The Chaff From the Wheat, “The most difficult day”

The Chaff From the Wheat,

“The most difficult day.”

by Laddie Morse

The watch has begun. Teams have already started the cutting process and now it’s time for every team, including our Kansas City Chiefs, to make the final moves that will determine who is on their 53 man roster… and who isn’t. For many players, the dream dies here today. For others, the process continues while some will make the 10-player practice squad each team carries, others will try and catch on with another tam as the year goes by, and injuries or connections, dictates.

Personally, my own dream to play in he NFL began in elementary school when I played Fullback for our 6th grade team (we went 8-and-0 and that spoiled me forever). The dream survived through junior high (middle school), until high school. However, that’s where things took a turn and I had to begin looking to other endeavors to fill my life’s journey.

In the hours prior to the Chiefs 4th and final preseason game of 2018, GM Brett Veach made a trade with the Dallas Cowboys shipping his 2016 opening day starter at left guard, LG Parker Ehinger, in return for their upstart first year cornerback Charvarius Ward. That’s exactly the kind of trade many teams are hoping to make: exchanging one player on the bubble at a position of excess, for another player where they have a position of need. The Cowboys had their Center, Travis Fredricks, go down and were going to be weak up the middle and the Chiefs needed more support in their CB pool of players. A swap-n-shop barter made in heaven.

I could see the Chiefs moving another player at ILB like Terrance Smith… or maybe one of their many WRs… to nab a Safety. If the right team is interested, you can call it a done deal. This is when GMs want to shore up their rosters and make their run for the roses… a Divisional Championship (priority one for most teams).

The Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach, Andy Reid, calls this day, “The most difficult day” and rightfully so. Anytime you have to look a person in the face and tell them, “Your journey with us is over” it’s not a pleasant experience and Reid has to do it more than two-dozen times over the last 24-48 hours, which technically ends today at 3:00PM CDT.  

As I write this, Brett Veach has made another move for a Safety. I have been calling for a Safety for weeks now (perhaps months… so it’s all a blur).

Jordan Lucas was the 204th pick (a 6th round selection) in the 2016 NFL Draft for the Miami Dolphins. He’s played in 19 games over the past two seasons and started none. He’s 6-foot-0, and weighs 190. The Dolphins will get a 7th round pick in 2019 in return for Lucas. Here’s an INT he had vs Atlanta on Thursday:

While the Chiefs have needed another Safety… a developmental type Safety is not what I had in mind. However, this does show that a big green blinking neon sign that says “OPEN FOR BUSINESS” is on GM Brett Veach’s front door and we can expect more moves before the season begins as well as before regular season game two.

One thing we do know about Andy Reid and Bob Sutton when it comes to Safeties, over the past five years… they treat them like a plug-and-play video games: Husain Abdullah, Quintin Demps, Kurt Coleman, Ron Parker (just cut by Atlanta), Tyvon Branch and others. Bob & Andy have operated with the belief that they could simply convert a CB to a Safety using players like Eric Murray or Ron Parker… or just fill that role with a low round or UDFA player: Daniel Sorensen anyone?

The dream of becoming an NFL player begins… or ends… today for hundreds of young men. It’s one thing to realize you can’t go on because of an injury, like I had, but quite another to be told, “You’re not good enough.” Here’s a stat I heard recently about the number of high school football players who make it to the NFL:

“High school senior players who go on to play NCAA men’s football: About one in 17, or 5.8 percent. — NCAA senior players drafted by an NFL team: About one in 50, or 2.0 percent. — High school senior players eventually drafted by an NFL team: About nine in 10,000, or 0.09 percent.”

A site called, highschoolsports.nj.com says the chances are even tougher than that at 0.08 percent or 8 out of every 10,000. So, you can understand why Andy Reid might say this:

“This is a small league with just 32 teams, so we’re hoping that some of the guys that don’t make it here have a chance to hook on with somebody else, on a practice squad somewhere or on our practice squad. You want them to have a chance to make a living doing what they love doing.”

My dream ended in a 10th grade JV football practice when I popped my left knee out of joint — sideways — while kicking off… followed by a second ligament surgery on that knee. How about you? Any of you ever had the dream to play in the NFL?

Best of luck to all those who are still living on the bubble and… keeping the dream alive!

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