tional player.But Reiter sees Schwartz as a generational player, too — and also said he’s glad to finally be working alongside right guard L

A wise man has said Anthony Hitchens Jersey , “Once is an accident, twice is a trend. Four, five, or six times is a clear indication of a strategic shift in overall policy.” (I may have added the last part.)It has become more and more clear and obvious over the past year or so that the NFL, reeling from sharp reductions in TV viewership during the 2016 and 2017 seasons, has decided to take a kindler and gentler approach to player discipline, in order to ensure that as many great players as possible are available to play in NFL regular-season and postseason games.The change happened at some point after the Ezekiel Elliott case, which entailed (in my opinion) a Keystone cops investigation and a kangaroo court proceeding aimed at justifying that which the league office wanted to do: Suspend Elliott for six games.Those wheels were put in motion before the election-induced ratings drop of 2016 was followed by the unexpected anthem-induced additional ratings drop of 2017, and the end result was the team that has become the top TV draw in the NFL spending 37.5 percent of a season without the straw that stirs its drink. As ratings plummeted in 2017, someone at the league office apparently did the math regarding the impact of not having great players on the field versus the impact of letting great players play despite off-field baggage.The pendulum initially swung hard in the direction of taking a hard line with players after the elevator video emerged in the Ray Rice case. The Commissioner spent a couple of weeks genuinely concerned that he could lose his job in the uproar that ensued, and Roger Goodell undoubtedly resolved at that point that he would never, ever be accused again of going too easy on a player who misbehaves. That trend continued until Elliott’s suspension, which was followed by an all-out effort by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to get rid of Goodell.Forced to choose between an assault on his job by a mob of outsiders and an assault on his job by one of his 32 bosses, and concerned about the very real impact on ratings of star players not playing, Goodell has now nudged the pendulum in the other direction, far more subtly and gradually than it moved in 2014.It started with the league’s unspoken lenience for chronic substance-abuse policy violators like Josh Gordon, Martavis Bryant, and Randy Gregory. Although the trio currently is suspended Chad Henne Jersey , the league could have tossed each of them out of the sport early in 2018 under the clear terms of the policy. Instead, they each got extra chances until new suspensions were imposed, and the new suspensions weren’t for a minimum of one year (as they should have been). Indeed, there’s a chance that all three will be playing again this year.Why? Because no one cares about marijuana anymore, and no one will complain that the league is letting guys who smoke pot play football.The dynamic also has affected the league’s application of the Personal Conduct Policy. The investigation of multiple incidents involving then-Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt was in mothballs before video of him pushing and kicking a woman in the hallway of a Cleveland hotel emerged. Elliot, despite video showing him confronting and possibly shoving a 19-year-old security guard and notwithstanding Elliott’s status as a prior offender (which supposedly is a big deal under the Personal Conduct Policy), wasn’t punished. Now there’s Hill, who escaped any and all punishment with the league issuing a statement that doesn’t even address the menacing remark that prompted the Chiefs to send him away from the team’s offseason program.Two years ago, Hill wouldn’t have been so fortunate. Now, as the league tries to build on momentum from 2018 TV numbers fueled by an offensive explosion about which the NFL privately bragged to reporters on a near-weekly basis, it’s better for the league to have Hill on the field than it is for the league to not have Hill on the field. Sure, there will be complaints and objections, maybe even a loosely-organized protest. But the potential impact on the league’s business from letting Hill play is smaller than the potential impact on the league’s business from not letting him play, and that’s ultimately all the league cares about.Football is business. They say “football is family” because it’s good for business to say “football is family,” but football is business. The NFL got into the business of policing the private lives of players for P.R. purposes. The NFL enhanced those efforts in the face of strong objections to the NFL’s failure to be aggressive enough with players who got in trouble away from work. Now, business interests require an approach that entails the application a deeply flawed in-house justice system (a system that isn’t about justice at all) in a way that enhances business.That’s why Hill wasn’t suspended, and that’s why players in similar situations will receive similar treatment, unless and until the league’s business interests once again compel a more aggressive approach to discipline. At that point Kendall Fuller Jersey , the pendulum will swing again, back in the direction of imposing overly strong punishments. On Wednesday, three players spoke of their time with the Chiefs in the same way — but for different reasons" />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhiteArrowhead PrideArrowhead Pride | Kansas City Chiefs Schedule, News, Roster and StatsLog In or Sign UpLog InSign UpSeriesLatest NewsFanpostsFanshotsCommunityAboutStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteSeries Stagner ThingsLottery Tickets ’19Summer of SpagsDixon’s MailbagLatest News Fanposts Most recentMost activeFanshots Community Community GuidelinesContactAbout StubHub ✕For three of their players, it’s a dream come true to play for the ChiefsNew,12commentsOn Wednesday, three players spoke of their time with the Chiefs in the same way — but for different reasonsCDTShareTweetShareShareFor three of their players, it’s a dream come true to play for the ChiefsJoe Nicholson-USA TODAY SportsAfter the Kansas City Chiefs finished their minicamp practice on Wednesday, the media questioned several Chiefs players.A common theme emerged: it’s a dream come true to play for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019.For cornerback Charvarius Ward, it’s easy to see why.Signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent out of Middle Tennessee State after the 2018 NFL Draft, he was seen as expendable at the conclusion of training camp.The Cowboys — shorthanded on the offensive line — were happy to trade Ward to the cornerback-needy Chiefs in exchange for guard Parker Ehinger.But that’s not how Ward sees it.”It’s a dream come true,” he told the press on Wednesday. “The Chiefs gave me opportunity. The Cowboys also gave me opportunity, but the Chiefs believed in me more. They traded for me, so coach Reid and Brett Veach [saw] a lot in me. They gave me opportunity. I respect them for that. I thank them for that. And I’m going to prove them right.”Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY SportsRunning back Carlos Hyde said the same thing — but for a somewhat different reason.Hyde is now on his third team in two seasons.After spending four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers — where he was a fairly productive player as both a rusher and receiver — Hyde was allowed to walk after 2017.He signed a three-year contract with the Cleveland Browns, but was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a fifth-round draft pick midway through the 2018 season. The Jaguars released Hyde in early March.Neither the Browns or the Jaguars were particularly interested in using Hyde as anything but a rusher.But the Chiefs have a different idea about how running backs should be used, and Hyde said it would be the answer to his dream to make the team.”For a running back like me who likes to catch the ball — I mean, I pretty much like to do it all — it’d be like a dream come true Eric Murray Jersey ,” he said. “It’s not just a one-dimensional running back here. You do it all. You’re running as a receiver. You’re actually running real routes — not just as a decoy. Go back in the backfield, run the ball, block — you do it all. So you get to really showcase your ability.”I had a little success catching the ball with Shanahan,” he said of his time with the 49ers. “That was the first real time I got to show my hands a little. But ever since then, I’ve been focused on catching the ball more. Coming to [the Chiefs], I didn’t know that they used the running back so much in the passing game until I got here. But it put a smile on my face. Now I’m in another offense where I can really showcase my hands — really take ownership on that issue.”Whether or not Hyde will make the final roster remains to be seen.But he has confidence he can do it.”I’ve played in seven different offenses,” he said. “I figured a way to make it work. So I think I can do the same thing here: figure a way to make things work for me.”Even though he didn’t realize that the Chiefs would want to make use of all of his skills, Hyde said that he was all-in on coming to Kansas City.“It was kind of my decision,” he said. “I had other teams that I could have looked into, but I saw that previous running backs had success in Kansas City with Coach Reid, so I felt like this was a good place for a running back to get on the right track. Working with [offensive coordinator] Eric Bieniemy, [running backs coach] Deland McCullough — those guys are definitely going to help me get on the right track.”Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsCenter Austin Reiter was asked if he is cherishing his time in Kansas City.”I think that sometimes I have to sit back and realize that,” he replied. “Day to day, I’m just here. I put my head down. I work. I grind. That’s really the best thing you can do — at least in my situation. For me personally, that’s how I’ve always been — and things have ended up working out pretty well for me. Sometimes I’ve got to pick my head up out of the water and be like, ‘I really am with these guys.’”Reiter has plenty of reason to revel in those moments.Drafted in the seventh round of the 2015 draft, Reiter spent his first NFL season on the practice squad of the Washington Redskins.Going in to the 2016 season, the Redskins tried to stash him there again Terrance Smith Jersey , but the Browns swooped in to grab him.After two seasons in Cleveland where he started just a single game, Reiter was waived as the 2018 season began. This time, the Chiefs were there to pick him up.Coming into 2018 as the presumptive starting center after he performed admirably stepping in for Mitch Morse — who has since left in free agency — Reiter says that the appreciates his teammates on the offensive line.”I think we all want to have fun, but I think the best part of our room is that everybody really wants to work hard,” he said. “We go out there — and I know Coach Heck does a tremendous job with us — but he never faults us on our effort. We always have things to work on, but I think the greatest attribute in our room is the effort all around. Everybody wants to get better. Everybody wants to be the best.”But Reiter said that Mitchell Schwartz is already the best.”He’s kind of like another quarterback out there, to be honest,” he said of Schwartz. “When we do blitz drills or we get certain looks on defense — our defense right now is flying around, hiding coverages — to have a guy that’s played over 100 games and is that smart with what he can see is almost like having another quarterback.”Reiter said that he agrees with those who consider Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to be a generational player.But Reiter sees Schwartz as a generational player, too — and also said he’s glad to finally be working alongside right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.”It’s great. It’s good to get reps with Larry now,” Reiter said. “He’s a physical player — great strong hands. He gets his hands on guys, which is awesome in pass protection and helps me out. I saw his comments yesterday [about] learning to keep our feet out of each [other’s way]. It’s kind of a battle there when you start playing with new guards and centers. But I’m extremely satisfied with what we’ve done in these last seven or eight weeks.”From the outside, it might appear that the Chiefs’ success in 2018 was all about Patrick Mahomes.That’s the narrative we’re hearing from national voices — and no one could reasonably dispute that Mahomes’ contributions played a huge role in what the Chiefs accomplished last season.But after listening to these players speak on Wednesday, it might be time to think the reasons for the team’s success might go deeper than that.