Dirty Little Secrets?
By Nick Athan
Posted May 19, 2010
When ESPN The Magazine comes out next week, the Kansas City Chiefs are going to be in the middle of some very unwanted publicity.
The NFL has always been a league run by the good ol’ boy network at the ownership level and the coaching fraternity. On the players’ side, the veterans rule the show in the locker room and off the field.
Rookies like wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, who came into the NFL in 2007, are supposed to follow the lead and code of their elders. They are supposed to keep some of the dirty little secrets that have been passed on from generation to generation by the men who set the stage for players like Bowe to earn the millions they earn today.
Now he’s opened up the floodgates and it could backfire. What he said may indeed be true, but NFL players are not going to be too happy about it. You think whatever NFL team Bowe plays for in 2010 that he won’t receive an extra hit or two from opposing players?
For a decade, the city of Las Vegas has brought in millions of tourists with their signature catchphrase “Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”. It has served the city well as it’s made billions in tourist dollars.
In the NFL and MLB for that matter, news that groupies dressed to kill are lingering in hotel lobbies in the hopes of scoring a more personal connection with rich NFL players isn’t really news.
Here’s what Bowe said to the magazine.
"My rookie year, we were playing in San Diego. You hear stories about groupies hanging out in hotel lobbies, but some of my teammates had it set up so there was a girl in every room. The older guys get on MySpace and Facebook a week before we go to a city; when a pretty one writes back, they arrange to fly her in three or four days in advance. They call it importing."
What Bowe faces now is a wrath of heat that he does not need. Nor do the Chiefs. But it’s too late now -- the story is out and Bowe, who has been trying to pry a new contract out of the Chiefs, could soon learn a new meaning of cold shoulder.
Still, what he says is true, and in the interview he goes into even deeper details about what happens in hotels on road trips.
"Younger guys don't have the money to do it," Bowe added. "Anyway, these girls had the whole top floor. They know everything about us -- first and last names, sisters and brothers, salary. This one girl was talking to me like she'd known me for years. 'Hey, D-Bowe, how's Grandma?' I'm like, 'How do you know my grandma?' She knew that I talk about her every time I'm interviewed for a story.”
"I told her I had a girlfriend, but she didn't care. She was wearing my jersey, sitting in my lap, making it look like we knew each other. Then she took a picture and put it on Facebook. That almost got me in trouble."
The NFL goes to great lengths to protect its players on the road. NFL security roams the halls, puts players on curfews and generally keeps the riff-raff away from the owners’ product.
Based on Bowe’s comments, some of the security personnel may be looking the other way as these maidens sneak into NFL chambers the night before games.
And you wonder why some NFL teams don’t divulge the name of the hotels where players stay?
Again, the admissions by Bowe aren’t surprising. In fact, if you ask any NFL reporter, they’d probably tell you a plethora of stories that are far more detailed or graphic in nature than the quotes Bowe made.
But now the Chiefs, who are trying to change the culture of this entire franchise, have a problem: what to do with Bowe?
It’ll be interesting to see how they react, knowing that Bowe was in the doghouse a year ago for spending four weeks on the suspended list after telling the Chiefs he had not used any substances that were on the NFL’s no-no list.
Now he’s wanting a better contract and dropping balls in OTA sessions. That does not bode well for his long-term future in Kansas City.
Short term, he’s going to get a wrath from his current teammates who likely will settle this matter their own way.
Either way, this is the last thing needed for an organization that’s unable to sell season tickets and hasn’t won a playoff game since Joe Montana was the quarterback.