RIP: Carl "Delano" Peterson "LTGMIPS" (LONGEST TENURED GM IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS) (BUT NO MO!):
King Carl came to the Chiefs with Marty Shottenheimer in 1989, replacing the nightmarish Jack "Worlds of Chiefs" Steadman and Frank "Crash" Gansz regime. Carl ran the Philadelphia Stars in the old USFL, and also worked for the Philadelphia Eagles. He must have learned a lot in Philly, because King Carl conducts himself like a cross between Jimmy Hoffa and Tony Soprano. I have mixed feelings about Carl. He's done some bad; he's done some good; he's done a whole lot better than I thought he would; so why don't I treat him like I should? Carl has brought us great players like DT, Marcus Allen and Joe Montana. He's pulled diamonds from the rough like Dante Hall, Donnie Edwards and Brian Waters. He's bullied draft picks and their agents. He's systematically pounded season ticket holders with ticket price increases year after year. He's told the people of Kansas City that only season ticket holders are authentic "real" Chiefs fans. He's sustained a childish pissing contest with the local media through his mouthpiece "Rufus Dawes" on the official Chiefs Web site. He's been in charge more than twenty years with no AFC Championships or Super Bowl appearances. Every other team in the AFC West has made it to the Super Bowl (including Seattle) since King Carl took over the reins. On December 15, 2008, a date that will live in Chiefs Lore as Freedom Monday, at 4pm the Chiefs released the following statement:
Carl Peterson resigns as Chiefs general manager By ADAM TEICHER of The Kansas City Star Chiefs president/general manager Carl Peterson resigned today effective at the end of the season. “On behalf of my family and the entire Kansas City Chiefs organization, I want to thank Carl for his two decades of service to the Chiefs,” Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said. “Both Carl and I agreed that immediately initiating the search for the next Chiefs general manager would be the best thing for the future of the organization, and he will be resigning following the 2008 season.’’ Hunt said the search for a new general manager will begin immediately. Vice President Denny Thum will serve as the Chiefs' interim president and general manager."
Carl has truly been an enigma, a two headed monster. Two sides of a very twisted coin. Here's a list of the King Carl Good Vs. King Carl Bad, and which side wins out:
1) Carl's Draft Record:
Good: Drafted Derrick Thomas as his first draft pick in 1989. Also drafted Tim Grunhard, Dave Szott, Dale Carter, Will Shields, Larry Johnson, John Tait, Jared Allen, Donnie Edwards, Dante Hall, Derrick Johnson, Tony Gonzalez and Brandon Flowers.
Bad: Drafted Percy Snow, Trezelle Jenkins, Harvey Williams, Greg Hill, Victor Riley, Sylvester Morris, and Ryan Sims, all as first rounders. To be fair, Larry Johnson looked like a bad pick until 2005. All ranged from disastrous to lukewarm, except for Riley, who's a convict, and Morris, who (in fairness to King Carl), got hurt during his rookie year. Winner: King Carl's draft record is more bad than good with too many first round washouts. We won't even talk about second rounders like William "Crispy" Bartee, Kris Wilson, Junior Siavii or Mike Cloud.
2) Player Acquisitions through Free Agency or Trades:
Good: Mike Webster, Steve DeBerg, Dan Saleaumua, Barry Word, Joe Montana, Marcus Allen, Louie Aguiar, Joe Phillips, Rich Gannon, Mark Collins, James Hasty, Pete Stoyanovich, Kimball Anders, Willie Davis, Tony Richardson, Joe Horn, Shawn Barber, Priest Holmes, Willie Roaf, Trent Green, Patrick Surtain and Casey Wegman.
Bad: Brought in convicts, gold bricks and losers including Brock Middlebrook, Chester McGlocklin, Derrick Alexander, Carlton Gray, Cris Dishman, Lin Elliott, Daniel Pope, Dan Williams, Mark McMillan, Tamarick Vanover, Bam Morris, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac, Ray Crockett, Glen Cadrez and Vonnie Holliday. Let good players go like Rich Gannon, Joe Horn, Neil Smith, Albert Lewis and Donnie Edwards. Winner: This is a close one, but I think Carl's acquisitions have done a little more good than bad. Very little more.
The best thing King Carl did is get the ship righted, for awhile, anyway. The Chiefs were an NFL doormat until his arrival. That's about 16 years, folks, and the value of that task cannot be understated. The Chiefs had a great regular season track record in the 90's, and got one game away from the Super Bowl with Joe Montana in 1993. Carl's down side is twofold. First, he unflinchingly raised ticket and parking prices year after year after year after year after year.......after year. With ticket prices up to around $90 a game, season tickets are out of reach of the average working slob Chiefs fan. Secondly,King Carl has been infamous for his heavy handed management style. Many players, agents and other NFL GM's loathe him. King Carl has a reputation as a ruthless, penny pinching belligerent bully. King Carl's most famous confrontation was in the final contract negotiations with first round pick John Tait and his agent Ethan Locke. Carl brought them in to sign the final contract agreement, as Tait was one of the last NFL first round hold outs who was unsigned before 1999 training camp. King Carl told Tait (a seriously devout Mormon from BYU) to SIT THE F*#K DOWN AND SHUT THE F*$K UP during the negotiations. Of course, this went over real big with Tait. He got up and left Arrowhead with his agent and vowed to sit out the 1999 season so he could re-enter the draft in 2000. Tait's agent Ethan Locke said: "None of you guys would like to be treated like we were treated. He used the 'F' word four or five times when he was yelling at John and trying to intimidate him. John's a strong Mormon. After the second one, he stood up and said this is over. And you know what? We're going home tonight, and that's not a threat. It's unfortunate for John and the Chiefs and the fans. It takes a lot of nerve for a 24-year-old kid to say no to $4 million on principle." King Carl had to fly out to Arizona to beg forgiveness from Tait, Locke, and Tait's mom and dad. In 2004 when Tait had the opportunity to go free agent, he immediately bolted for the Chicago Bears and a $14 million bonus. In 1998, King Carl hatched a plan to out-Raider the Raiders, bringing in players who had talent, but were locker room cancers or outright criminals. The choice to bring in such players tarnished the Chiefs image, who have always been seen by the fans as the antithesis of the evil Raiders "Just Win Baby" philosophy and methodology. Under the guidance of Dick Vermeil, the Chiefs have cleaned up their locker room and gotten rid of all the crybabies, loafers and selfish players. Amazingly, the 2003 pre-season went down quietly and happily. First round pick Larry Johnson actually signed before camp opened, and Priest Holmes got the new contract he wanted before the home opener. Carl also gets kudos for his use of NFL Europe to develop players like Mike Maslowski and Dante Hall. He also is one of the few GMs to watch the arena leagues and the CFL to develop raw talent. Now Carl has gone full circle. He built a team up from doormat status, only to see it slip back to a laughingstock during the 2007-2008 season. Losers of 21 out of the last 23 games, the only team worse in the league is Detroit, who's last victory, ironically, was in 2007 against Carl's Kansas City Chiefs. Carl made buckets of money for the Hunt family, and will live comfortably in retirement, so don't feel too awfully sorry for him. His parachute is golden, and he'll survive just fine, thank you very much..
King Carl has been wonderful making mega-bucks for Chiefs Owner Lamar Hunt. He's been brutal on the average Chiefs fan in terms of squeezing blood from the turnip. Tony Soprano would be proud of Carl's extortion racket. In 2004 King Carl raised ticket prices for the 14th time in 15 years as Chiefs GM. When Carl took over in 1988, the average Chiefs ticket cost $16.50. Now in 2004 the average ticket price is $67.16. That's more than a quadruple increase in 15 years. The only year tickets weren't increased was 1999 and 2005, because in 1998 and 2004 the Chiefs went 7-9, missed the playoffs and finished next to last in the AFC West. The increase from 2003 to 2004 was 15%, the highest one year jump in franchise history. That's not all, King Carl has been gouging on parking too, charging up to $24 to park in a reserved lot. Hell, the Chiefs don't even own those parking lots! The taxpayers of Jackson County own them and bear the cost to maintain them too! There's no doubt that like the rest of the NFL bigwigs, King Carl and Uncle Lamar are greedy bastards. Lamar Hunt is a multi-millionare. How much more money does he need, anyway? And there's no doubt that Chiefs fans are stupid, blindly loyal and incredibly gullible as season ticket renewal rates have only recently been affected by the obscene increases. In fact, leading up to the 2006 season the Chiefs are advertising to sell season tickets. I suppose I'm just as guilty. Its become a major struggle to come up with $2200 bucks for my 3 seats and parking pass. That's a lot of scratch for ten games, and two of those games don't even count (exhibition season). The Chiefs have not won a playoff game in sixteen years. It would be nice to get some bang for the bucks. Who knows how much tickets will cost if they ever actually win another playoff game or (God Forbid) another Super Bowl?
The Carl Timeline:
Published by the Kansas CityStar, here is an excellent timeline on King Carl History A timeline of important dates in Carl Peterson's career with the Kansas City Chiefs: •Dec. 19, 1988: Carl Peterson hired by Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt. •Jan. 24, 1989: Peterson makes first significant move, hiring Marty Schottenheimer as head coach. •April 23, 1989: Peterson selects linebacker Derrick Thomas with his first draft pick as Chiefs president. •Jan. 5, 1991: Chiefs make first playoff appearance since 1986, only their second since 1971. •Dec. 28, 1991: Chiefs defeat Raiders 10-6 in the first playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium. •April 20, 1993: Peterson acquires quarterback Joe Montana in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. •June 9, 1993: Peterson signs running back Marcus Allen. •Jan. 2, 1994: Chiefs clinch first AFC West title since 1971 with a 34-24 win over Seattle. •Jan. 23, 1994: Chiefs lose AFC championship game in Buffalo 30-13. A timeline of important dates in Carl Peterson's career with the Kansas City Chiefs. •Dec. 24, 1994: Chiefs qualify for the playoffs for the fifth straight time with a 19-9 win over the Raiders. •Dec. 24, 1995: Chiefs finish 13-3 and win the AFC West. •Dec. 21, 1997: Another 13-3 season and their third AFC West title in five years. •Jan. 11, 1999: Schottenheimer resigns as Chiefs head coach. •Jan. 22, 1999: Peterson hires Gunther Cunningham as head coach. •Dec. 5, 1999: Chiefs defeat Denver 16-10, marking the 100th victory in the 1990s. •Jan. 2, 2000: Kansas City leads the NFL in home paid attendance for the sixth straight season. •Oct. 2, 2000: Chiefs defeat Seattle 24-17 at Arrowhead with 4,391 fans in Kauffman Stadium watching a simulcast. The 82,893 fans at the Sports Complex is the team's largest ever on-site attendance. •Dec. 17, 2000: Peterson receives a five-year contract extension. •Jan. 3, 2001: Reports leak that Peterson is trying to hire old friend and mentor Dick Vermeil. •Jan. 4, 2001: Cunningham learns via Internet reports he will be fired. •Jan. 5, 2001: Peterson announces he has fired Cunningham. •Jan. 10, 2001: NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue rules that the Chiefs must give the St. Louis Rams a second- and third-round draft choice to hire Vermeil. •Jan. 12, 2001: Peterson hires Vermeil as the team's ninth head coach. •Jan. 9, 2006: Peterson hires Herm Edwards as the 10th coach in franchise history. •Dec. 15, 2008: Peterson resigns.
George Blowfish Pretends to Be King Carl:
I have always loved to tweak Carl. I can't help it. For the past few years I've been a member of various Chiefs fan bulletin boards. These boards discuss virtually every move the Chiefs make, on and off the field. King Carl and his ghost written mouthpiece Rufus Dawes are often times the topic of conversation. Below are several letters I've written either talking about King Carl, or pretending to be him. I will miss Carl very much, as I've had great fun pretending to be him these past 20 years. All are in the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format:
King Carl on Bi-State II King Carl on NFL Trading Deadline King Carl's Management Postulates How To Speed Read Rufus Dawes Carl's 2004 Year End Letter to Fans King Carl's Contract Extension as GM King Carl Lists His Favorite Accomplishments King Carl Posing as Rufus Dawes King Carl's Answering Machine King Carl Relaxes After the Draft King Carl On Free Agency King Carl On Stadium Lease King Carl Signs Derrick Johnson Rufus Dawes Warning about 2005 Season King Carl on Eve of 2005 Season King Carl After Loss in Buffalo King Carl On KC Superbowl Bid King Carl After Loss to NY Giants King Carl Picks a New Head Coach King Carl Fought The Law And The Law Won Rufus Dawes on Herm Edwards Rufus Dawes and His Thesaurus King Carl After Loss to Cleveland King Carl After Playoff Loss At Indy Rufus Dawes-Gasm King Carl Says Goodbye