“Just keep working hard,” the former University of Virginia star said.  “Don’t let anybody tell you you can’t do anything.  I had a lot of people growing up who didn’t think I was going to be anything.

“It ended up working out for me being something.  Everybody can be something.  You don’t have to be a pro athlete to be something.  As long as you are doing something positive with your life, you are somebody.”

While the kids were most excited about the free pizza and other treats, Albert’s talk about hard work was heard.

“I want to be just like him.  I want to be a football player,” said Kyle Nevison, 14, an East eighth-grader.  “It makes me want to play more, play harder.  It makes me want to play football all day.

It was expected the Chiefs might take a tackle in this year’s draft to alleviate the pressure on Albert, who played guard in college.  When they took Tennessee safety Eric Berry at No. 5, Albert knew he was given a vote of confidence.

“I am working on mental focus,” he said.  “A lot of the things that were hindering me at the beginning of the season were mental, it wasn’t physical.  This year I am more in tune with the offense.  I am just ready to help our team win.  That is my main goal this year.”

It’s hardly surprising considering he has had Brian Waters as an example, but it’s good to see Albert continue to get out and work in the community.

And it doesn’t matter much what you or I think about how Albert played last season, however it is always worth noting that the Chiefs had the ability to draft the one player (Russell Okung) that seemingly every team but the Redskins had rated as the best tackle in the draft.

Knowing that the team has to take a huge step forward along the offensive line, Todd Haley and Scott Pioli are convinced that Albert will get the job done this season.  The entire offense should be watched closely with hopefully the scheme being more familiar, but when it comes to the line all eyes will be on Albert.

Branden Albert, left tackle, Kansas City: This is Albert’s third year with the Chiefs, who took him with the No. 15 overall pick in 2008.  He was inconsistent as a rookie, but he made improvements as last season went on.  If he continues to make strides, he should be fine.  Kansas City gave him a big vote of confidence when it didn’t take left tackle Russell Okung in the first round of the draft this year and move Albert to right tackle.  Kansas City selected safety Eric Berry instead with the No. 5 pick.

Glenn Dorsey, defensive lineman, Kansas City: Dorsey probably shouldn’t be on this list anymore.  The No. 5 overall pick in 2008 was expected to already be an established stud going into his third season.  While Dorsey has played well occasionally, he has been far from a dominant player.  Many scouts and coaches thought he was the top player in the 2008 draft, but he has been a big disappointment.  He has had two different coaching staffs in the past two seasons and had a hard time adjusting to the 3-4 defense in 2009.  He may be moved around the defensive line this year as the Chiefs try to find the best spot for him.  He must perform this season or it could be his last in Kansas City.

Even with his inconsistent play last season, I’m not too worried about Albert’s future.  He showed down the stretch of last season that he was really starting to fully grasp his position and will only be helped by having two more experienced guys — Ryan Lilja and Casey Wiegmann — around him in practice everyday in addition to Brian Waters.

Dorsey, like Albert, showed as the season went along that he could be an impact player.  Considering how poorly his season started out of the gate in training camp, it has to be a good sign heading into St. Joseph.  Short of Dorsey taking several considerable steps backwards, it’s hard to believe that this would be his last year with the Chiefs.

Obviously both players have a new coordinator they need to impress, but after getting on board with last season’s extreme regime change, this should be a much easier transition for Albert and Dorsey.

8. Branden Albert, Kansas City, T: Albert is a work in progress. But he is a talented player.  The Chiefs clearly think he can be the answer at left tackle or they would have taken Russell Okung instead of safety Eric Berry at No. 5 last month.

10. Casey Wiegmann, Kansas City, C: Wiegmann may be aging, but expect him to help toughen the Chiefs’ offensive line with his return in 2010.

11. Brian Waters, Kansas City, G: Still, a very formidable player.  Waters is a pro’s pro.  He’s very steady.  He’ll be a big reason why the Chiefs will run the ball well this season.

12. Ryan Lilja, Kansas City, G: He is another reason why Kansas City will be much better on the offensive line.  He’s a rugged player.

Some curious choices here.  Even with the recent struggles of the Chiefs and Raiders, they couldn’t put anyone in the top 7?

I love what Wiegmann brings to the table and if he’s healthy I think he will end up starting for the Chiefs in 2010, but it’s hard having him on this list with Rudy Niswanger currently getting more snaps ahead of him.  At the very least you have to put Waters and Lilja — proven, current starters — before Wiegmann.

The Kansas City Chiefs opened up their offseason workouts without Brian Waters for the second year in a row on Monday and The Star’s Adam Teicher talked to the Chiefs guard about his absence.  They also talked about Branden Albert and the on going debate about moving him to the right side.

”Branden got the worst rap out of anybody on our football team over the last two years.  Without a shadow of a doubt, he’s a left tackle.”

”This negative tone I’ve been hearing about him not being able to play tackle, moving to guard . . . Moving him to guard is totally ridiculous, to be honest with you.  Moving him to right tackle to me would be the worst thing for him as well because if you draft a tackle up high and bring him in and (move Albert to right tackle), then basically you’ve got two new guys.  You’re basically starting him over and then you’ve also got a rookie.  I don’t think that would be in the best interest for him and the team as well.”

Most of Waters’ comments are your run of the mill defending of a teammate.  But that last part is what a lot of people have been trying to stress: switching sides of the line is not like flipping a switch.

If the Chiefs spend next year with Russell Okung at left tackle and Albert at right tackle, Matt Cassel will be playing behind the equivalent of rookie tackles.  Even the most optimistic fan couldn’t feel confident about next season with uncertainty on both sides of the line.

I’m not saying Albert can’t succeed at right tackle or his natural position of guard.  And I’m certainly not saying Scott Pioli should avoid Okung or any other tackle with the fifth pick in the draft.  But it’s important to realize that if he does go in the direction we won’t see the results for a couple of seasons.

Mike Gandy (6-4, 316; age: 31) – The simple fact that Gandy started all 32 games as Todd Haley’s left tackle in Arizona is a good enough reason to believe that he at least has a fighting chance to get on the Chiefs radar.  Gandy isn’t a “big name” for a left tackle and he actually entered the league with Chicago (also crossing paths with Haley) as a right guard.  What the nay-sayers can’t defend is that Gandy was the man protecting Kurt Warner’s blind-side the last three seasons while Warner torched opposing defensive backfields.

Even if you’re not a fan of Gandy, free agency in Arizona is something to keep an eye on.  According to ESPN.com, Arizona is tied for the NFL lead with five UFAs who logged at least nine starts last season.  Those players are Gandy, NT Bryan Robinson, LB Chike Okeafor, LB Karlos Dansby and TE Anthony Becht.

Mark Tauscher (6-3, 316; age: 32) – It was reported that the Chiefs gave Tauscher a tryout last year, in late September.

Obviously, Kansas City didn’t end up signing Tauscher and he wound up landing a one-year deal with Green Bay on October 12th.  The results were eight starts in as many games played for Tauscher, which he obviously hopes answers any injury concerts as he embarks upon free agency once more.

Will the Chiefs show any interest for Tauscher the second time around?

Word out of Green Bay is that the Packers are contemplating on whether or not to make Tauscher another offer…on the low side.

The Chiefs only have two players (Branden Albert, Jermail Porter) under contract, but control three others (RFAs Ryan O’Callaghan, Ike Ndukwe, Barry Richardson) and have a lot of flexibility going into the draft.

Albert held his own at left tackle though if the Chiefs feel they can upgrade with someone like Gandy who knows what Todd Haley demands from his players then they can move Albert inside to guard, his natural position.

Anthony Davis and Russell Okung are massive and have all the potential in the world, but does Haley want to worry about a rookie protecting Matt Cassel’s blindside?  If I have a chance for the offense to take a big step forward next year, it makes more sense to go with a veteran than rookie.

“There’s nothing they can do,” a source said.  “It’s the coach’s decision.”

A decision to deactivate Johnson would entail more than Johnson standing in street clothes.  Johnson has a per-game roster bonus that pays him more than $60,000 per game, but only if he is on the active game-day roster.  If he is deactivated, he loses that money.

Even if the union is able to persuade Johnson to fight the matter, there’s a point at which the ability of the coach to run his team overcomes the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.  Previously, an arbitrator was unwilling to find that teams cannot send players home with pay.  The union thereafter inserted language into the labor agreement preventing this tactic.

But the new language says nothing about the decisions that are made regarding the men who will dress and those who won’t for games — or of those who dress, those who will start and those who will play.

From the beginning of this fiasco I’ve been very clear that the Chiefs should cut LJ immediately.  But I do realize why that wouldn’t work.  And I do love the idea of Johnson just standing on the sidelines on game days just watching $60k fly out the window.

The big surprise here is that Larry Johnson is finally willing to turn down a fight.

The Chiefs will be without their starting running back this weekend but should get their starting left tackle, Branden Albert back.  It was Albert’s 25th birthday yesterday and he told Bob Gretz how he celebrated.

“Best present I could have is to get a chance to play again.  That’s what I’ve been working on for three weeks.”

His chances of being back on the field at left tackle this Sunday in Jacksonville are very good.  The left ankle injury that he suffered against Dallas on October 11th isn’t completely healed, but he’s improved enough that he can handle the duties of protecting QB Matt Cassel’s back and opening some holes for RB Jamaal Charles.

“It’s been hard watching,” Albert admitted.  “Wade (Smith) and Barry (Richardson) did a good job, but it’s a helpless feeling not being able to play and contribute something.”

In an attempt to try finding something positive in a negative, the respite from playing gave Albert a chance to take a big picture view of how he was playing before suffering the injury.

“I’ve got to get better,” Albert said.  “There are a lot of things that I have to work on just with my game, my fundamentals.  I’m only in my second year and there are lessons to be learned every week.  That doesn’t include just knowing more about the guys I’m facing and preparing for what they do in the game.”

Albert needs to be better and I think he will be.  Coming back against a weak pass rush will go a long way to help matters both for Albert and the Chiefs offense as a whole.  And I really think a game plan built around Jamaal Charles’ skills will help with Albert’s adjustments to his new body.

He lost 40 pounds and was being asked to use his athleticism while blocking for Larry Johnson up the middle.  But with Charles being used — most likely — in more stretch and screen plays, it could go a long way to helping the second year tackle finally get comfortable using his new body.

With Jarrad Page out for the season and Jon McGraw injured, the Chiefs are dealing with problems at the safety position.  The Jacksonville Jaguars have troubles of their own in the defensive backfield.

Safety Reggie Nelson missed several tackles and gave up a touchdown pass while filling in at cornerback for Rashean Mathis.  Now the task for Nelson is to rebound Sunday against Kansas City.

“I had a bad week a couple of weeks ago [against Seattle],” Mathis said.  “We have to respond positively to it.  He’s a young talent, so my job as a veteran is to help that talent blossom so he can be one of the best players in the game.”

One thing that will help Nelson is Mathis returned to practice Wednesday after being sidelined last week with a broken left index finger.  If Mathis can play Sunday, and he said he will, Nelson can move back to safety.

“Of course, he’s more comfortable [at safety],” Mathis said.  “It’s like putting me at linebacker.”

Coach Jack Del Rio made it obvious that Nelson has to step up his game if he’s to remain in the lineup.

“Clearly, for him to continue to play, he’s got to play better,” Del Rio said.  “Anybody that’s going to play for us has got to play at a higher level than that.  He understands that very clearly.”

On Wednesday, Del Rio seemed convinced Nelson will bounce back.

“He’s a prideful guy,” Del Rio said.  “Our football players will bounce back.”

Nelson appears to have the type of personality a defensive back needs to bounce back from a difficult week.  He was smiling while talking to reporters Wednesday and didn’t seem worried.

“I mean, stuff happens.  You can just carry it around on your shoulders.  That was last week.  We’ve got a job to do, and we look forward to the Chiefs,” Nelson said.

Of his problems tackling against the Titans, he said, “I can’t even recall having a week like that, missing that many tackles.  Everybody has their week.  It was my week.  I didn’t perform well, and I didn’t tackle well.”

Between the Chiefs and Jaguars, we could see a lot of guys playing out of position.  Kansas City is going to have at least DaJuan Morgan sliding over from strong to free safety and potentially Maurice Leggett getting some snaps at free safety as well.  If Mathis’ injury acts up, Nelson could get a shot at redemption at cornerback.  Even if he stays at his native safety position, his trouble tackling the last couple of games could carry over and make for an interesting day in the defensive backfield.

Despite heavy rain in the area Friday, the camp, which featured a goal setting and character building session as well, was held without interruption.  Like the high school players, Travis Daniels says the NFL guys said they enjoyed the experience.  It’s very exciting to be able to come out here and work with a lot of the kids.  It’s great to be able to come back and go to different places and help out the kids, especially in Louisiana because I went to LSU, so I take a big interest in the kids around this state.”

Albert Elias, owner of Elias Sports Management, put this camp together and said this year a foundation to give some senior campers scholarship money for college was implemented.

“We formed a foundation with the camp — The Pro Football Combine Foundation.  We auction off items and the money raised is going into a fund for the kids.”

“It’s too early, I’m not going to toot my own horn like that.  I’ve got a lot of work.  That sets myself up for failure.  I’m just going to keep working hard.”

You might have heard this, but Albert has lost a few pounds.  Thirty-six of them, actually.  In three months.  He’s skipped the fatty foods and the long afternoons in the recliner and instead hit the treadmill.

I t wasn’t easy for Branden Albert to sit at the barbecue joint and take a pass on the ribs, the brisket, the pulled pork — everything.  It wasn’t easy to keep his mind on a strict offseason diet and exercise plan and ignore the meat-scented air and the colleague across from him, digging in.

“You’re sitting right there and everybody’s enjoying the food…I’m trying to be a leader, and I’m trying to win games.  Coach Haley and Scott were on me so hard about: ‘You know what type of guy you can be. So why don’t you be that guy?’”

The offense needs a leader, and Albert said he wants to prove he’s up to the challenge, even if he is entering only his second NFL season.  Albert worked to lose the weight — he said he’s down to 305 pounds, the lightest he’s been since spending a season at a Virginia prep school five years ago — and he began noticing the results.  He was suddenly out front during players’ running sessions.  Haley praised Albert in news conferences and in private, the stone-faced coach telling his left tackle that he had something special — but he could only tap into it if he was willing to work.

He thought of ways he could expand his reach beyond the Chiefs’ locker room.  He visited Children’s Mercy Hospital and donated tickets to another organization.  Then Albert involved himself with the Love Fund, taking over the spot that Waters once held.  And whether that means Waters continues to distance himself from the Chiefs or that the veteran is simply handing off to his young teammate, Albert said he wants Kansas City to know that, even after six wins the last two seasons, there are still some things worth smiling about.

“I want to be a face in the community that people know.  They know the name but don’t know the face.  I want them to come up and talk to me and not be scared.  I want people to come relate to me.  They love their football here.  They love their football just like a college town.  They want winners.  It’s important that we let them know that this new regime we have, it’s going to come to pass this year.”

I love seeing Albert pick up where Waters left off and hopefully he keeps it up because this team desperately needs a leader in the locker room.  Could it end up being Matt Cassel?  Sure, but no one knows just what he will end up being as a starting quarterback.  We’ve seen the potential Albert has and he is not showing the kind of work he can do out in the community.  And not that I expect Albert or any player to say “We’re going to stink this year”, but it is nice to hear a player talking about this year.  Not next year, not three years down the road… This year.  I’m not quite as optimistic as he is, but it’s good to hear.

The Chiefs aren’t just in need of a player to step up and be a leader, they desperately need solid leadership out of the coaching staff.  Head coach Todd Haley put together his staff late in the offseason, but was able to find plenty of rock solid coaches on the defensive side the ball.  Haley sat down with Bob Gretz to talk about each of the new (and old) coaches on his staff.

Haley eats, sleeps and breathes football.  But he is the first to admit that he can’t match Defensive Coordinator Clancy Pendergast when it comes to living the game.

“Sometimes we go out for a beer I’ve got to shut him up because all he wants to do is talk football.  He lives and breathes football.  He comes over, and before you know it, he’s talking about this or that and I’m like ‘Clancy let’s talk about the weather, let’s shut it down for a few minutes.’”

The 2009 season will be Pendergast’s 15th year coaching in the NFL and his 19th-year in the coaching business. He did previous stints with the Oilers, Cowboys, Browns and five seasons in Arizona, where he was first hired by Dennis Green.

“We had to play Arizona a bunch when I was in Dallas and they were pretty good on defense a couple of those years.  I thought there was some creative, outside-the-box thinking that I liked. He’s done some unique things over the years.”

If Pendergast is the workaholic then linebackers coach Gary Gibbs will be expected to serve as the calming force.  Haley says he knows that’s going to be needed this season.

“Gary is a former head coach and I’ll lean on him a bunch and already have.  He’s probably the steadiest guy we’ve got.  I need that and I know I’m going to need that as we get into the real stuff.  That calming, level headedness is a big item with Gary.”

A 20-year coaching veteran, Gibbs will be in his eighth season of coaching in the NFL with previous stops in Dallas for four years and New Orleans for three more.  He broke into coaching at his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, as a graduate assistant in ‘75 and was eventually promoted to linebackers coach, defensive coordinator and head coach (’89-94).

“He’s another smart guy that understands defenses.  He’s been around the 4-3 and 3-4.  He’s been around the transition from a 4-3 to a 3-4 in Dallas.  The big thing to me, other than the fact he’s an excellent linebackers coach, is that he’s a big picture guy with that head coaching experience.”

Defensive Quality Control coach Pat Perles is the only person on staff that has known Haley since he was a kid.  When Dick Haley was the player personnel guru of the Steelers and George Perles was first defensive line coach and then defensive coordinator of the Steel Curtain, the two young sons saw each other every year.

“His father and my father obviously worked together with the Steelers and we’d be at training camp together every year.  We lived in the same neighborhood, but because he’s about three years older, we weren’t on the same teams.  Back in those days, Tom Moore would actually drive Pat and me into the Steelers games when we were both ball boys.  So we spent a lot of Sunday mornings, with a 7 a.m. drive together.”

But once Perles went off to college, they lost contact for some time.  This will be Perles’ 21st year in coaching, with two previous seasons in the NFL with the Rams, and six seasons in the Canadian Football League.

“We didn’t talk to each other for almost 20 years.  Then one Senior Bowl he bumped into me, introduced himself and we caught up.  We stayed in contact after that when he was up in Canada and we stayed in touch when he went back to the colleges at North Dakota.”

Perles served as a training camp intern one summer for the Cardinals and they were able to reconnect again.

“I thought he was good.  He’s pretty much all football and with an added bonus he’s from the neighborhood.”

It’s not top-secret information that Todd Haley has a beer with Clancy Pendergast or knew Pat Perles when he was a kid, but it’s still very cool to get this sort of glimse into how a coaching staff is put together.  For as much as Herm Edwards and Dick Vermeil loved talking to the press, I don’t ever remember getting this kind of rundown for every coach on staff straight from the head coach.  Yesterday, Gretz ran down the offensive staff and today looks at all of the defensive coaches, so make sure you head over to his site and read the whole run down.  Great work, Bob.

Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley acknowledged last week that he is uncertain of the line’s readiness, even after three months of organized team activities and a mini-camp.  Haley’s hesitation centers in part on the lack of physical contact between the offensive and defensive lines during the less demanding offseason practices, leaving coaches to measure only mental awareness and unchallenged technique.

But the Chiefs’ bigger problem is that their best offensive lineman, four-time Pro Bowl guard Brian Waters, hasn’t made it clear he’ll play in Kansas City this season, and that leaves a gaping hole in a unit that couldn’t afford even a small hiccup.

What the Chiefs don’t want is to begin another season leaning on a patchwork and aging group of linemen, particularly when the team is spending nearly $15 million to find out whether Matt Cassel can be its long-term quarterback.  Last year, the Chiefs’ top two opening-day quarterbacks suffered season-ending injuries, forcing the team to scramble to find a suitable passer by signing a pair of free agents before Tyler Thigpen emerged as a dependable, if inexperienced, option.

Haley commended left tackle Branden Albert as much as anyone during offseason practice, saying that Albert’s ceiling appears limitless.  That is welcome news for a team without an abundance of continuity or perceived upside on its line.  The Chiefs signed a handful of linemen during the offseason and drafted tackle Colin Brown out of Missouri, but veteran Mike Goff is the only addition expected to enter training camp as a front runner to start.

Whether Goff plays left or right guard depends on how the Waters soap opera ends.  Waters and Haley reportedly shared a fiery exchange in March, leading to Waters’ asking to be traded or released.  Waters appeared at the Chiefs’ mandatory mini-camp two weeks ago but did not extinguish talk of a lingering rift between the lineman and the team.  Waters, the Chiefs’ only remaining 2008 Pro Bowler, said he always skips voluntary workouts.  He said that he hadn’t performed much conditioning work before the minicamp, and he indicated that he was uncertain about what might happen during the three months before the Chiefs’ regular-season opener.

Last week, former Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said Waters would eventually buy in to the program.  If that’s the case then I think the offensive line will be adequate, but certainly with plenty of room for improvement.  Even if Waters buys in and Goff is the “glue” guy, that still means only Albert is on the line for the long term.  That means Scott Pioli will still need to find starters for 4 other positions, unless a guy like Brown can show between now and next season’s training camp that he can be a starting right tackle in this league.

Most NFL fans were introduced to Todd Haley during the NFC championship game.  That’s when Haley was calling a string of excellent plays against the Eagles while arguing with WR Anquan Boldin, who pulled off his helmet and was briefly restrained by teammates.  Haley says that changed everything for him.

“I couldn’t go anywhere in Phoenix after that.  I used to be able to hide against the wall, but then everybody knew me all of a sudden.”

As for his reputation for being a no-nonsense coach that could blow a gasket at any moment?

“You’d much rather have that than to be glad-handing and patting somebody on the butt; you don’t want that as your reputation.  I’m going to be about pushing you hard and not pulling any punches.”

And Haley made the right calls during that game — against an Eagles defense designed by the outstanding Jim Johnson, no less — and the Cardinals wound up winning.

“Here I’m trying to call plays to win a championship and I’ve got somebody yapping behind me.  It took us to the Super Bowl, and then all of a sudden it became the perception of, ‘What’s this player doing? Is he an idiot? This coach is trying to call plays.’ ”

That screaming match Haley had with Boldin made him a whole lot of money.  Don’t get me wrong, if the Cardinals would have lost that game, Haley still would have been a hot commodity on the coaching market.  But that scene with him going back and forth with the Cardinals best receiver, all while calling plays in the biggest game of his life definitely raised eyebrows all around the league.  I think we’ve seen that Haley is firm, but fair and not the fire breathing hot head he was labeled by the media.