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'A good person' Despite conviction, Chiefs' Vanover will stay on roster
Posted: Wednesday March 01, 2000 09:44 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Tamarick Vanover, who has pleaded guilty to a stolen car charge and promised to cooperate in a wide-ranging federal drug probe, is "a good person" who will remain with the Kansas City Chiefs, a team official said Tuesday. Carl Peterson, the Chiefs' president, general manager and CEO, said the contract of the kick-return specialist was restructured Tuesday, the day before he was supposed to get a $750,000 roster bonus. Vanover's name was mentioned repeatedly in an affidavit in connection with drug charges against a man who was described as his personal assistant. Vanover pleaded guilty last week to aiding and assisting in the sale of a Ford Exhibition that was stolen from Kansas City and sold in Tallahassee, Fla., Vanover's home town. As part of the plea agreement, Vanover promised to tell all he knew about what authorities describe as a "large-scale, organized and structured" drug ring that obtained marijuana and cocaine from sources in Mexico, California and Texas for distribution in Kansas and Missouri. "He's going to be a Chief," Peterson told Kansas City's KMBC-TV while attending an awards ceremony in Philadelphia. "We did some things with his contract that make sense for us and for him," Peterson said. "He's a good young man. I'm a guy like [retired St. Louis Rams coach] Dick Vermeil that believes people should have a second chance. "Tamarick has been a very good player for us and I think a good person. So he's going to get that second opportunity." Vanover, 25, returned two punts for touchdowns last year, including an 80-yarder that made the difference in a 16-10 victory over Denver. He ranked third in the NFL with a 12.3-yard punt return average and 12th in the AFC with a 20.1-yard average return on kickoffs. His two punt return TDs tied the team record he set in 1995.
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