Chief Weapon

Suppose he'd had three years to settle into a basketball career. What could have happened then? Suppose he'd had one year of playing just basketball. He always played his best basketball at the end of the season, when his body and mind were acclimated to the sport again. What if the end of one basketball season were the start of the next? Wouldn't he be better? How much better? Who knows?

"As it is, I wouldn't mind trying the two sports some time," Gonzalez says. "I've never talked to the Chiefs about it, so I don't know what they'd think, but it would be something to try."

What would Vince Lombardi say? Lou Holtz? Tony Robbins? Don't they talk about reaching your potential? How do you reach your potential if you never try? Gonzalez already has a court at his house in the Kansas City suburbs. Sometimes he shoots jumpers to settle his mind. He also plays basketball every day during the off-season, often with teammates.

"I've dunked on about half the team," he says. "The other half, mostly the big guys like Chester McGlockton and Derrick Ransom, they've already told me that if I try on them, they'll hurt me."

Oh, yes, and the part about Roy Williams? Gonzalez says he went to the Kansas game. He also checked the message. "What'd it say?" someone asked.

"It was some droughts about playing against the Steelers," Gonzalez said. "Some inspirational stuff. He wished me luck. He didn't say he needed another player."

O.K., football for now. He might as well go ahead and become a superstar.