DE Mike Vrabel (All B1G, All American, Pro Bowl, All Pro, Super Bowl Champion)

[Buckskin86]

Chiefs LB Vrabel Named to All-Fundamentals Team
by Joel Thorman on Dec 8, 2009

by Orlin Wagner - AP .
San Diego Chargers running back Darren Sproles (43) is tackled by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Mike Vrabel (50) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Browse more photos ?
Kansas City Chiefs LB Mike Vrabel has been chosen as a member of the All-Fundamentals Team by USA Football and the NFLPA.

A six person panel chose Vrabel because of his ability to shed blocks.

USA Football is the governing body of youth football and is chaired by former Chiefs GM Carl Peterson who, along with Herm Edwards and four others, chose the All-Fundamentals team. This 26-man roster honors the NFL's most fundamentally-sound players who also commit themselves to service in their communities.

One other player with a Chiefs connection - Tony Gonzalez. He was given the honor for his ability to catch the ball in traffic.

Each player will choose a school to give a $1,500 equipment grant.

Chiefs LB Vrabel Named to All-Fundamentals?Team - Arrowhead Pride

Posted: Tuesday December 8, 2009
All-Decade Team: NFL
By Peter King

LB Mike Vrabel
Teams in 2000s: Steelers, Patriots, Chiefs
Seasons in 2000s: 10

There are scores of players who have a better statistical r?sum? than Vrabel in the decade (50 sacks, 11 interceptions, 17 forced fumbles), but he's here because of his versatile playmaking skills and ability to play all over the linebacking corps. The three-time Super Bowl champions are going to be represented on this defense, the same way the rock-ribbed, team-minded Steelers are with Aaron Smith. Vrabel came to New England cheaply when the Patriots had no money to spend in 2001 free agency, and he was the keystone of that class in the franchise's construction of the team of the decade.

Read more: Peyton Manning, Randy Moss,?Ray Lewis lead NFL All-Decade team - 2000s: The Decade in Sports - SI.com

 

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Frustrated Vrabel gave the finger to Broncos
Posted by Michael David Smith on December 9, 2009

Mike Vrabel isn't accustomed to losing. In 12 previous NFL seasons with the Steelers and Patriots he usually played for teams that were either good or great, and he earned three Super Bowl rings.

So now that Vrabel is playing linebacker for the 3-9 Kansas City Chiefs, he's frustrated.

That frustration boiled over during Sunday's 44-13 loss to the Denver Broncos. When the Broncos scored a fourth quarter touchdown after going for it on fourth down, Vrabel extended his middle finger to the Broncos' bench as he walked off the field.

"I was frustrated," Vrabel said afterward, per Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star. "I've been on the other end of one of those [blowout victory] and it's a lot of fun. Well, now I've been on the other side, and it's not good."

Not much is good right now for the Chiefs, who have lost their last two games by a combined 60 points. Although the Patriots have their own problems at the moment, Vrabel must miss New England.

Frustrated Vrabel gave the finger to Broncos | ProFootballTalk.com

 

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Posted on Thu, Dec. 10, 2009
Vrabel adjusts to being out of contention
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star

DAVID EULITT
Chiefs linebacker Mike Vrabel isn?t used to playing meaningless football games late in the season.

During his eight seasons with the Patriots, linebacker Mike Vrabel knew only meaningful December games that were played either to get his team into the playoffs or set it up for a postseason run.

In his first season with the 3-9 Chiefs, Vrabel is finding out how the other half lives. His late-season games, including Sunday?s meeting with Buffalo at Arrowhead Stadium, aren?t for playoffs but pride.

This new experience has been trying for Vrabel, and he caved in to that frustration in the fourth quarter of last week?s loss to Denver. He flipped off the Broncos? sideline after Denver scored a touchdown on fourth down and 1 with a 21-point lead.

Vrabel is still waiting to hear whether he will be fined by the league, which seems likely weeks after Tennessee owner Bud Adams was recently docked $250,000 for the same infraction.

?Maybe they don?t have it on film,? Vrabel said. ?I?m not going to tell them I want a fine.?

That incident aside, Vrabel said that he?s satisfied with how he?s responded to his team?s predicament and that he?s the same player he was in New England when the Patriots were playoff-bound in December.

?Anybody can play for a 12-2 team in December,? Vrabel said. ?When things are good, it?s all fun and games. This is not fun and games. But we?re going to stay professional about it.

?Has it been different? Yes. But I expected it to be different. It?s not that I like it any less. There are good guys here. This can be a humbling business. We?re all measured by the success of the team.

?You can?t really sit there and wallow in it. We?ve got to finish strong and start developing a program around here that people want to be a part of.?

Vrabel adjusts to being out of contention - KansasCity.com

 

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Wins (for now) aren't the measure of Mike Vrabel's leadership with Chiefs: Bill Livingston
By Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer
December 16, 2009

John Sleezer/Kansas City Star
Mike Vrabel (50) and the rest of the Chiefs defense didn't have much success in slowing Correll Buckhalter and Denver in a 44-13 loss on Dec. 9. But Vrabel means more to Kansas City than just his on-field performance, says Bill Livingston.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A basketball player once told me Red Auerbach built the Boston Celtics to last, "like the Roman Empire."

The player was M.L. Carr, who later became Boston's general manager in the 1990s, about the time the Visigoths overran the empire.

The Celtics got old together back then. Management forgot about replenishing the team with youth and speed, sentimentally letting veterans play out the string together. After that, they had no one to remember the specs of the blueprint for victory.

In the old days, the Romans used career soldiers called centurions to indoctrinate the men in the ranks. Among the new centurions in the NFL is Mike Vrabel, of Walsh Jesuit, Ohio State and the Browns' opponent this Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs.

Before New England's coaching staff made Vrabel a central element of three Super Bowl champions, he was a spare part in Pittsburgh. After New England, he and Matt Cassel, who baby-sat the quarterback position when Tom Brady was hurt last season, were traded to Kansas City for a second-round draft pick.

Cassel is the player of the future; Vrabel is the veteran exemplar.

Stephan Savoia / Associated Press
Mike Vrabel embraces his role of senior statesman with the Chiefs. ?You have to lead by example. You have to let the games and the practices come to you.

?The Browns have tried to do this in the past, but ex-Pat Willie McGinest, a Romeo Crennel favorite, often played as if he was 45 years old. Jeff Garcia, Butch Davis' solution to the quarterback problem, tried to tell everyone how he did it in San Francisco.

"You can't come in yelling and talking 'When I was here, we did this,'" said Vrabel. "You have to lead by example. You have to let the games and the practices come to you."

Wins (for now) aren't the measure of Mike Vrabel's leadership with Chiefs: Bill Livingston | Bill Livingston: Plain Dealer Sports Columnist's Blog - cleveland.com - - cleveland.com

(On if it is tough to trade away a veteran player)- “It always is. When you have a guy like Mike Vrabel, I mean he’s a special guy. You can’t coach his toughness. You can’t coach his instincts. [He is] a guy that wasn’t highly drafted, worked his way up. Really, we had brought him in initially as a special teams player and he established himself as a really good defensive player. Even talking to (Jason) Trusnik when he was a young guy first starting out, I talked to him about emulating a guy like Mike Vrabel whose work ethic, every day in practice [he] worked. He knew the defense, not just his assignment, knew the defense, could draw up the defense, could coach the defense. I’m telling you, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not coaching major college football or pro football at some point and be really successful. He’s a wealth of knowledge.”

(On Vrabel’s versatility)- “He’s got good hands. Mike used to be on the show team and he’d want to play safety on the show team. He’d disguise stuff. He used to frustrate Tom (Brady) to no end, because he’d disguise things. They’d go back and forth. It was great too, because it brought energy to the practice. He’s get Tom all fired up. That whole show team, that whole period changes because now it goes from working on the plays to working on the plays and also wanting to throw touchdowns on Vrabel. It just increases the intensity.”

http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2009/12/cleveland_browns_eric_mangini_32.html

 

[Buckskin86]

Vrabel must lead by example
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal staff writer
Dec 17, 2009

BEREA: After starting in four Super Bowls and winning three with the New England Patriots, Mike Vrabel's rude awakening came Feb. 28.

That's when the 13-year veteran linebacker from Walsh Jesuit and Ohio State was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, along with quarterback Matt Cassell, for a second-round draft pick.

''When you get a call and [they] say you're heading somewhere else, there's a lot of different emotions,'' Vrabel said. ''To say that I was upset, to say that I was confused, there was a lot of emotion that goes [with] being traded after you've been at a place for eight years.

''Right now, when the dust is settled, it's been a good fit for everybody, my family included. It's great out here.''

Great, however, does not include winning. The Chiefs are 3-10 going into the game Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium against the Browns and are 9-36 the past three seasons. Former Patriots vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli, hired as Chiefs general manager Jan. 13, brought in Vrabel to help new coach Todd Haley change the losing culture.

Vrabel didn't think talking about the Patriot Way would help. So he worked and played the way he always had to show the Chiefs' youngsters what it takes to be a professional.

''You can't really come into a new team and start yelling and talking like, 'When I was here, we did this,' '' Vrabel said on a conference call Wednesday. ''You try to lead by example and play hard and be consistent. Quality teams and quality programs have guys that do that.''

Vrabel sounded somewhat frustrated that consistency is still a struggle this far into the season.

''You can't be towards the top of the league in three-and-outs and on other plays have a bunch of breakdowns,'' Vrabel said. ''We have to do the things we're having success with on a more consistent basis.''

Browns coach Eric Mangini spent 2001-05 with Vrabel with the Patriots and remembers him giving quarterback Tom Brady fits when he played safety on the scout team.

''He used to frustrate Tom to no end because he'd disguise things,'' Mangini said. ''They'd go back and forth. It was great because it brought energy to the practice.''

Mangini said the intensity ramped up a notch when Vrabel would work as a tight end on the goal line. Vrabel has 11 career catches (including two in Super Bowls), all for touchdowns. One came this season.

''He's a special guy,'' Mangini said. ''You can't coach his toughness. You can't coach his instincts. He knew the defense, not just his assignment, could coach the defense. I wouldn't be surprised if he's not coaching major-college football or pro football at some point and be really successful.''

That could happen, Vrabel said, if an opportunity at Ohio State ever arises. He and his wife, Jen, who played volleyball at OSU, live in Columbus with their two sons.

''I would love to go back to Ohio State in any capacity,'' Vrabel said. ''I've got a lot of friends who coach there, gotten to know some of the players by working out there in the offseason. I would say that would be the only place I would probably coach. If I could get into coaching, I would probably look there first.''

Ohio.com - Vrabel must lead by example

 

[Buckskin86]

Vrabel will be 35 when next season begins, but he indicated he may be back in Kansas City for his 14th NFL season.

?Hopefully,? he said. ?There?s a desire by both parties to get something done. I?d love to come back here and be a part of getting this thing turned around. Walking out of here after my 13th year, I feel pretty good. I feel I?ve still got some football left.

?I love the players. I love the linebackers. I love playing for (linebackers coach) Gary Gibbs. I thought he did a great job with the linebackers.?

Chiefs have work cut out for them with contracts - KansasCity.com

 

[Buckskin86]

Mike Vrabel - Earlier this year we heard Cleveland defensive coordinator Rob Ryan refer to Vrabel as the ?smartest player I?ve ever coached.? Ryan served as Vrabel?s position coach for years in New England.

The Chiefs got exactly what they thought they were getting when Vrabel was packaged with QB Matt Cassel in an offseason trade for a second round pick. Vrabel was a consistently smart and fundamental leader in every sense and fashion. His locker room presence was an amazing thing to watch. He served as a mentor by example each and every day, plus his grade sheet on Monday mornings wasn?t too shabby either.

It was a rough transition for Vrabel coming from New England to Kansas City with just one dial of the phone, but Vrabel didn?t let it get to him (at least publicly). He?s now an unrestricted free agent and there?s no telling if he?ll be in Kansas City anymore. Wherever he signs, it will likely be his final stop of his career. Kansas City doesn?t seem like a bad place to wind things up and raise a family, does it?

Kansas City Chiefs - Insider Blog: Time To Recap The Defense

 

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Vrabel's not quitting either
EPosted by Albert Breer
February 18, 2010

Talking with Neil Cornrich yesterday about Steve Neal , I had to ask about another of his prominent clients: Mike Vrabel.

The ex-Patriot -- who once embodied everything the Dynasty Patriots were about (tough, versatile, athletic, professional) -- was thrown in to the Matt Cassel deal last February. And so he went to Kansas City, where he started 14 games, and had 53 tackles, two sacks and five passes defensed.

The Patriots missed his ability to rush the passer, set the edge in the running game and lead in the locker room ... and, hell, he probably would've helped the red-zone offense too. In New England's defense, Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi were still on the roster when Vrabel was dealt, but, again, he wasn't just missed as as a leader. He was missed as a player, too.

Anyway, it's no secret that Vrabel hopes to transition to coaching at his alma mater, Ohio State, when he's done playing, and since he'll turn 35 in August, the obvious question is whether he's mulling making the switch now. The answer: No.

"He feels he has a number of productive seasons left, he loves playing in the NFL, he loves the game," Cornrich said. "He'll probably continue with it in another capacity after he's done playing, but he wants to continue as a player, as long as he can help a team win games."

Notice Cornrich said "a team" and not "the Chiefs". That's because Vrabel becomes an unrestricted free agent on March 5. Cornrich did the agent thing in saying, "He had a productive year, who wouldn't want him?"

So I had to do the annoying reporter thing and ask ... Would he consider (the team in the market where I work)? Cornrich didn't say yes. Or no.

"Clearly, he had nothing but spectacular experiences and spectacular results as a Patriot," Cornrich said. "He has only the best of feelings for what he was able to accomplish with the team."

Vrabel's not quitting either - Extra Points - Boston.com

 

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Reunion would suit Mike Vrabel
But LB doubts Patriots want him
By Karen Guregian
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Boston Herald General Sports Reporter and Columnist

INDIANAPOLIS - Prior to the start of last season, Bill Belichick traded veteran linebacker Mike Vrabel away for little more than a stack of hoodies. He was lumped into the Matt Cassel deal to Kansas City for a second-round pick.

The $2.2 million salary Vrabel was due, plus a $1 million roster bonus - the math came out to a $4.3 million charge against the cap - apparently wasn?t worth the trouble.

The Pats needed to create cap space to sign some free agents, and Vrabel became a casualty. His presence in the locker room and the leadership he had provided through eight seasons and three Super Bowl championships didn?t seem to matter.

Nor did the fact that he remained the team?s best pass-rushing threat from the outside, even if it appeared his game was on the decline.

It?s a business, after all. Tough decisions are made all the time, like sending five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Richard Seymour [stats] to Oakland for a first-round draft choice in 2011.

And while the 34-year-old Vrabel knows he would be a fool to want to go back on principle alone, the linebacker, who officially hits the free agent market in a week, still has feelings for his old team. Chatting with the Herald yesterday in between meetings at the NFL scouting combine, Vrabel said he wouldn?t mind a return engagement in Foxboro.

?I?d go back in a heartbeat. Why wouldn?t I?? Vrabel said. ?Put it this way: I?d go back, but I highly doubt they?d want me back.?

Reunion would suit Mike Vrabel - BostonHerald.com

 

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Mike Vrabel: Talks one-sided
By Karen Guregian / NFL Notes
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Boston Herald General Sports Reporter and Columnist

Former Patriots [team stats] linebacker Mike Vrabel is a member of the NFLPA?s executive committee. He spent a couple of days at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, where the two sides met Thursday to try and make some progress toward a new collective bargaining agreement.

If a deal isn?t struck by Friday, when the new league year starts, there will be no salary cap for the 2010 season and owners will be operating without a salary floor or ceiling for the first time since 1993. The current CBA, meanwhile, expires in March 2011.

Vrabel characterized the negotiations as stagnant.

?Is a lot getting done? No,? Vrabel said Friday. ?Right now there doesn?t seem to be, as you might say in coachspeak, a great sense of urgency to get anything done.?

The players? union did make a proposition to extend the current salary rules and remain under a cap system. Vrabel said the union made the pitch in an attempt to keep negotiations going with the purpose of striking a deal, but it was rejected by ownership.

?It was a situation where you try to extend the current deal as it is now, just as you would franchise a player and use the franchise tag to keep negotiations going. It buys you two or three or four months,? Vrabel said. ?That?s what was done in an attempt to continue the deal, so that we can get something done and pushed out four or five years."

Mike Vrabel: Talks one-sided - BostonHerald.com

 

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Chiefs Sign LB Mike Vrabel to Contract Extension

The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Thursday that the club has signed LB Mike Vrabel to a contract extension.

Vrabel (6-4, 261) has played in 190 regular season games (124 starts) in 13 previous NFL campaigns with Pittsburgh (?97-00), New England (2001-08) and Kansas City (2009). He has recorded 746 tackles (495 solo), 57.0 sacks (-346.5 yards), 11 INTs with one TD, 40 passes defensed, 18 forced fumbles, eight fumble recoveries and 16 QB pressures. He also owns nine career TD receptions.

The Akron, Ohio native started 14 contests for Kansas City in 2009, producing 65 tackles (42 solo), 2.0 sacks (-11.0 yards), two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, six QB pressures and five passes defensed. He has appeared in 19 career postseason games (17 starts), registering 95 tackles (65 solo), 8.0 sacks (-58.0 yards), four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and three passes defensed, as well as two TD catches.

Vrabel entered the league a third-round selection (91st overall) of Pittsburgh in the ?97 NFL Draft. He tallied a school-record 36.0 sacks during his career at Ohio State after prepping at Walsh Jesuit High School in Akron, Ohio.

Chiefs Sign LB Mike Vrabel to Contract Extension

 

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Chiefs, Vrabel agree to one-year deal
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star

When linebacker Mike Vrabel cleaned out his locker after the end of the season, he left little doubt he wanted to play for the Chiefs again in 2010.

?Walking out of here after my 13th year, I feel pretty good,? he said then. ?I think I?ve still got some football left.

?There?s a desire on both parties to get something done. I?d love to come back here and be a part of getting this thing turned around.?

Vrabel and the Chiefs made it happen hours before he was to become an unrestricted free agent. The sides agreed on terms of a one-year contract Thursday, allowing him to continue his career in Kansas City and the Chiefs to keep a starting outside linebacker and a mentor to many of their young players.

Vrabel will be 35 in August. In an interview Thursday, Vrabel said he didn?t want to face what might have been an uncertain free-agent market.

?I?m glad I didn?t let it get to that,? he said. ?When you look at everything, with (defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel) coming in and the guys we have and after playing with these guys for a year, I didn?t want to go anywhere else and shop around and go somewhere else and have to move my family. Now the most important thing is to win some football games.

?I know we played better at the end of the season. That?s a positive to build on.?

Vrabel started 14 games last season, missing two because of a knee injury. The Chiefs were mostly pleased with his play. But he had only two sacks, his lowest total since he became a starter with the Patriots in 2001.

?I wanted to win more games, but from the standpoint of how my coaches graded me, it was acceptable,? Vrabel said. ?Obviously, when you talk about getting to the quarterback, I think people want to see more numbers, more sacks. When you?re used to sacking the quarterback, you?ve got to sack the quarterback. So I would like to see those numbers go up.?

Vrabel indicated he signed for only one season because he was uncertain whether he wanted to play beyond 2010.

?I feel good now,? Vrabel said. ?I felt really good coming out of last year. Obviously the doctors have had a look at me. I passed a physical recently. I?ve been a starter for nine years and I missed only a handful of games. I?m proud of that and I imagine that would continue.?

Chiefs, Vrabel agree to one-year deal - KansasCity.com

 

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Vrabel comfortable as Chiefs start offseason practices
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star

Unlike last year, linebacker Mike Vrabel plans to be at the Chiefs' first scheduled offseason practice today.

The shock of last year?s trade that sent him from three-time Super Bowl champion New England to the lowly Chiefs has disappeared.

Linebacker Mike Vrabel is comfortable enough with his situation in Kansas City that he re-signed a one-year contract in March, hours before he would have become an unrestricted free agent.

Vrabel is also comfortable enough that, unlike last year, he planned to join the Chiefs today for the first of their 14 scheduled offseason practices. The Chiefs will also have a three-day minicamp in June.

?I?m looking forward to being there and getting back to work,? Vrabel said. ?I told Todd (Haley) I plan to be at all of the (practices) and the minicamp. It?s the exact same schedule I had for my last seven years in New England.?

Vrabel was one of two starters who didn?t participate in most of last year?s offseason practices. The other, guard Brian Waters, said in March he would attend the June minicamp but was unsure about the other offseason practices.

Safety Jarrad Page, the Chiefs? remaining restricted free agent, hasn?t signed his contract offer and his plans to attend practices were unclear.

Technically, the offseason practices are not mandatory but Haley strongly encourages participation. Attendance at the June minicamp is mandatory.

Vrabel participated only in the minicamp last year and didn?t join the Chiefs for good until the start of summer training camp.

?I wasn?t in a big hurry to get to Kansas City,? he said. ?But that?s so far in the past. Once I got there and realized the type of people we had around and the type of people they wanted to bring in, it was fine. It was frustrating to lose. We were in a lot of close games and I think that will help us this year. Everybody left some plays out there on the field and we left a couple of wins out there. We all understand that.

?Every year, teams are going to be different. Some teams that had a really good season last year won?t be very good this year and some teams that weren?t very good last year will be good this season. We need to commit ourselves to being one of those teams.?

Read more: Vrabel comfortable as Chiefs start offseason practices - KansasCity.com

 

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Mike Vrabel's Impact Being Felt At Chiefs OTAs
by Joel Thorman on Jun 4, 2010

Orlin Wagner - AP .

I attended the Chiefs rookie minicamp a few weeks back -- it was the first practice I'd ever been to -- and I noticed how much of the conversation you could hear on the field. The players were talking to each other, the coaches were chiming in and all kinds of stuff about who's in position, who's not and so on.

During games, you don't see that all that...but it's there.

Mike Vrabel is someone Chiefs players have publicly declared as a leader of the defense and the team as a whole. Bob Gretz of BobGretz.com writes this morning that there's "no way to discount the value" of Vrabel's appearance at all of the Chiefs OTAs -- something he did not do last year.

"It?s not just his 13 seasons in the league and history of productive play for a Super Bowl champion," Gretz writes. "It?s that Vrabel knows the Romeo Crennel defense forwards, backwards and sideways. It is exactly the scheme that Crennel ran with the Patriots and Vrabel was part of the unit."

Most of the Chiefs went through their "Welcome to the 3-4" moments last season when the initial switch was made. But this season is about perfecting the switch and that's where Vrabel comes in.

Crennel isn't an in-your-face type of coach like Charlie Weis so I think it's good that there is someone like Vrabel on the field talking to everyone. Sometimes having one of your peers instructing you can be more valuable than a teacher.

This is a good sign for the Chiefs moving forward. It sounds as if Vrabel's presence is giving them an even bigger jump on the season compared to last.

Mike Vrabel's Impact Being Felt At Chiefs OTAs - Arrowhead Pride

 

[jlb1705]

Sports Illustrated has named Mike Vrabel as "Worthy of Consideration" in choosing the greatest NFL player to wear #50.

50 - Mike Singletary - Best NFL Player by Jersey Number: 50-99 - Photos - SI.com