Herm called out for his "Get over it" comment

**greg3564** · 12-13-2007, 12:53 PM

Herm, have you seen these Chiefs play?

Herm Edwards, you seem like a good guy. Your heart is in the right place and you know your football, no doubt about it. Well, Chiefs fans might doubt it, but I don't. You don't get to where you are -- a coach in the NFL -- without knowing something.

But the following words, which you spoke during a Tuesday news conference, are going to haunt you for as long as you coach the Chiefs. However long that is. And right now, buddy, it's up in the air.

Anyway, here's what you said in reference to the ongoing 4-9 season that just won't end:

"People aren't used to this in Kansas City. Get over it. It happens. It's called life. You can't think that you're too big (that) it can't happen to you. It happens to everybody. The good thing is, we've got a plan and we're going to fix it."

Herm, Herm, Herm. What were you thinking?

This statement is wrong on so many levels. I know it's not easy to get in front of a group of reporters and explain this kind of a season. But there had to be something better you could have said.

Reading love letters from your high school days would have been a better idea.

First, you're talking down to the very fan base that has created sellout crowds at Arrowhead Stadium year after year, through good times and times that haven't been so good. Say what you want about Chiefs fans, but they're loyal. And they care.

So to tell them to "Get over it?" You might want that one back, Herm.

Chiefs fans, like all NFL fans, are aware that the parity in the league leads to ups and downs.

They're also aware, Herm, that you've been a .500 coach in your career and that you've never really experienced one of those "ups."

So where are you coming from? Who are you to tell Chiefs fans to get over it?

You say you have a plan to fix things. OK. What are you going to say? Of course you have a plan. And you work hard at your plan.

Nobody questions you having a plan. But almost every Chiefs fan questions whether you can implement your plan. And whether your plan is good enough to make a difference.

You're an emotional guy so I understand you don't appreciate people questioning your abilities. But, really, why wouldn't people question your abilities at this point? Have you seen your team play?

There's nothing about the Chiefs that is appealing, outside of the play of a few defensive players.

The offense is a shambles. An offense that just a couple of years ago gave fans a great sense of excitement, even if the defense didn't.

You came to Kansas City and changed everything. Some of that is just bad timing. You happened to come along at a time when offensive linemen Will Shields and Willie Roaf were at the end of the line.

But you obviously are one of those "Defense Wins Championships" coaches. Fine. And since you arrived, the Chiefs' defense has gotten better.

The offense, though, has bottomed out. You have enthusiastically gotten behind young quarterback Brodie Croyle for reasons no one can quite understand. You have patched together an offensive line that can't protect the quarterback or open holes for the running game.

Apparently, you have no offensive imagination. Who could think differently after watching your games?

And you have a general manager, Carl Peterson, who is in even hotter water than you are. When Peterson says something to support you, as he did Tuesday by calling you "the right guy" to coach the Chiefs, you should go buy a roll of tape and use it to keep him from talking.

Peterson isn't a guy you want in your foxhole. A recent poll of Chiefs fans showed that 45,678 of 45,679 wanted Peterson gone yesterday. He's buying his mother a nice Christmas present for the one dissenting vote.

The Chiefs have a lot of issues. They have to fix their offensive line. They have to figure out whether Croyle is part of the problem or part of the solution. There's always the ongoing saga of determining what is going on inside the head of Larry Johnson. And the defense, while better, isn't yet where it needs to be.

Peterson is finishing up his 19th season. He is responsible for much of the turnstile success the Chiefs have had over the past couple of decades.

But now that the Chiefs are where they are, is he the man to address the team's many needs?

He hired Edwards and that's not looking so good.

I imagine there are more than a couple KC fans who would like to see them both gone and be, in the immortal words of Edwards, "over it."

Eagle sports columnist Bob Lutz co-hosts "Sports Daily" from 9-11 a.m. weekdays on KFH, 1240-AM and 98.7-FM. Reach him at 316-268-6597 or blutz@wichitaeagle.com.