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Memories From Arrowhead

As the Raiders prepare for their game against Kansas City this Sunday I thought about the 10 or so times I also flew to the middle of the country to face our AFC West rival. Leaving Oakland on Friday would help us acclimate to the time change but the Sunday morning wake-up call was still a shock. Sometimes so was the weather. Adam Treu

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As the Raiders prepare for their game against Kansas City this Sunday I thought about the 10 or so times I also flew to the middle of the country to face our AFC West rival.  Leaving Oakland on Friday would help us acclimate to the time change but the Sunday morning wake-up call was still a shock.  Sometimes so was the weather.

Although the seats on the plane were not assigned, once you wedged yourself into one, that seat became yours on every other charter flight of the season.  During the preseason us vets were always smart enough to sit next to someone on the plane we thought was likely to be cut so during the regular season, we could get 3 seats to ourselves.  Once the rookies for each position group doled out the chicken and biscuits the rest of the flight was spent on the game plan, the in-flight movie or sleep. 

But aside from these fascinating details about chicken, time changes and seat assignments, here are my top 5 memories of Arrowhead.

The Friday Night Food

The Country Club Plaza has some of the best restaurants for the O-linemen to have a meal together. Like pigs to a trough, we’d rumble in, sit down, slap on a bib and order everything with a side of butter.  

The Star Spangled Banner

If you’d assume a crowd of 79,000 or so singing in unison “and the home of the . . . CHIEFS” would only fire up the home team, you’d be wrong.  That last line never lost its electricity and it would only make us want to beat them even more.

KC Wolf

One strange mascot.  I’m sure if I got on Wikipedia it would tell me why this mascot makes sense.  But on the field I always assumed if I got close enough to him, he’d smell of bourbon.  And I hear he can tackle, even with those big shoes on.

Winter Wear

Chief’s fans have a real affinity for outerwear that serves the dual purpose of warmth and hunter’s safety.  Being from Nebraska I am familiar with this.  If the crowd was equal parts red, camouflage and blaze orange then I knew I was in Kansas City.

January 2nd, 2000

Raiders 41, Chiefs 38 (OT).  This victory was especially sweet since we eliminated the Chiefs from the playoffs. Former Raiders Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham was the Chiefs Head Coach. He hated us. During his Raiders days he’d usually bark “last one” to his defensive groups, indicating the last rep.  Once Joe Nedney’s field goal cleared the uprights, Wiz trotted right on over to Gunther, looked him in the eyes and growled, “Hey Gunther! Last one!” I couldn’t have been happier that day for Gannon (playing in his former stadium against his old team) and Wiz, Biekert and Tim Brown who hadn’t won in Arrowhead since, uh, maybe never? We beat the Chiefs in Arrowhead again in October 2000 and September 2001 but this victory on this day was by far the sweetest.

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Joshua West
Sep 13, 2008
09:40 AM

Again, Great take!

I remember that game at Arrowhead in 200, and it was just about as sweet for us fans!!

Michael Lombardi
Sep 13, 2008
10:02 AM
Michael Lombardi

Love Adams take and there is nothing better in sports then winning in Arrowhead. The sounds of silience were the best when we left the feild. It made it all worthwhile...

Rodney
Sep 13, 2008
10:10 AM

"Chief’s fans have a real affinity for outerwear that serves the dual purpose of warmth and hunter’s safety. Being from Nebraska I am familiar with this. If the crowd was equal parts red, camouflage and blaze orange then I knew I was in Kansas City."

That sounds a lot like Green Bay as well. I've never seen as much bright orange camo underneath green Packers jerseys as I did at the Snow Bowl.

Cisco from KC
Sep 13, 2008
10:30 AM

Sadly, I'm not too sure how much longer it will be "Arrowhead". The rumor around town is that the naming rights will be sold. One more thing King Carl can ruin before he retires.

Jason
Sep 13, 2008
01:20 PM

Mr. Treu

That was a great story on the K.C. game, I´m looking forward to the next one.

By the way, I wanted to let you know that there many Raider fans who appreciate your hard work and contributions as a Raider.

Best of luck to you Adam and keep up the good work.

jdizzy
Sep 13, 2008
05:59 PM

im going in to the red camo biz in KC. thanks for you insight Adam....awesome stuff!

Mr.Murder
Sep 13, 2008
10:43 PM

You never take an Arrowhead game for granted, that is for certain.

The time I went, Jeff Gannon as a Chief won the game against Jeff George as a Raider. When he came to Oakland it meant we had something on the Chiefs. Those were some good days.

Ron Prowell
Sep 13, 2008
11:04 PM

Adam,

Just a little note about Arrowhead Stadium from the Raider seat pool..which was WAY UP in the nose bleed section on the shady side of the stadium. We visited you on Saturday wearing our Army uniforms. I was really surprised at how skinny Aaron Brooks really is!

But sitting in the stadium on Sunday colder than "Nebraska" and seeing the fly-over by the F-114 Stealth Fighter brought a sense of pride even after that home of the "chiefs" thing.

Thank God for that Raider fan in that spiked outfit. Somehow, I felt a little safer in Arrowhead.

Thanks for your insight! Keep up the good work!

George
Sep 13, 2008
11:18 PM

You mentioned one of the few times the Raiders actually beat the Chiefs in the last decade and a half. I'm sure it was sweet after all those losses to KC

Adam Treu
Sep 13, 2008
11:45 PM

Mr. Murder

Was that the Thursday night game where Derrick Thomas had six sacks? I thought I had that game out of my memory. I was a rookie that season and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

How about when Gannon got a standing ovation from the K.C. crowd because they wanted him to stay and Grbac to go. That was pretty awesome.

George

I think there were three times in the ten years I played in arrowhead that the Raiders beat the Chiefs. We always played them close but just couldn't pull it out in the end. One year Will Shields, their all pro guard, pulled Ed Jasper to the ground on a 4th down play and he fell into Trent Green. The ref called tripping and the Chiefs were able to go on and score to win the game. I couldn't believe what I had seen.

Mr.Murder
Sep 14, 2008
02:05 AM

Gannon never threw a pass past 20 yards except for once and the Chiefs still won. He really put it to execution and doing it right and keeping things under control played to his mobility.


He squeezed every bit of yardage from a team horizontally and it worked to the same purpose as vertical football.

He might go 5 to 8 completions in a drive but always have his third downs done and usually make the defense run 20 yards sideways on those throws. Your defenders had to run a hundred yards to stop your getting 50 yards, and he mixed a run game in with that.

It was like getting suckered into a game of darts at a bar by some guy who likes expensive beers, and having him hit trips all the time and put away the best brew at your expense.

How does the ol' timer do it?

He went on to pattern that type of play that a lot of the best use today. No huddle, hand signals, dummy calls, making time and yardage count most.

A lot of guys can try those same kind of plays and style, but you have to include toughness to go with the smarts. He had what should have been a career ending injury two years before his MVP season. That speaks to toughness in his comeback efforts.

Yes, Derrick Thomas was a human smart bomb at that time. The other games I have gone to featured some amazing efforts by the opponents. That's what the NFL is like, every game is part of history.

Shemp 53 Rojas
Sep 14, 2008
04:17 AM

Keep em coming

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