WELCOME TO KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
After coaching the St. Louis Rams to the Super Bowl and retiring, Dick Vermeil was lured out of retirement and took over as head coach in 2001. Vermeil brought many elements of "The Greatest Show on Turf" from St. Louis to Kansas City's own offense, but much like the Schottenheimer era in the 1990s,
the offense didn't win any playoff games.
The Chiefs went 13-3 in 2003 and their offense, considered by many as one of the most powerful of all time, helped make Kansas City again a favorite to win Super Bowl XXXIX. After starting 9-0, the Chiefs began to lose momentum by November, but they still managed to gain the number two seed in the 2004 playoffs. The mighty homefield advantage of Arrowhead Stadium and their high-powered offense wouldn't lead the Chiefs to glory and the Chiefs lost to the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Divisional playoffs in an offensive shootout in which neither team punted, an NFL playoffs first.
The Chiefs managed to finish the 2004 season with a 7-9 record. For their 2005 campaign, the Chiefs brought in several new players to boost a defense that had finished among the worst units the past three years. The year also saw Larry Johnson start at running back in place of an injured Priest Holmes. But despite winning ten games, the Chiefs became just the fourth team in NFL history to go 10-6 and not reach the playoffs.
A tearful head coach Dick Vermeil announced his retirement before the final game of the 2005 season. Within two weeks, then-New York Jets head coach Herm Edwards had signed a new 4-year contract to coach the Chiefs. The 2006 Chiefs returned to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons, only to lose 23-8 in the Wild Card round against their playoff nemesis, the Indianapolis Colts.
Meanwhile, Chiefs owner and founder Lamar Hunt died on December 13, 2006 due to complications brought on by a ten-year battle with prostate cancer. Hunt was remembered throughout the remainder of the 2006 season all throughout the NFL with moments of silence and ceremonies in Kansas City.
Almost immediately after the Chiefs' painful loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts, the state of the team was brought into question. The Chiefs' off-season began with turmoil over the contract of Tony Gonzalez, and the long-term career of Trent Green in Kansas City. Backup quarterback Damon Huard was signed to a three-year contract in February and Green was not only asked to restructure his contract but offered in trades to other teams.
On June 5, the Chiefs agreed to trade Green to the Miami Dolphins for a conditional fifth round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, pending a physical from Green.[3] The pick can be upgraded to a fourth-rounder if Green reaches certain predetermined playing time and performance levels.[3]
The Chiefs look to improve on their 9-7 record from the 2006 season and begin a new era with Damon Huard or Brodie Croyle starting at quarterback.
The Chiefs' 2007 training camp will be documented in the HBO/NFL Films documentary reality television series, Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Kansas City Chiefs [4] The series premieres on August 8, 2007.[4]