TOP OF THE MORNIN'
Chiefs' all-time leading scorer still not in team's Hall
By JEFFREY FLANAGAN
The Kansas City Star
A nother inductee into the Chiefs Hall of Fame has been selected, and once again it wasn’t the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, Nick Lowery.
Saturday night the Chiefs announced they reached deep into their past and pulled out Curley Culp for their Hall.
Hey, it’s by no means a bad pick. Culp was a significant contributor to the Chiefs’ success in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was outstanding in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win over the Vikings. He made the Pro Bowl after the 1969 and ’71 seasons.
But Culp had his best years later with Houston, making the Pro Bowl four times in seven seasons.
And even Culp seemed surprised he got the call from the Chiefs after being gone for 34 years.
Meanwhile, Lowery is left to wonder whether his messy departure from the Chiefs — the two sides sparred over a salary cut and Lowery moved on to the Jets — will forever cost him a spot in the Chiefs’ Hall.
Lowery kicked here for 14 years, made three Pro Bowls and is the Chiefs’ all-time scoring leader with 1,466 points. It seems unlikely anyone will ever top his scoring mark.
But whether Lowery will ever make the Chiefs’ Hall is anyone’s guess. Any explanation from the Chiefs is hard to come by. The Chiefs keep a tight lid on anything to do with the selection process, which is fine — it’s their Hall, their rules.
But as with any Hall of Fame, to have any credibility, it needs to house the most qualified candidates.
As for Lowery, he’s not campaigning. But naturally he’d like to get that call someday.
“I cherished my time in Kansas City and with the Chiefs’ family,” he said by phone from Phoenix. “It would be a great way to celebrate that time.”
Allen shows up
There was talk that Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen, who has his own issues with the Chiefs, might not show up for the 101 Banquet to receive the Derrick Thomas most valuable player award.
But Allen did, in fact, show up to the black-tie affair wearing cowboy boots, jeans and a tuxedo T-shirt.
Royals sales up
The Royals tell us that their ticket sales for this season are up about 100,000 from a year ago.
In other words, the team still has a ways to go to pay for Jose Guillen’s $36 million, three-year deal.
By the way, as much as Guillen will make with the Royals, he probably still can’t afford club-level tickets to a Chiefs game starting in 2009.
Pursuit of million
Michael Letzig, the Richmond, Mo., rookie on the PGA Tour, was 2 under and in contention after two rounds of last weekend’s PODS Championship. But a third-round 75 did him in.
Still, that finish earned him $32,197, pushing his season’s earnings to $214,603. He told me last week his goal was to make $1 million by his birthday (May 7).
To reach Jeffrey Flanagan call 816-234-4492 and leave a message or send e-mail to jflanagan@kcstar.com
