Chiefs, me, and Kansas City finally done with the LJ mess

November 11, 9:10 AMKansas City Chiefs ExaminerDan Rose

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Bye Larry. Don't let the door hit you in the rear on the way out.
Charlie Riedel (AP)

Ahhhhh ... that sweet sound of nothingness you heard Tuesday was me taking a break from the Larry Johnson drama. I was going to write this piece yesterday, but my head hurt so much talking about what I thought about LJ, I decided to mentally shut down.

Frankly, like many Kansas City Chiefs fans, I grew tired of Johnson's act long ago. Like many, I screamed at my radio and TV when I heard that former team President Carl Peterson gave him a contract extension that the other 31 team executives wouldn't have done. Well, ok, maybe Al Davis might have done it and the idiots in Washington might have too. But that's it.

So now, Johnson has cleared waivers after being released and is free to sign with any other NFL team. The Chiefs are on the hook for the remainder of his contract with them, about $2.1 million. Worse, if he signs with another team, he'll get the league minimum contract for a seven year veteran. That's $350,000, but he'll almost certainly get a signing bonus. So, in effect, he gets fired and gets a raise. Nice.

The problem is no other NFL team is exactly busting down his agent's door to sign him. Adam Schefter of ESPN actually said on Wednesday morning that LJ should be a little concerned that he hasn't been offered a contract yet. The Houston Texans were reportedly the leading team to sign Johnson, but their general manager just flat out said "no".

On Tuesday, LJ appeared on the Dan Patrick Radio Show and if you heard it, you know you were listening to a man in total denial of anything that has happened over the past three years.

At various points, he said that he'd like to come back to KC in three or four years and get the rushing record from Priest Holmes. What??? He said that he didn't have anger issues (which more than a few Kansas City women would disagree with). He said that he completely supported Todd Haley and Scott Pioli (the two guys that just fired him) with what they are doing with the team. If you think that doesn't exactly jibe with what he Twittered a couple weeks ago, you're not crazy. It doesn't.

Right now, the leading candidates to offer Johnson a contract are the Washington Redskins and maybe the Chicago Bears. The Bears already have one of the best young running backs in the league in Matt Forte and he's having trouble running behind the Bears offensive line. And they already have another high-priced head case in QB Jay Cutler taking snaps (and lots of money) behind center. Coach Lovie Smith is under fire for the team underachieving so why would he want to add a questionable locker room presence to that mix?

And the Redskins? Outside of the Raiders, they're the most dysfunctional team in the league and they're the ONLY team that the Chiefs have beaten this year. And LJ says he's the way he is because he wants to win? So the Redskins are his ticket to the Super Bowl? Riiiiiiight!

Finally, the New England Patriots are apparently interested.  If you have watched former Pats GM Scott Pioli sign every Patriot scrub and cast-off to contract here in KC, maybe that's a nice bit of karma that they sign one of ours.  I won't be outraged if Johnson signs with them.  I won't be upset that he went from the outhouse (KC) to the penthouse (Patriots).  I will just sit back and smile the first time he's in the backfield with Tom Brady and does one of his "Ole" blocks on a blitzing linebacker and gets Brady killed.  He got away with that putting Trent Green, Damon Huard and Matt Cassel in danger.  That won't fly when you're getting the pretty-boy face of the league injured.

So folks, this is the last article that I will write about LJ. I realize that he did some great things on the field while he was here, but in about five minutes, he will officially become an ex-Chief to me. Picture me as Al Pacino in "Godfather II" and LJ playing the role of Fredo. You broke my heart, Larry ... you broke my heart. Now get the $@%# out.

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