Midway through Sunday's game between the Chiefs and Bengals, I came across this tweet:
Marv Albert and Rich Gannon now giving a eulogy for the once loud and proud Arrowhead Stadium crowd. #Chiefs
— Brad Porter (@bradkporter) November 18, 2012
I made a mental note to go back and check on what the announcers said and so here we are. I transcribed a bit of what Marv Albert and Rich Gannon had to say below.
As if Clark Hunt needed any more evidence that something's changed with his Kansas City Chiefs, the way announcers talk about the Chiefs and the fans should make it clear as day that something's not right here. For most fans, watching a game on TV is the only way they will experience a Chiefs game. And this is what they hear people say about the team.. Embarrassing.
Albert:"Back at Arrowhead, fans continue to file out. This will look like an intrasquad scrimmage by the time the game is in its final moments."
Gannon: "I'm just so surprised they haven't been more competitive at home. They've won three of their last 15 games here. This used to be such a home field advantage. But there's just nothing to get excited about. They turn the ball over. It's a hard offense to watch. We do Cleveland games over the years, and you'd think they were getting better, but that was a hard offense to watch. Three and outs all over the place, they were bad in the red zone. You look at Kansas City right now. They have the worst red zone offense in the NFL."
Albert:"Back in Kansas City, the way things have been going for the Chiefs, there are organizers behind a Save The Chiefs movement, who actually designated today as the official blackout Arrowhead game. This has been designated as the blackout Arrowhead game where fans were asked to wear black to today's game to send what was called a visual message that they're tired of what they call broken leadership, subpar performance on the field. They say they are passionate fans who have endured 19 painful years with no playoff victories. The goal of this group is to create, change the message is that the sea of red will disappear if change does not come about. I would say a pretty fair amount of fans did wear black instead of the usual red."
Gannon:"It's kind of a grassroots effort to get fans to wear black instead of red in protest. This is so foreign to me, Marv, having played here from 95-98. These fans are great fans and I just think they're so frustrated with the product on the field."
Albert: "For a long time, this was one of the magnificent franchises in the NFL."