It's Like Foxboro With Barbeque

So you hate everything about the New England Patriots from the tuck rule, to the mangled Belichick sweatshirts, to Vince Wilfork and his poking fingers, to the stunningly good personnel moves.

Well, then you probably want to avoid eastern Kansas/western Missouri over the next several years.

When new Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli was hired away from the Patriots, everyone assumed he'd build the Chiefs up the way he learned. I'm not sure if anyone realized that creating a team "the New England way" meant actually using the Patriots players.

First Mike Vrabel comes over, now the future of the Chiefs have been put the hands of one Matt Cassel. Now the Chiefs just need to scoop up Teddy Bruschi and Rodney Harrison whenever they get released, coax Willie McGinnest out of retirement, trade for Adam Vinatieri, and teach Todd Haley how to behave like a complete curmudgeon for the transformation to be complete.

Obviously there are worse teams to model yourself after, say Detroit (after drafting 12 wide receivers, you should sign a free-agent quarterback well past his productive years), but with most of the country thoroughly sick of all things Patriots, are you sure you want your team looking like a carbon copy of them?

I've already gotten texts from friends hoping for nothing but failure by Mike Vrabel. Cassel won't have that kind anger directed at him, but he still represents another link to New England.

These two first moves are actually good moves for Pioli, but I'm just hoping that he doesn't get too pedantesque with his teachings from New England. There is a point when it's your team and not the one in Foxboro.

I keep wondering how the Minnesota Vikings didn't get in on the Cassel sweepstakes since they are in such need of a quarterback. But I like the nice little circle-of-NFL-life this move has made:

-Jared Allen is traded from rebuilding Kansas City to Minnesota and makes the Vikings a legitimate, but quarterbackless Super Bowl contender

-The Chiefs grab Matt Cassel from New England to rebuild the team around while Minnesota is stuck with Sage Rosenfels

-Cassel is the big named quarterback on the market only because Tom Brady got hurt....while plalying against the Chiefs.

It's all a rich tapestry of NFL life. Now let's see of the Chiefs can cut the umbilical chord from their New England mommies and get on with football in Kansas City.