Kansas City Chiefs' Carl Peterson Deserves Fond Farewell

The news that Kansas City Chiefs President and General Manager Carl Peterson has resigned effective at the end of the season has largely been met with applause by sports commentators. This is no surprise for two reasons.

One, the Chiefs have failed to win the Super Bowl during Peterson's 20 years at the helm. Heck, they haven't even reached the big game during that span. To take it a step further, K.C. hasn't won a playoff game since 1993. Two, Peterson has a reputation for rubbing others, including sports writers, the wrong way with his smug personality. Even a certain recently departed Chief can't stand the guy.

I've never talked to the man, so I can't say much about the second point. But on the first I do have some strong feelings.

When Peterson took over in 1989, the Chiefs were, to put it kindly, in a rut. In the 15 prior seasons they had only two winning records and one playoff appearance.

Kansas City's fortunes reversed dramatically with Peterson in control. They immediately embarked on a run of nine straight winning seasons and seven playoff berths. The Chiefs' success waned in the 2000's but K.C. did reach the postseason as recently as 2006.

Along the way, Peterson showed why he had a reputation as an astute judge of talent. He unearthed numerous hidden gems while molding, first in the '90s, a team that relied on tough defense and special teams and then, more recently, a high-flying offensive spectacle that set numerous records during the Chiefs' 13-3 campaign in 2003.

It's easy to bash Peterson now, what with the Chiefs standing at 2-12 after their paltry 4-12 showing last year. This has been, by far, the worst stretch of Peterson's tenure in Kansas City and it's a shame that he is going out on this note.

But the fact remains that, over the last two decades, the Chiefs were more successful on the field than most of the teams in the NFL. So while there might not be many mourning the end of Carl Peterson's reign in Kansas City, there are many fans who should, at least secretly, be hoping that his next job is with their team. The Lions, for one, could do a heck of a lot worse. In fact, they did, or have we already erased Matt Millen from our collective memory?