When former Kansas City Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard hit Tom Brady in the knee back in 2008, it created ripples that are still being felt today. Not only did it forever link the two the way any major injury to a Hall of Famer does, but it also ended up changing other franchises.

Without that hit, Matt Cassel is likely still a backup — if he’s even still in the league — instead of playing out a huge contract from the Chiefs. Then there’s also the possibility that Jay Cutler could still be a member of the Denver Broncos. His trade was put into motion after he was upset the Broncos were trying to acquire Cassel before he was shipped to Kansas City.

Considering how big of a deal that hit was, certainly when Pollard and Brady are back on the same field together, it would register with the Patriots quarterback, right? Not so much, Brady told reporters on Thursday.

“No, injuries are a part of the game. I hate being injured, that was a tough one but I’ve moved on, he’s moved on to some different teams. He’s a very good player, fits in this scheme very well. I don’t think too much about that injury or anything.”

Patriots guard Brian Waters was a teammate of Pollard’s and says the safety enjoyed being able to lay out the Patriots signal caller.

“He took pride in the fact that he was able to get a hit on Tom. He’s not going to live that down one way or the other,” the longtime Chief said. “He’s a guy that takes pride in putting hits on people, being physical. He’s never going to back down or have any kind of regrets for that.”

Pollard isn’t exactly the star for the Baltimore Ravens defense so he won’t be the focus of the guys in the booth Sunday, but I’ve still set the over/under on how many times we see that fateful hit at 2.5.

We know that Kansas City Chiefs QB Matt Cassel has been linked to New England Patriots QB Tom Brady throughout his career.  First he backed up the future Hall of Famer, then filled in when Brady tore up his knee in 2008 and now Cassel’s first trip to the Pro Bowl is because of a new injury to the Pats signal caller.

None of this is lost on Cassel.

“There are so many ironic, crazy things that go on in my career that consist of those little teams or that person,” Cassel said.  “It’s really weird.  It’s kind of creepy to say the least.”

Creepy indeed.  Don’t forget that we were inches away during Cassel’s first training camp in Kansas City from seeing the Chiefs QB suffer the exact same injury as Brady…  at the hands of the same player!

That August, Bernard Pollard — he of the Brady knee injury — came on an identical blitz during practice as the one against the Patriots and again found himself barreling towards the quarterback’s knee.  Thankfully Pollard was able to stop just short and barely bumped Cassel’s leg but was just thisclose to a repeat of that play from September 2008 at Gillette Stadium.

The sight of their recently minted QB’s season nearly being ended before it began caused more than a few words between the offense and defense on the field, though cooler heads quickly prevailed.

“Pretty weird,” Cassel said at the time.

“I realized what happened,” Pollard recalled after that practice, “and I thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s like a replay.’”

“I was there before — things happen.  But it doesn’t matter.  This is another team we have to compete against.”

But once the cameras around his locker faded from sight, he opened up — a little.  Asked yet again if this was personal, Pollard replied, “It’s the answer I have to give.”

“Bernard is someone with great personality,” Haley said Wednesday.  “He has a great personality for a team.  Teams need personality.”

“I want to be clear about that — it was a tough decision and not an easy one.  Some are easier than others.  Like I said, I’m just happy for Bernard because I think a lot of Bernard.”

Informed of his former coach’s comments, a wry smile crossed Pollard’s face.  At first, he was content to allow the gesture to stand as his response.

But finally, the truth prevailed.

“You know what?  With (Haley) saying that, I’ll just say I can’t wait until Sunday,” Pollard said.  “I can’t wait.”

As I said yesterday, here’s to hoping that Pollard will leave all Chiefs heads attached on Sunday.  Say what you will about Pollard’s time in Kansas City, we saw time and again why he earned the nickname “Bonecrusher” during his time at Purdue.  Eric Berry and Kendrick Lewis look to have the safety position locked down for the immediate future, but I’ve never wavered from the idea that Pollard could still be helping this team.

With the Chiefs rushing attack needing to dominate for the offense to have any success, getting Pollard blocked will be a big part of the game plan for Romeo Crennel.  Maybe Pollard will get himself so hyped for the game that he will help to take himself out.

When the Kansas City Chiefs walk into Reliant Stadium in Houston, they will be welcomed by former teammate Bernard Pollard.  The safety was the most high profile cut that head coach Todd Haley made his first training camp as coach.  Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson told the Houston media that he doesn’t know why the sides parted ways but that he isn’t surprised by his success.

“Things happen in the league where you don’t understand,” Johnson said.  “I don’t know what went on up in the front office, so I can’t really speak on that.  I do know that Bernard is a good player… I like him a lot.  He’s a tough guy; he wants to knock your head off.  That’s his mentality.”

Haley, for one, made it clear there are no hard feelings.

“I’m just happy for Bernard because I think a lot of Bernard.  I like passionate guys that are into football and passionate about playing this great game.  He’s definitely one of them.”

Hopefully for the Chiefs, Pollard will leave all heads (and knee ligaments) attached during this week’s game.

Haley can speak positively about his former player now, but there was most definitely bad blood when Pollard was unexpectedly released.  There were even rumors floating around — which I don’t buy — that the new regime was bad mouthing him around the league and that’s the reason there wasn’t a job waiting for him to start the season.

We can wait until Sunday and see just how fire up Pollard is… again, without the rolling of heads.

It is unlikely there would ever be a public confirmation of the mistake the Chiefs made in slicing Pollard last season as part of the final cutdown before the regular season.  But, bet on the fact that internally the organization knows that situation wasn’t handled very well.

They dropped a young player who had been a starter and got nothing for him in return.  Pollard landed with the Texans where he became a starter and a key player for the Houston defense.

Let’s remember that the Texans finished the season with a 9-7 record, quite a bit ahead of the 4-12 season put up by the Chiefs.  It wasn’t like there was a major improvement in the Chiefs defensive production with Pollard out of the lineup and Mike Brown in at one of the starting safety spots.

Don’t get me wrong, Bernard Pollard was not an All-Pro safety in 2008 or 2009.  He’s not a player without flaws.  But releasing him without compensation was a bad decision by the Chiefs.  Releasing him and not replacing him with a better player was a bad decision by the Chiefs.

That brings us to Page.  It’s quite obvious that he does not fit the Chiefs future on defense.  He didn’t fit last year when he lost his starting job to Jon McGraw.  There’s no question that the head coach and player had their differences in the time when Page was still on the roster and not moved to the injured-reserve list with a calf problem.

A divorce is needed, but both sides are concerned about looking bad with the breakup, so they are putting off what is inevitable – Page will play for somebody else in 2010 and the Chiefs will move on.  In fact, they already have.  They just need to make it official.

The Chiefs should continue doing exactly what they’ve been doing.  At this point there’s virtually no chance Page plays in Kansas City this year but that doesn’t mean they need to cut bait.

I’m not worried that Page will run off to another team (Gretz suggests the Lions) and have a huge impact, but that’s not the point.  The point is that you can’t let your players pout their way out of town.  It’s how they handled Waters last year and that situation worked itself out.  This will likely end much differently but the approach should stay the same.

92 Chan Gailey, offensive coordinator: Smartest man at Arrowhead Stadium.  Collected a fat paycheck for sitting on his can while Todd Haley made a fool of himself trying to serve as head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.  Gailey’s image is untarnished after being fired by Haley before the start of the season.

I understand Whitlock’s job is just to say crazy things, I do.  But at what point does it get old railing on Todd Haley?  He was never this hard on Herm Edwards early on, even though Herm was at least equally inconsistent.  Instead of practicing the patience he preaches, Whitlock writes a 3,342-word manifesto about how terrible Haley is at his job.

Chiefs guard Brian Waters spoke to the media yesterday for the first time this season and suggested that the team does not need to improve the offensive line before next season.

“The last two years, I don’t think that some of my offensive linemates have been judged properly.  I feel a lot of eyes that have been judging some of my teammates are unqualified eyes.  There are a lot of people basing their opinions off what they know, and a lot of people don’t know football.

“In our position, everything is all about what other guys do.  Everything is about how many times the quarterback got hit or it’s all about how many rushing yards we had.  We’re pretty much (tied) to the numbers.”

No one can say the Chiefs line didn’t improve as the season went along, but that doesn’t mean they should ignore the offensive line during the offseason.  Especially with where the Chiefs are slotted — likely out of the Suh and Berry zone — if they have a tackle on top of their board they shouldn’t pass on him because of a handful of good weeks to finish the season.

If they can bring in a legitimate left tackle, that would allow Branden Albert to move to guard and the line is immediately better than it was at it’s better points in 2009.

USA Today gave away their final weekly awards of the regular season and while picking Chris Johnson over Jamaal Charles was obvious, the selection of a former Chief on the other side of the ball was a bit more curious.

Bernard Pollard. The Texans safety had big-play impact in the victory that provided the franchise with its first-ever winning record.  Pollard recovered a Fred Taylor fumble in the end zone for a touchdown in the second quarter, then snuffed out a fourth-quarter threat by intercepting a Tom Brady pass.

A solid game, no doubt.  And one of more importance to the season which was likely the deciding factor, but how do you not give the nod to Derrick Johnson?  Instead of giving him the top honor after Johnson, they pushed DJ down to the bottom of their list as “Comeback Player of the Week”.  Obviously I could be biased, but I couldn’t possibly give Pollard the award over Johnson.

Speaking of Pollard, how crazy is it that he was the player Wes Welker was trying to cut away from when he tore up his knee?  What are the odds that the same player that ended Tom Brady’s season last season would be at Welker’s feet for his final play.  If the Patriots never see Pollard again it will be too soon.

The Houston Texans cut linebacker Buster Davis today and auditioned four veteran free agent linebackers, according to a league source.

The Texans also worked out veteran linebackers Monty Beisel, Rocky Boiman, Darnell Bing and Brandon Renkart.

Pollard is already starting for Houston and has averaged 6.5 tackles over the last two games.  With the problems they are having at linebacker, Beisel could step in and play immediately.

In order to make room for Pollard on the roster, the Texans have placed G Chester Pitts on injured reserved.  Pitts just underwent major knee surgery that ended his season.

Pollard, a second round pick in 2006, started all 16 games for the Chiefs last season and was one of the final cuts Kansas City made before the start of the regular season.  David Gibbs, the Texans’ secondary coach, was on the Chiefs staff last season and knows what Pollard brings to the table.

I’m surprised it took Pollard this long to find a job in the league.  Even if you don’t feel he is a starting safety in this league anymore — and obviously plenty of people feel that way — there is no denying the value he holds as a special teams player.

Big hits can change the momentum of a game and I know that if the Texans put him on the field, Pollard will help change a game for them in the return game.

Of the 14 players cut, 6 were from the offensive side of the ball:

TE Tom Crabtree, G Darryl Harris, WR Taurus Johnson, WR Ashley Lelie, RB Javarris Williams and WR Rodney Wright.

Also from the offense, G Colin Brown was placed on IR.

The remaining cuts, from the defense, were:

CB Jackie Bates, DE Dion Gales, DE Bobby Greenwood, DT Derek Lokey, S Bernard Pollard, S Ricky Price and LB Zach Thomas.

I am 99% sure that these are not actually their “final” cuts, thus the oxymoronic title.  Not only has Todd  Haley been clear that the current Chiefs are competing against every player in the league, but also Kansas City sits third on the waiver wire so they will get most players they put claims on.

Pollard is obviously the name that jumps out.  He should have plenty of teams lining up for his services.  I’m really bummed, he’s a solid player.

The other cuts on defense were expected.  Once the retirement rumors started with Thomas you knew his time was up here.  I thought Lokey might get some run in the middle, but it looks like the team will go with just Edwards and Tyler and rotate in the ends on passing downs.

On offense, I really thought Lelie did enough to make the team.  The Chiefs are still in dire need of a burner that can hold onto the ball (meaning Quinten Lawrence doesn’t count).

Colin Brown wouldn’t get through waivers, so the Chiefs stash him on IR for the season…  Smart move by Scott Pioli.

The Chiefs drafted both players in 2006, Pollard in the second round and Page in the seventh, and in doing so envisioned a day when they would be pillars of a defense that was competitive or better.  They are hopeful this is the year.  Page is already there, having given the Chiefs many such plays in his two seasons as a starter.  The wait for Pollard has been longer and at times painful but could be over if his training-camp play is any indication.

The Chiefs signed veteran safety Mike Brown shortly before camp to challenge Pollard for his starting spot.  The competition hasn’t materialized and may in fact be finished, according to Brown.

“I’m definitely out here competing but I realize my role.  Those are their spots.  I’m just here in case something happens to them.  I’ll be able to come in and play a high level.  I’m here to provide some depth.  If there’s any insight I can give, I’m willing to do that.  They’re two young, extremely good safeties and I enjoy watching them play.  They both bring a little something different to the table.  Bernard is extremely physical and has great power.  Page is the great free safety with range and incredible hands and incredible athletic ability.”

The switch to the 3-4 system and coordinator Clancy Pendergast’s system could benefit Pollard.

“I really love it because it kind of gets me (closer) to the line of scrimmage.  I won’t have to line up and play cover 2 every snap or stay back.  I’m able to come up and get closer and make plays.  That’s what I did in college.  That’s more my game.  I’m happy with where I am and I’m happy with the changes and the new scheme and the new system.  I’m ready to play some ball.”

I’m ready for Pollard to play some ball too.  Over the past couple of seasons he has earned his “Bonecrusher” nickname, but as Teicher noted he has struggled in coverage and that has to improve, no matter where he lines up.  It has to be encouraging that all of the talk during camp has surrounded the defensive line and linebackers.  Sure it would be nice to have praise lavished over the DBs every day, but it also means they aren’t getting destroyed either.  There is enough talent there to get the job done and that’s something we can’t yet say about the rest of the defense.

When the Kansas City Chiefs relocate their training camp to St. Joseph, Missouri next season there will be a new radio station covering the team.

Last year, local sports fans couldn’t even listen to the University of Missouri football games on the radio.  This year, they’re going to get a wealth of local sports on the radio, thanks to a decision by Eagle Communications, which plans to merge ESPN and St. Joseph sports.

The broadcasting company is shifting the format of KSFT 1550 AM from 1960s and 70s “gold” music to all-sports.  The change is planned for Aug. 25.

Daytime hours will include ESPN’s popular lineup, such as “Mike & Mike in the Morning,” “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” and “The Scott Van Pelt Show.”

But plans also are to amplify local content significantly.  The station expects to broadcast a high school “game of the week,” focusing on the five St. Joseph high schools and a Saturday morning coaches’ show as well as an hour-long weekday call-in program featuring local high schools, colleges and Big 12 teams.

The other significant factor, GM Gary Exline said, is the Kansas City Chiefs’ decision to move their summer training camp to Missouri Western.  The Chiefs will spend about three weeks in August next year practicing on the Western campus.

“The camp next summer drove part of this decision.  We felt we needed to have a station devoted day-to-day at that camp.”

I’m a radio geek — that’s my world — so I hope the station follows through with the local programming because there is nothing worse than a sports station that simply flips on national shows and walks away.  In order to be worth listening to, you have to deliver local stories and commentary.  Camp next year should be much busier than River Falls, since it’s not a big deal for any TV or radio station in Kansas City to camp out with the Chiefs.

The Chiefs first preseason game at Arrowhead Stadium should allow us to get a good look at the team’s first round draft pick, Tyson Jackson.  But don’t expect to see the Texans top pick.

Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing won’t play in Saturday’s preseason opener against the Chiefs because of a sprained left knee.  Cushing did not practice Wednesday and instead watched both workouts with a brace on his knee.

Cushing, the 15th overall pick in the draft, is expected to start at outside linebacker.  The four-year starter as Southern California led the nation’s second ranked defense with 10.5 tackles for losses last year.

I’m bummed.  There’s been so much hype around all of the USC defensive players, I was curious to see how Cushing was coming along at this level.  I’m hoping to see a lot of Connor Barwin Saturday, a guy that I was very high on coming out of Cincinnati.

Most years there isn’t much worth watching during the first and last preseason game, but the Chiefs are a wild card this season with a whole new staff and scheme.  So far Todd Haley has been very vague about how much his players will be on the field, but here’s to hoping we get a good look at all of the rookies at the very least.