Commander-in-Chief

Vermeil has troops for a postseason run

This is the seventh in a series of postcards Sports Illustrated's Peter King will e-mail from his annual NFL training camp tour.

Tuesday, July 30

Team: Kansas City Chiefs

On the University of Wisconsin-River Falls campus 38 miles southeast of the Twin Cities, for Chiefs camp. Kansas City has been at this classic old camp with acres of practice fields under the torrid western Wisconsin sun for 12 years now. Locals still longingly recall getting their babies kissed by Joe Montana and hugged by Derrick Thomas. I haven't visited here in, I think, four years, not since the Chiefs and Saints had the most wicked and violent camp fight -- I swear -- in NFL history. Helmets swinging, cleats kicking, punches flying. Really incredible. Mike Ditka was so ticked off at the Chiefs that he left campus with one practice remaining between the two teams.

A shame. I was too late for the lunch because of interviews. (How dare those players keep me from the most important part of my job -- NFL food critic.) So, dying for a cheeseburger, I went to the Dairy Queen drive-thru in River Falls. Here goes: Entree: Dairy Queen brazier Cheeseburger. (I've always wondered what "brazier'' means. I asked the drive-thru girl, who very politely told me she had no earthly clue.) Good burger, with a slice of melting American cheese. I'm sure there's much about this that's bad for me, but quite frankly I don't care. Grade: B-. Vegetables: Sliced pickles. Fries. Quite delectable. They make a nice fry at the Queen. Grade: B. Drink: Coke. Ice. Crucial, on a 96-degree afternoon. Grade: B. Dessert: I haven't had a Mister Misty freeze in some time, and either they're worse than I remember or I put the freeze up on some cold-drink pedestal that it couldn't possibly live up to. The lemon-lime-with-vanilla-ice-cream mix was passably good, but it clogged the straw too much. Grade: C+. Overall: B-. Slightly disappointing, but I can't complain. My expectations weren't exactly Ruth's Chris-high.

1. I think Willie Roaf had better accelerate the old rehab on his reconstructed left knee. He looked like Walter Brennan at practice this morning.

2. I think the most impressive player I saw out there Tuesday, by a mile, was fourth-round fullback Omar Easy from Penn State. He smacked shoulder pad-on-shoulder pad ("CRACK!!!'') into cornerback Eric Warfield turning upfield, and he shows lots more shiftiness, speed and running smarts than he ever did at State College. I'm amazed he was a fourth-round pick. The kid has first-round ability. "I was definitely undervalued at Penn State, and in the draft," he told me after a brutal session. Dick Vermeil gave Tony Richardson a breather this morning, and so Easy got the bulk of the work. By the looks of the river of sweat flowing off him, it wasn't very Easy.

3. I think Todd Collins keeps getting chances here to solidify his backup status. Trent Green was given the day off to be with his wife during some surgery on her side of the family, so Collins got another shot this morning. I'm not impressed. Jonathan Quinn could bump Collins, and Joe Germaine hit a 45-yard strike late in practice that couldn't have made Collins very comfortable.

4. I think Tony Gonzalez is not going to be here for a very long time. In fact, if you come to River Falls for the purpose of trying to get his autograph or a photo, forget it. I don't see him making it to camp at all. He wants a long-term deal, with the chance to play basketball in the offseason. The Chiefs are offering a year at $3.05 million, the franchise tender offer for tight ends and want him to forget hoops. This gulf's wide, folks.

5. I think camp felt pretty empty Tuesday. No Green. No Gonzalez. No Ryan Sims, the holdout first-rounder. But two of my favorite NFL names are here: second-year cornerback Central McClellion and third-year DE Jabbar Threats. And I also noted that both kickers in camp are from Europe: Morten Andersen (a Dane) and Lawrence Tynes (a Scot). Then there's safety Greg Wesley from England -- England, Ark., that is.

OK. I'll stop now.

Wide receiver Dante Hall, whom Vermeil fancies as his latest version of Az Hakim. Hall, a 5-foot-8, 193-pounder fifth-rounder from the 2000 draft, is a former running back/returner who is being coverted to wideout this year. "His numbers out of the scouting combine [in 2000] were all better than Az's numbers -- speed, quickness, agility -- except for his final 40-yard dash time, and that was close,'' said Vermeil after the morning practice.

At wide receiver and at run defense, and it won't be for lack of trying in either area. In the last 16 months the Chiefs have added Eddie Kennison, Snoop Minnis, Marc Boerigter (an Ed McCaffery-type imported from the CFL) and Johnnie Morton at wideout, and Sims and Eddie Freeman at defensive tackle.

A sign on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls reads thusly:

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