The biggest noise surrounding the Chiefs most recently has come from the political arena as opposed to the club's barely modest moves in free agency.
After scoring big with the blockbuster trade with New England for quarterback Matt Cassel and linebacker Matt Vrabel, the Chiefs created little buzz with the signing of unrestricted free agent cornerback Travis Davis, whose value has fallen since he was a rookie starter for Miami in 2005, and the re-signing of special teams captain Jon McGraw.
It took the mayor of Kansas City, Mark Funkhouser, to get people talking when the proposed withholding of the city's annual $2 million contribution to the upkeep of the Truman Sports Complex.
Funkhouser, battling to overcome an $85 million deficit in the city's proposed budget, held a press conference near the taxpayer-financed improvement projects at both Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums and said he would prefer use that money to pay police officers.
In rhetoric that quickly drew the ire of the city's sports fans, Funkhouser said deciding whether to maintain the city's annual contribution to stadium upkeep came down to a decision between safety or sports.
The alarm bells began sounding when Michael Sanders, chief governing officer of Jackson County, Mo., said the withholding of the city's contribution would violate terms of the 25-year leases signed with the Chiefs and Royals after Jackson County taxpayers in 2006 approved spending $450 million in public money on the renovation of both stadiums, a project to be completed in 2010.
If the leases are found to be in default, Sanders said, "the teams could become, to use a sports phrase, free-agents to move to another city, to make modifications to the stadium, to not honor the commitments that were in those leases."
Jackson County already contributes $3.2 million to stadium upkeep beyond what Kansas City, Mo., contributes.
Funkhouser, insisting he did not want to be known as the mayor who drove major-league sports out of Kansas City, said he did not believe his proposal would jeopardize the new stadium leases.
"We're trying to focus on services that directly matter to Kansas Citians," he said. "For example, city services, basic services, like police. That is a core function. Operating a sports venue is not."
Despite the sounding of alarm bells, the odds of the Chiefs moving anywhere anytime soon - in this economy? - are slim.
The Hunt family recently invested some $125 million into what has become a $375 million renovation of Arrowhead Stadium. Most of the Hunt money went into building a plush new office/training complex on the grounds of the sports complex.
