Johnson�s Rap gives and receives a resounding �F� By: Curtis Kitchen, Sports Radio 810 WHB (Sept. 14, 2007) � Let�s start with at the top: whether it is or isn�t Larry Johnson�s voice on the recording (if it isn�t, I�ll make my winter home in Green Bay or Buffalo), the rap is not a big issue.
In all its gangsta glory, complete with gunshots in the background, the Larry Johnson rap is harmless.
No matter the number of ridiculous racial slurs. No matter the number of times a kid who grew up in the household of a Division I football coach wants to prove how tough he is by metaphorically whipping the guy he replaced on the team.
All of it could easily be forgotten except�
Except for the one-liner where Larry (or cover-Larry) the employee tells his boss to �F�ind a different way to do things.
This, remember, is the same Larry who everyone in the Kansas City organization has watched with inhaled breath since giving the running back with a checkered past $19 million and the okay to move ahead as the team�s face.
The same Larry who begged to be a team captain, to be �the guy,� saying he had matured and wanted to be a leader.
The same Larry who, at the very beginning of the Johnson saga, made team president and CEO Carl Peterson draw a line in the sand with one of his best friends in Dick Vermeil, out-ranking Vermeil on draft day to take him instead of a defensive player.
And he responds with a resounding �F� Carl Peterson.
With the 2007 version of the Chiefs going absolutely nowhere and fan unrest at an all-time high in the Peterson tenure, the embattled front office leader had, to this point, been able to lean on his prized running back�s on-field performance.
Not anymore.
�F� indeed.
Johnson, in his never-ending quest to stoke his angry fire, probably never thought the couple of minutes he took to bust a few vengeful rhymes would ever go public. In today�s connected world, that was his na�ve mistake.
However, Johnson will outlast this.
Peterson may not.
Johnson�s insubordination is the exclamation point on the argument that the Kansas City Chiefs lack direction in the long term, and are simply out of control in the short term.
Together, those thoughts build a strong foundation to the contention that Peterson, in his 19th year as the Chiefs leader, is no longer in control of or respected by his team.
The last time this happened, Peterson pinned the blame and pulled the plug on Marty Schottenheimer and his cast of clowns � high character folks like Bam Morris, Tamarick Vanover and Chester McGlockton.
This mess is fully Peterson�s.
He can�t cut his own legs out from under him.
Well, he could, but his former favorite player beat him to the slice. Known for having a knack for seeing things �just a little bit differently,� Curtis Kitchen represents 21st century sports journalism. Armed with a sharp wit and big-picture perspective, Kitchen follows the local, regional and national sports scene as a producer and columnist for Union Broadcasting in Kansas City (Sports Radio 810 WHB, Hot Talk 1510 KCTE and ESPN Radio 97.3). He has covered sporting events for many outlets, including the Miami Herald. His columns currently appear on the Sports Radio 810 Web site at www.810whb.com. He can be reached at [email protected].
