Perhaps it's a good thing that the Kansas City Chiefs aren't scoring too many touchdowns this year. It's a long-standing tradition, you see, for team mascot Warpaint (an actual horse) to run around the field whenever the Chiefs actually push the ball over the goal line. That's nice in theory, but Chiefs safety Eric Berry does not agree with the entire horse concept. Turns out that the third-year star has quite the case of equinophobia, which puts him in the wrong NFL city in that sense.

[Week 11 Power Rankings: Texans take top spot]

"Oh, hell nah -- there goes that horse!" Berry was seen to exclaim from the sideline during the Chiefs' recent home loss to the Oakland Raiders. "I don't [expletive] with that horse.

"I don't mess with horses, straight up," Berry continued. "Might come over here and throw a tantrum."

Berry could be seen walking away from a defensive huddle at the mere sight of the seemingly gentle animal.

Warpaint was "retired" in 1989, though the Chiefs brought him back (another version of him, we're assuming) for the team's 50th anniversary celebration in 2009. The Chiefs selected Berry with the fifth overall pick just a year later, which means that someone in the front office forgot to do their Advance Equinophobia Scouting Report.

Unfortunately for Berry, Warpaint is now back to stay. From the Chiefs' official website:

Read More »from Video: Eric Berry is very afraid of horses

The Kansas City Chiefs don't seem to understand the concept of the old sports adage, "Act like you've been there before." Then again, when you haven't held a lead in regulation through your first eight games, it's tough to know where "there" is. The Chiefs, who are clearly not used to success, went a bit overboard in Monday night's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, breaking out choreographed celebrations to mark various accomplishments.

One wonders how good they'd be if they spent that time working on plays.

Perhaps the most embarrassing incident happened halfway through the third quarter, when Steelers quarterback Byron Leftwich appeared to fumble the ball on a pass attempt, and Kansas City linebacker Justin Houston returned the allegedly fumbled football for a defensive touchdown. After reviewing the play, referee Carl Cheffers decreed that Leftwich had actually thrown an incomplete pass. However, the penalty given to the Chiefs for their group celebration in the end zone would stand. It turned a Pittsburgh fourth down into a Pittsburgh first down, and added 15 yards to the Steelers' drive.

So, yes ... the Chiefs were penalized for celebrating a touchdown that did not technically exist.

Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel, who had to threaten his entire team with benchings last week because the turnover ratio was so out of hand, was back at it in response to this recent lack of fundamentals. This time, Crennel had to crack down on dancing ... like some sort of modern-day Reverend Shaw Moore.

Question was, where did all this ridiculousness come from?

"I have no idea," Crennel told Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star on Tuesday. "It was a surprise to me to see some of those celebrations, per se. The rules are explicit about no celebrating, particularly group celebrations. You cannot have those. Our guys, they know the rules and they should not have done it. I will talk to my players about that, and I don't expect it to happen again."

Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe could have been penalized on an apparent touchdown reception earlier in the third quarter, when he held the ball out in a clear taunting gesture as he was going into the end zone. Fortunately for Bowe, we guess, left tackle Branden Albert was flagged for holding, and the touchdown was negated. The call against Albert was ticky-tack at best and wouldn't have held up under close scrutiny, but that's beside the point. This is a team that was 1-7 at the time, acting like they were on the right side of a Super Bowl blowout.

Just who the heck do these guys think they are?

Were the Chiefs raising hell at Burlington Cranton's property a few days back? (AP)

Read More »from Romeo Crennel would really like the Chiefs to stop dancing on the field

The "happy" couple. (Getty Images)

Before you read what you're about to read, keep in mind that former NFL tight end Jerramy Stevens and American soccer star Hope Solo were planning to get married on Tuesday, and according to one report, they still intend to do so.

UPDATE: They did so. According to Dave Mahler of Seattle radio station 950 KJR, Stevens and Solo tied the knot on Tuesday evening.

Now ... about their wedding day. Reports first came out on Tuesday afternoon from Chris Daniels of Seattle TV station KING-5, indicating that Stevens, who played in the NFL from 2002 through 2010, was arrested and charged with fourth-degree domestic violence assault.

"Jerramy Stevens in orange jumpsuit accused of domestic violence, involving Hope Solo," Daniels tweeted. "Court Documents describe Hope Solo as Jerramy Stevens FIANCÉ ... Solo/Stevens Incident happened at 3:45am on Monday, at home in Kirkland according to court documents ... Court Documents describe altercation, Solo had small amount of blood on elbow."

Jerramy Stevens (far right, seated) in Kirkland Municipal Court on Tuesday. (@ChrisDaniels5)A few minutes after those reports, Daniels then said that a judge in Kirkland, Wash., court found no probable cause to hold Stevens.

"Stevens will be released," Daniels continued. "Solo said nothing as she left courtroom, jumped into waiting vehicle ... Attorneys for Stevens & Solo would not address whether the 2 were/are set to get married ... Police report says Stevens and Solo were set to get married on Tuesday and argument was about whether they'd live in FL or WA ... Police report says Marcus Solo (Hope's brother) said there was altercation in house with unknown person, and involved a stun gun."

[Photos: Hope Solo and Jerramy Stevens]

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Marcus Solo was the one who called Kirkland police, and when police came to the scene, he had blood on his forehead and knees, and a bruised eye. Hope solo then emerged from the house, intoxicated and with a laceration on her elbow. She did not cooperate with police and told her brother not to say anything. When police swept the house, they found eight intoxicated people, a woman in the kitchen with a hip injury, and Stevens on the floor of an upstairs bedroom, claiming that he was sleeping, not hiding.

Stevens had blood on his cheek and his shirt. He admitted that he had been arguing with Solo, and since police have to make an arrest when there is a domestic violence call, Stevens was arrested and charged with fourth-degree assault.

After Stevens' release, Daniels reported that -- if possible -- the situation was about to get even stranger.

Read More »from Jerramy Stevens arrested and released on domestic assault charge, still married Hope Solo

Once again, Phil Simms has left us very, very confused. (Getty Images)

It's been well-documented that New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is struggling of late. All sorts of theories as to why have been thrown out there, including the one put forth by our buddy Greg Cosell on last Friday's Shutdown Corner matchup podcast -- Eli has a tired arm, and it's been a problem for a few weeks. A perfectly reasonable conclusion, though Manning doesn't agree.

Whatever the issue is, we assumed that we were past the point where people would question Manning's "elite" status. Apparently, we are not. After Manning went 29 of 46 for 215 yards, a 4.67 yards per attempt average, no touchdowns, two interceptions, and the worst Quarterback DYAR of the week per Football Outsiders, former Giants quarterback and current CBS analyst Phil Simms put forth the proposition that ... well, maybe Eli really isn't that good. Asked about Manning's place in the quarterback pantheon on the CBS Sports Network's "NFL Monday QB" show, Simms let loose.

"No, he is not one of the elites. Because when I hear the word elite, I'm thinking about guys that can make unbelievable plays on the field by themselves. There are very few quarterbacks in that category.

"I always bring up Aaron Rodgers. He is one of them. So yes, Eli has been a tremendous team player. He has been MVP of the Super Bowl twice. I know that. But the way I look at it, the answer is no."

Hmmm. Well, we're not sure what Simms categorizes as "elite," though Rodgers has had some pretty brutal stretches in his career, too. We need look no further than Rodgers' first three games of the 2012 season, when he threw just three touchdown passes versus two picks total against the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks. Admittedly, that's quite the Murderers' Row of pass defenses, but the point remains -- every great quarterback has bad times in his career, and Eli's just another prime example.

[Also: ESPN touts Ben Roethlisberger's 'drink and drunk' style]

To question Manning's overall greatness at this point in his career borders on the ridiculous. He ranked seventh in FO's cumulative opponent-adjusted stats in 2011, and as far as the ability to make big plays on his own, we give you perhaps the single greatest throw in Super Bowl history -- his 38-yard completion to Mario Manningham that kick-started the Giants' game-winning drive in the most recent league championship game .

I was sitting in the press area of Lucas Oil Stadium at that point, watching the Giants start a drive from their own 12-yard line with 3:46 left in the game, and down, 17-15. What made me understand the greatness of Manning as a player at that point was the fact that all the football scribes around me were saying the same thing I was:

Eli's going to win this thing. It's just what he does.

And so, he did.

On the final Giants drive that ended in a touchdown, Manning was an obscene 5 for 6 for 74 yards. And as much as I don't like to espouse the whole "this guy is more than the sum total of his stats" argument most of the time, there's just something about Eli that makes it valid.

I recently asked Eli's father Archie about the qualities that make his younger quarterback son so damned good under the kinds of pressures that cause the majority of NFL quarterbacks to fold.

"One thing that's unique about Eli is that he doesn't have much ego,"  Manning the Elder said. "Sometimes you say, 'Well a quarterback has to have an ego,' and maybe so. But he doesn't go high, he doesn't go low -- he just loves to play.  He doesn't mind work, and he loves playing for the New York Giants, I'll tell you that. I think it would kill him if he had to go play anywhere else. I think he just loves what he does, and he doesn't worry about too much. He kinda just goes to work and handles things. He just takes care of business."

It seems, I then said, that Eli's competitiveness is undersold because of that seemingly laid-back approach.

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"Yeah, I think people really do," Archie Manning responded. "He's just not as intense [as Peyton] -- it's more of a smooth level. When people are like that, people do underestimate their competitive fire."

Indeed. Is Eli Manning the NFL's best quarterback? Nobody would seriously consider that to be true. But to portray him as some sort of Alex Smith-style game manager who needs everything perfect around him before he can make plays, as Simms seems to have done, is flat-out wrong.

Read More »from Phil Simms: Eli Manning isn’t ‘elite,’ and doesn’t make unbelievable plays. Us: Huh?!?!?!?

(AP)

While the NFL's concussion protocol is supposed to be set in stone, it doesn't always appear to be so on gameday. This was never more apparent than in the Houston Texans' 13-6 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday night. With 2:56 left in the first half, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler threw a pass to receiver Devin Hester just across the 50-yard line, which got him penalized for an illegal forward pass. To add injury to insult, Cutler was absolutely hammered by Texans linebacker Tim Dobbins with a helmet-to-helmet hit after he released the ball. Dobbins was penalized as well, and the fouls offset, but the drama had just begun.

Though the hit was clearly to Cutler's head, the Bears left him in the game until the half, when he was replaced by Jason Campbell. After the game, Bears head coach Lovie Smith tried to explain the team's thought process.

"We had a break since the play was being challenged. Our trainers talked to him then. When I say concussion protocol, that's a part of it. It's not like he showed symptoms but we had a break in between. Our trainers talked to him, evaluated him, he was fine from there. Players in the huddle didn't see anything wrong with him, at the time ... we just continued to talk to him all the way out, even through to halftime.

"When I say normal protocol for a concussion, that's what I'm talking about. We're constantly talking with him. If you look at his play, it's not like he was light on his feet or starry eyed, anything like that. We felt he was in control of everything, just like the rest of our players, at the time."

There was a great hue and cry at the time, because players who are believed to be experiencing "concussion-like symptoms" (to use the NFL's favorite term) are supposed to undergo some sort of evaluation beyond the one given by team trainers.

"We have arranged for a certified athletic trainer to be at each game to monitor play of both teams and provide medical staffs with any relevant information that may assist them in determining the most appropriate evaluation and treatment," the NFL said in a memo delivered to all 32 NFL teams last December. "This athletic trainer will be stationed in a booth upstairs with access to video replay and direct communication to the medical staffs of both teams. In most cases, the athletic trainer will be affiliated with a major college program in the area or will have previously been affiliated with an NFL club."

However, the certified trainer not under team employ has no specific authority to insist that a player be removed from a game -- that's still the team's call. After reviewing the Bears' process, league spokesman Greg Aiello said that the NFL had no issue with Smith or his staff.

"Our office reviewed it with the [Bears] medical staff, and it was properly handled," Aiello said. "The team followed the correct protocol."

But if Cutler was concussed on that play -- and it certainly appeared as if he was -- why the delay? That's what NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith would like to know, not only with Cutler's injury, but with the concussions suffered on Sunday by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, and Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports that DeMaurice Smith will once again call for independent concussion specialists to man the sidelines and be in charge of the in-game protocol. The idea is not to castigate a certain team or medical staff, but to make sure that the protocol is uniform around the league on a no-matter-what basis.

"NFLPA sources said the union wants the league to accept responsibility for creating a disciplined, prompt and safe environment for players who are injured during the course of a game," Mortensen wrote on Wednesday. "They said the union wants concussion specialists, paid not by the teams but by the league, to assume the duties of caring for players, in accordance with normal employer workplace oversight."

Read More »from After Cutler’s concussion, NFLPA renews its call for independent specialists

Growing up as he did in a tough Washington, D.C., neighborhood, San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis had artistic interests and talents that were sidetracked by the pressures and prejudices of the inner city. Davis avoided art classes in high school, because he thought that his classmates would judge him.

"I figured that if I took up art classes, people would look at me differently," Davis recently told Yahoo! Sports. "I wanted to be cool, and I didn't know how to adapt at the time. It's sad, but that's just the way it was."

He got his primary support in life from his grandmother, who raised Davis and his siblings. It wasn't always easy, and Davis once played an entire high school football season in tennis shoes because he didn't want to bother his grandmother about cleats. It was when he went to the University of Maryland that things started to come together for him in a football sense.

[Also: ESPN touts Ben Roethlisberger's 'drink and drunk' style]

"My sophomore year in college, I started to show sparks," Davis said. "Something was telling me that, hey, I'm about to go pro."

(Yahoo! Sports)

But it was also at Maryland that Davis finally found a way to further his previously hidden interest in art. He changed his major from Criminal Justice to Art Studio, and he was on his way.

"I've always enjoyed the idea of being an artist," he said.

Davis was selected by the 49ers with the sixth overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft, based in part on a ridiculous performance at the scouting combine.  At 6-foot-3 and 254 pounds, he ran a 4.38 40-yard dash, put up 33 reps in the 225-pound bench press, and hit a 42-inch vertical jump. Davis was one of the first of the new wave of athletic tight ends that has taken over the NFL in recent years.

(Getty Images)

With his future secured and his NFL path started, Davis also began to paint in earnest, and he describes the creative process in athletic terms.

Read More »from Outside the Game: Vernon Davis is finally following his artistic heart

The Kansas City Chiefs have been abysmal in many fundamental aspects of football this season, but in Monday night's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team that hadn't held a lead until Monday night's first quarter kept it surprisingly close throughout its eventual 16-13 overtime loss. However, bad teams will find novel ways to beat themselves, and the Chiefs are no exception. With 9:53 left in the third quarter, left tackle Branden Albert was called for holding on a play that would have otherwise been a Dwayne Bowe touchdown -- though, it was a ticky-tack call at best.

The most embarrassing moment of the evening for the Chiefs came with 7:32 left in the third quarter, and Kansas City  actually tied with  Pittsburgh, 10-10. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was out of the game with a shoulder injury, so backup Byron Leftwich was trying to drive the team.

The Steelers had third-and-7 at their own 26-yard line, and Leftwich threw an incomplete pass that was originally called a fumble. Linebaker Justin Houston pounced on the ball and returned it for what he thought was a touchdown, and several Chiefs defenders joined Houston in the end zone for a little group celebration.

Problem is, the NFL does not like group celebrations. Even before referee Carl Cheffers went to review the play, he called the Chiefs for unsportsmanlike conduct, and said that the 15-yard penalty would be enforced on the kickoff if it was a scoring play. Fair enough.

However, when Cheffers came back to the field after going under the hood, he reversed the fumble call ... and kept the penalty on the Chiefs. Yes, the Chiefs were hit with a 15-yard penalty for celebrating a touchdown they didn't score. Instead of fourth-and-7 at their own 26, the Steelers now had a first-and-10 at their own 41.

NFL rules state that any personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties stay in effect even if a play is reversed, and that's completely understandable if the penalty is based on an illegal hit or something else that affects player safety. You go after a guy's knee, you should be penalized no matter what. But this is a weird kink in the rules that the NFL needs to change. If a touchdown is wiped out, the celebration resulting from the touchdown should be reversed as well.

Read More »from Chiefs penalized 15 yards for celebrating a non-existent touchdown

The Chiefs are living in shadows this season. (Getty Images)

In the last week, the Kansas City Chiefs have set many things in motion to try and turn around their 1-7 disaster of a season. Head coach Romeo Crennel fired himself as defensive coordinator and replaced himself with Gary Gibbs, cornerback Stanford Routt found himself cut despite signing a multi-year contract before the 2012 season, and there are rumors that team owner Clark Hunt has been talking to Marty Schottenheimer (who coached the team from 1989 through 1998) for whatever reason.

On Friday, Crennel said that any player who turns the ball over in the future will be immediately benched, which is actually a semi-sensible notion for a team with a minus-20 turnover ratio.

In short, to call the Chiefs a dumpster fire is an insult to dumpster fires everywhere, and everyone from GM Scott Pioli on down is on notice. It's not a good time for a team that hasn't held a single lead in regulation this year to be facing a Pittsburgh Steelers team with a resurgent defense, but that's what the

Read More »from MNF Preview: Chiefs stand a slim-to-none chance against resurgent Steelers