The team's struggles in the last 10 years of Peterson's tenure, as well as Peterson's aloofness and quasi-arrogance during the better days of the first 10 years, turned many fans against a man who helped make football significant again in Kansas City beginning in the early 1990s.

Peterson's current players, however, showed more class.

That was especially true of TE Tony Gonzalez, who admitted earlier this year that his long relationship with Peterson was strained after the Chiefs president couldn't engineer the trade Gonzalez requested to a playoff contending team.

"I know it seems kind of anti-Carl in here," Gonzalez noted on a Monday night radio appearance at an Olathe restaurant. "But say this for Carl -- he made football fun again in Kansas City, or so people tell me about the situation before I got here. Hopefully, the next general manager can do the same thing.

"In light of what happened between me and Carl this year, people might think I would be negative. But I'm not. I think Carl is a great person who did a really good job here in Kansas City. But I also understand why Clark is doing what he's doing."

But even Gonzalez acknowledged that changes throughout the organization seemed inevitable for a team that won only six games in the past 30.

"After (15) years of not winning a playoff game," Gonzalez noted, "you'd think something had to be done.

"The only thing I know is that something has to be done just because of the way we've been going. Any time you're not winning, you have to ask yourself, 'What's wrong?' Something's not working and you have to make changes. I'm not saying Carl's the reason we're not winning. There are a lot of reasons, a whole lot of other reasons. It's never on one person, one position on the team or the organization."

--The Chiefs seem on their way to returning to their summer training camp in Missouri by 2010.

A Missouri governing body approved a $25 million tax credit for the Chiefs for ongoing construction projects at Arrowhead Stadium and elsewhere. The Chiefs have pledged to use some $10 million of money to assist in a proposed $13.45 million construction project at Missouri Western University in St. Joseph, Mo., provided the university can come up with the remaining money needed to build an indoor practice facility and add additional practice fields in order to accommodate an NFL training camp.

The Chiefs will return to River Falls, Wis., next summer for their 19th training camps in the relatively cooler northern climate. But they want an indoor facility available in St. Joe for days when there is no other way to beat the Missouri summer heat.

--The Chiefs will honor long-time band leader Tony DiPardo in what will be his historical last performance at Arrowhead Stadium this week.

DiPardo's TD Pack Band began performing live music in the Chiefs' inaugural season in Kansas City (1963). The band plays from a small cutout area of stands behind the east end zone, but stadium renovations will remove that area and squeeze the 91-year-old living tradition out of his roost.

--The Chiefs will have two representatives in the Pro Bowl this year.

The selection of TE Tony Gonzalez for a 10th consecutive time was no surprise, given his standing as the NFL leader in receptions by a tight end, and his place as No. 7 among all receivers this year.

But the return of LG Brian Waters for a fourth time after a one-year absence was a pleasant surprise for Waters, especially given the Chiefs' 2-12 record.

"You've got to believe in a season like this I didn't get too many fans votes," Waters said. "But it's nice to know that if you bust your butt, you'll get attention -- especially by the guys you go up against you appreciate your competitive nature.

"I really think this is a better (offensive line) than we were a year ago," Waters added. "I think people are gaining more respect for what we're doing. I don't think my individual play fell off last year (when he wasn't voted in), but the circumstances around our team were so different. We may have a worse record this year, but I think people have seen our line play include."

BY THE NUMBERS: .143 -- Kansas City's winning percentage in 1977, the worst year in team history, 2-12 one year before the expansion to a 16-game season.

.187 -- KC's winning percentage if they can win one of the final two games and avoid being the worst team in franchise history.

7 -- Chiefs game decided by seven or fewer points this year. Kansas City has lost six of them.

9 -- Sack total this season.

13 -- NFL record for fewest sacks in a 16-game season, set by Baltimore in 1981.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "(Miami), Tennessee, even Green Bay last year are the model for what we want to be. We feel like with a player or two here or there, or a different situation here or there, we can be one of the surprise teams next year like they are this year." -- Pro Bowl G Brian Waters, on the Miami turnaround from last year's 1-15 season that inspires struggling teams like this year's 2-12 Chiefs.