Chiefs dominate Pro Bowl on and off field

 By Vic Carucci National Editor, NFL.com

HONOLULU (Feb. 6, 2004) -- It would seem only fitting if the smell of genuine Kansas City barbecue wafted through the parking lot of Aloha Stadium on the morning of Feb. 8.

You even half expect to see the majority of the crowd covered in red. With such a large cross-section of fans at the 2004 Pro Bowl, however, it is unlikely that the site where the game will be played for the 25th time will resemble Arrowhead Stadium on a typical Sunday afternoon in the fall. Yet there is a distinct Chiefs presence here this week, and it isn't only because they are the best-represented team in the game with nine players chosen for the AFC all-star squad. Another reason is that about 53 non-participating Chiefs players and coaches are also here, courtesy of the team's Pro Bowlers who pooled nearly $75,000 of their own money for the additional companionship. The main idea was to promote strong team unity, which played a significant role in helping the New England Patriots win two Super Bowls in the last three seasons. But an equally important part of the investment was to allow players who had never been selected to the Pro Bowl to see, first-hand, how little separates them from those who have been selected -- that they have every reason to believe they, too, could be Pro Bowlers one day.

Tony Gonzalez and his fellow Pro Bowlers chipped in to bring the whole team to Hawaii. "It's still exciting to have as many guys as we do here, because it's catching on in our team that this is a realistic goal that you can set at the beginning of the year," said Chiefs Pro Bowl running back Priest Holmes, who initiated the take-a-teammate-and-coach-to-Hawaii concept. "This is something you can achieve. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. It doesn't take you doing anything outside of what you've already been given, your natural ability. "When you bring guys here, they get a chance to see that what we do here is no different from what we do on a daily basis. They can look and say, ‘The guy that I play against or the guy that plays my same position is no bigger than I am. He doesn't do anything outside of what I do. He sits by the pool. He eats the same types of things that I eat. He talks to the same type of people I talk to.' It's more realistic then." Besides Holmes, the Chiefs' other Pro Bowl selections are tight end Tony Gonzalez, quarterback Trent Green, return specialist Dante Hall, fullback Tony Richardson, offensive tackle Willie Roaf, offensive guard Will Shields, defensive end Gary Stills and safety Jerome Woods. Green, making his first Pro Bowl appearance after 10 seasons in the NFL, marvels at the camaraderie that has grown within the team. The Chiefs players who are playing in the game don't limit the time they spend together to practice. They and their non-participant teammates also dine, sightsee and play golf together. "We see each other all year and yet we come over here and still hang out," Green said. Team president Carl Peterson, who is also part of the Chiefs' contingent here, beams with pride over the fact his club has the Pro Bowl's greatest number of players -- selected and invited. To him, it is validation that the Chiefs belonged among the NFL's elite, a status they achieved with their 9-0 start on the way to a 13-3 finish. Although he was upset about their being bounced from the playoffs in a divisional-round shootout against Indianapolis, Peterson was convinced they had what it took to reach the Super Bowl. Watching the New England Patriots' last-second victory over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII told him everything he needed to know about where his team stands in regard to the rest of the NFL. "It was a marvelous Super Bowl, but we felt we could play with those two teams -- maybe with any team in the NFL," Peterson said. "We know what we have to do to get better. We need to tighten up our defense a little bit, but after that, we've got all of our offensive people coming back with the exception of (offensive tackle) John Tait (who is due to become an unrestricted free agent). And, hopefully, I can get (him re-signed) before free agency begins in March. "For the most part, this team can and should come back -- offense, defense and special teams -- and I'd like to think that's going to fare well for us in 2004."

The naked truth We resume our recurring feature in which we detail the behavior of a sports personality that is not likely to trigger an appearance in a soft-drink commercial. Two weeks ago in the Kansas City Chiefs' locker room, All-Pro tight end Tony Gonzalez emerged from an adjacent room holding a magazine photo of a woman in a red-and-white striped blazer. Another photo, of a large canine's mug, had been glued over the woman's face.

To the amusement of various onlookers, Gonzalez affixed the photo to the locker of an unmarried teammate. We won't give his name, so as not to offend any peripheral parties, but let's just say he dresses very close to Gonzalez. "That's a picture of the girl he hooked up with the first night we went out during training camp," Gonzalez told anyone who'd listen. "I'm not kidding. That's her -- almost exactly."