Kansas.com: Kansas City Chiefs

Chiefs' training camp will have an eye on future

ADAM TEICHER — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:39 CDT

You won't hear it said anywhere at Arrowhead Stadium -- administrative wing, coaching offices, locker room -- that this Chiefs season is about anything but winning.

And why would they? Other teams have made quicker, more astounding turnarounds.

But realistically, the expectations are quite different. That, too, is in order for a team in the beginning stages of a massive rebuilding phase.

The Chiefs, who open training camp on Friday at their summer home at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, abruptly moved from one of the NFL's oldest teams to one of its youngest. They could have as many as seven players making their first NFL start when the season begins Sept. 7 against the Patriots in New England.

Such an enormous emphasis on youth is not the typical formula for immediate success. That's why, public proclamations not withstanding, there's a quiet understanding that 2008 is about more than the win-loss record.

Today

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:39 CDT

Today

• Westlink Neighborhood Association, 7-8:30 p.m., West Heights United Methodist Church, 745 Westlink.

• Indian Hills-Riverbend Neighborhood Association, 7 p.m., Asbury United Methodist Church, 2801 W. 15th St.

• Grandview Heights Neighborhood Association, 7 p.m., Fellowship Hall of Mt. Vernon Presbyterian Church, 3700 E. Mount Vernon.

• La Placita Park Neighborhood Association, 7 p.m., Felipe's, 3232 W. Central.

Choking diner saved by Chiefs' Gonzalez

DOUG TUCKER — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:42 CDT

A California man says Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez kept him from choking to death.

"Tony saved my life. There's no doubt," Ken Hunter, a shipping company manager, said in a phone interview from Huntington Beach, Calif.

"Tony came up behind me and gave me the Heimlich maneuver. Thank God he was there."

Gonzalez, a nine-time Pro Bowl selection who has set numerous NFL records, was having dinner with his wife and brother and 5-week-old daughter at Capone's restaurant in Huntington Beach on Thursday night. Hunter, 45, was dining with his girlfriend at the next table when a piece of meat stuck in his throat.

"I tried to take a drink of water, but I couldn't swallow," Hunter said. "Then I couldn't breathe. That's a terrible feeling. I couldn't breathe. Then I guess I started to panic."