career here."

A St. Louis native, Green had signed a four-year, $16.5 million contract after establishing himself as Washington's starter during the 1998 season and was breezing through the 1999 preseason with the Rams when then-Chargers safety Rodney Harrison crashed into his left knee.

Green tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments and lateral meniscus. His backup, Kurt Warner, emerged as the NFL's regular-season MVP by leading the Rams to a 13-3 record and was the MVP of a Super Bowl win.

Green had reconstructive surgery - doctors used a patellar tendon graft to fix the torn ACL rather than a cadaver's tendon, as was used in Palmer's knee - and two follow-up procedures on the injured knee. He returned to practice less than 10 months later but had lost the starting job to Warner by then. He played in eight games in the 2000 season.

"I wanted to get back so fast that it ultimately probably hurt me in the rehab process," Green said. "I wasn't real patient with it."

He underwent a fourth procedure, on a cyst that had developed behind his left knee because of repeated swelling, after that season.

"Carson hasn't had any of that," Green said. "Any time you can come back from that type of surgery and not have to deal with a lot of swelling and setbacks, that's a real positive thing. I think by that happening that alleviates the chance of him having to go back in.

"Now, because it is such a major process, at some point in time, whether it be later in his career, whether it be two, five, seven, 10 years down the road or when he's out of football, more likely than not he's going to have to have another procedure just because of the clean-up factor."

The Rams traded Green and a fifth-round draft pick to Kansas City on April 20, 2001 for a first-round pick. Sunday marks the beginning of his sixth season with the Chiefs and 13th overall.

During his five seasons with Kansas City, Green has 44 regular-season wins and passed for 20,117 yards - second-most in the NFL during that span - with 111 touchdowns and 76 interceptions.

His efforts off the field impress Palmer just as much.

"It's something that has kind of stuck with me, knowing that I went through that situation and knowing that he and a couple other guys helped me out," Palmer said of Green's assistance. "It made me realize I need to be doing the same thing for other guys that get hurt."

[Chiefster]

Yes I believe that's it; thanks. It's great to read a story like this were QB's of opposing teams find the time to treat one another with that kind of respect off the field.
;-)