BigDaddyCool
08-07-2004, 01:34 PM
MELEE-MOUTHED
Rough play reopens old wounds between Chiefs, Vikings
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
“If you're going to get guys hurt, then there's no reason (to practice against the Vikings).”
Chiefs quarterback Trent Green, upset that tight end Billy Baber hurt his knee in Friday's morning scrimmage
http://www.kansascity.com/images/kansascity/kansascitystar/news/ChiefsCamp_S297_080604_JFS.jpgJOHN SLEEZER/The Kansas City Star
Minnesota defensive tackle Brock Lesnar (left) put pressure on Chiefs quarterback Damon Huard during Friday's scrimmage. Lesnar, a former professional wrestler, drew the Chiefs' wrath when he sacked Huard on one play, leading to several brawls.
MANKATO, Minn. — When the Chiefs and Vikings get together in the preseason, rough play and injuries are starting to become a trend — and the Chiefs aren't happy about it.
Tight end Billy Baber became the Chiefs' latest casualty Friday when he suffered a probable season-ending knee injury. That's not to mention several hard sacks of Chiefs quarterbacks and various melees that ensued on the first day of the teams' annual scrimmages.
Baber, who was tackled after making a catch, was carted off the field because of ligament damage to his left knee. His injury came one year after Minnesota defensive back Rushen Jones tackled Chiefs wide receiver Dameane Douglas, ending his season because of a knee injury. Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil was so upset after that practice that he suggested to a Minnesota official that the Vikings should “shoot (Jones) in the head.”
That incident seemed to be long forgotten; the Chiefs and Vikings played subsequent preseason and regular-season games against one another last year without a problem. But Friday's events — which also included reserve quarterback Damon Huard getting laid out by wrestler-turned-footballer Brock Lesnar — appeared to have reopened old wounds.
Huard sat out the night practice for what the Chiefs said was a hyperextended arm caused by Lesnar's hit.
Chiefs quarterback Trent Green, his own career once interrupted by a serious preseason knee injury, voiced his frustration and questioned how much tackling should be allowed in such practices. Rules can differ about the limits for contact at joint practices.
“Somehow it's going to need to be addressed,” said the normally unflappable Green, who comforted Baber and helped him into the motorized cart that carried him from the field. “I know we talk about it all the time, but the fact of the matter is that we still keep getting guys hurt.
“If you're going to get guys hurt, then there's no reason (to practice against the Vikings). It's better work because you get to come and face another team that plays a different defense. When you get your one-on-one matchups, you're going against different personnel. It's good for the young guys because they get the opportunity to play against somebody for another team. There's a lot of good that can come from it. But if you don't control the tempo, you don't control (physical contact), then there's that risk of getting hurt.''
Green also was upset at what he believed to be excessive contact with reserve quarterbacks Todd Collins and Huard. Collins was pushed to the ground by Minnesota's Chuck Wiley after a play, and Huard was sacked hard by Lesnar, a former professional wrestling star.
Quarterbacks are never to be touched at practice. Chiefs quarterbacks wear bright yellow jerseys designating them as off-limits.
“(Those hits) were by either young guys or guys coming from other professions trying to make an impression,” Green said.
Lesnar, signed recently by the Vikings as a novelty for training camp, was a major figure in the first of two major fights during the morning practice. He tackled running back Jonathan Smith hard. Chiefs center Jonathan Ingram jumped toward Lesnar and began an impromptu wrestling match that set off an even larger melee.
“I've got to prove myself,” Lesnar said. “If it's fighting and clawing and whatever, then that's what I'm going to do.
“I'm here to play football. I'm here to make the team. I'm going 110 percent. I'm not going to dial it down That's the game. We've got full pads on. If that's the tempo they want to play, maybe my tempo is just a little different.”
The next fight started during a special-teams drill when the Chiefs' Julian Battle mugged Minnesota's Kelly Campbell out of bounds. Vermeil, who helped play peacemaker during that brawl, said the Chiefs were to blame.
“We throw a guy out of bounds and then pile on him, you're asking for problems,'' Vermeil said.
The teams had three bench-clearing brawls in the night practice. Two were precipitated by the Chiefs, irritating Vermeil.
“They don't listen to me,'' he said. “I discussed that whole routine before we ever got on the airplane of exactly how we were going to handle fight situations. They said, ‘(Forget) you coach, you don't know what you're talking about, we're going to do it anyway.' I'm (ticked).
“It's a bad reflection on me and everybody else.''
Safety Greg Wesley started one of the bench-clearing fights in the night practice when he grabbed the face mask of Minnesota running back Michael Bennett while attempting a tackle. Wesley, after apologizing to Bennett, said he was retaliating for the earlier Viking hits.
“I didn't know anything about anyone being hurt,” Wesley said. “This is football. This isn't basketball, this isn't baseball. This is a contact sport. You're going to have incidents like that.”
The teams discussed the ground rules for the joint practices. Minnesota coach Mike Tice said they called for no tackling.
“We were not going to grab anybody by the back if they got through a hole clean,” Tice said. “We weren't going to reach and grab. We were going to . . . stop the ball carrier's progress. We were not going to take anyone to the ground, which happens once in a while. We were going to stay up.”
“Every once in a while, an athlete that's not superior is going to go down. It's certainly not done purposely, and I'm sure it happened on both fields. That's why you cut people. I felt both teams worked very hard and physical. They've been in camp awhile, and we've been in camp for a while. Every once in a while a temper or two might flare, but that's nothing bad.”
There were plenty of violations to the no-tackling rule on both sides Friday. The Chiefs withheld halfback Priest Holmes from the full team drills in part to keep him from harm's way.
There seems to be plenty of that when the Chiefs practice against the Vikings.
[source, Kansas City Star]
Rough play reopens old wounds between Chiefs, Vikings
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
“If you're going to get guys hurt, then there's no reason (to practice against the Vikings).”
Chiefs quarterback Trent Green, upset that tight end Billy Baber hurt his knee in Friday's morning scrimmage
http://www.kansascity.com/images/kansascity/kansascitystar/news/ChiefsCamp_S297_080604_JFS.jpgJOHN SLEEZER/The Kansas City Star
Minnesota defensive tackle Brock Lesnar (left) put pressure on Chiefs quarterback Damon Huard during Friday's scrimmage. Lesnar, a former professional wrestler, drew the Chiefs' wrath when he sacked Huard on one play, leading to several brawls.
MANKATO, Minn. — When the Chiefs and Vikings get together in the preseason, rough play and injuries are starting to become a trend — and the Chiefs aren't happy about it.
Tight end Billy Baber became the Chiefs' latest casualty Friday when he suffered a probable season-ending knee injury. That's not to mention several hard sacks of Chiefs quarterbacks and various melees that ensued on the first day of the teams' annual scrimmages.
Baber, who was tackled after making a catch, was carted off the field because of ligament damage to his left knee. His injury came one year after Minnesota defensive back Rushen Jones tackled Chiefs wide receiver Dameane Douglas, ending his season because of a knee injury. Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil was so upset after that practice that he suggested to a Minnesota official that the Vikings should “shoot (Jones) in the head.”
That incident seemed to be long forgotten; the Chiefs and Vikings played subsequent preseason and regular-season games against one another last year without a problem. But Friday's events — which also included reserve quarterback Damon Huard getting laid out by wrestler-turned-footballer Brock Lesnar — appeared to have reopened old wounds.
Huard sat out the night practice for what the Chiefs said was a hyperextended arm caused by Lesnar's hit.
Chiefs quarterback Trent Green, his own career once interrupted by a serious preseason knee injury, voiced his frustration and questioned how much tackling should be allowed in such practices. Rules can differ about the limits for contact at joint practices.
“Somehow it's going to need to be addressed,” said the normally unflappable Green, who comforted Baber and helped him into the motorized cart that carried him from the field. “I know we talk about it all the time, but the fact of the matter is that we still keep getting guys hurt.
“If you're going to get guys hurt, then there's no reason (to practice against the Vikings). It's better work because you get to come and face another team that plays a different defense. When you get your one-on-one matchups, you're going against different personnel. It's good for the young guys because they get the opportunity to play against somebody for another team. There's a lot of good that can come from it. But if you don't control the tempo, you don't control (physical contact), then there's that risk of getting hurt.''
Green also was upset at what he believed to be excessive contact with reserve quarterbacks Todd Collins and Huard. Collins was pushed to the ground by Minnesota's Chuck Wiley after a play, and Huard was sacked hard by Lesnar, a former professional wrestling star.
Quarterbacks are never to be touched at practice. Chiefs quarterbacks wear bright yellow jerseys designating them as off-limits.
“(Those hits) were by either young guys or guys coming from other professions trying to make an impression,” Green said.
Lesnar, signed recently by the Vikings as a novelty for training camp, was a major figure in the first of two major fights during the morning practice. He tackled running back Jonathan Smith hard. Chiefs center Jonathan Ingram jumped toward Lesnar and began an impromptu wrestling match that set off an even larger melee.
“I've got to prove myself,” Lesnar said. “If it's fighting and clawing and whatever, then that's what I'm going to do.
“I'm here to play football. I'm here to make the team. I'm going 110 percent. I'm not going to dial it down That's the game. We've got full pads on. If that's the tempo they want to play, maybe my tempo is just a little different.”
The next fight started during a special-teams drill when the Chiefs' Julian Battle mugged Minnesota's Kelly Campbell out of bounds. Vermeil, who helped play peacemaker during that brawl, said the Chiefs were to blame.
“We throw a guy out of bounds and then pile on him, you're asking for problems,'' Vermeil said.
The teams had three bench-clearing brawls in the night practice. Two were precipitated by the Chiefs, irritating Vermeil.
“They don't listen to me,'' he said. “I discussed that whole routine before we ever got on the airplane of exactly how we were going to handle fight situations. They said, ‘(Forget) you coach, you don't know what you're talking about, we're going to do it anyway.' I'm (ticked).
“It's a bad reflection on me and everybody else.''
Safety Greg Wesley started one of the bench-clearing fights in the night practice when he grabbed the face mask of Minnesota running back Michael Bennett while attempting a tackle. Wesley, after apologizing to Bennett, said he was retaliating for the earlier Viking hits.
“I didn't know anything about anyone being hurt,” Wesley said. “This is football. This isn't basketball, this isn't baseball. This is a contact sport. You're going to have incidents like that.”
The teams discussed the ground rules for the joint practices. Minnesota coach Mike Tice said they called for no tackling.
“We were not going to grab anybody by the back if they got through a hole clean,” Tice said. “We weren't going to reach and grab. We were going to . . . stop the ball carrier's progress. We were not going to take anyone to the ground, which happens once in a while. We were going to stay up.”
“Every once in a while, an athlete that's not superior is going to go down. It's certainly not done purposely, and I'm sure it happened on both fields. That's why you cut people. I felt both teams worked very hard and physical. They've been in camp awhile, and we've been in camp for a while. Every once in a while a temper or two might flare, but that's nothing bad.”
There were plenty of violations to the no-tackling rule on both sides Friday. The Chiefs withheld halfback Priest Holmes from the full team drills in part to keep him from harm's way.
There seems to be plenty of that when the Chiefs practice against the Vikings.
[source, Kansas City Star]