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.

When the NFL released Pro Bowl rosters this week, LBs Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson were the players selected to represent the Kansas City Chiefs in Hawaii on January 29.  Neither player is a starter for the AFC squad.

On the first version of the roster, there are four former Chiefs, including three starters.  DEs Jason Babin and Jared Allen are the starters for the NFC defense, while TE Tony Gonzalez was selected as a backup to Jimmy Graham of the New Orleans Saints.

Allen had 43 sacks during his four-year stint in Kansas City before he was traded to the Minnesota Vikings after butting head with former Chiefs GM Carl Peterson.

Babin only played seven games for the Chiefs back in 2008 but was impressive in that time.  He had 31 tackles and two sacks before moving on to the Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans before returning to the Eagles this season.

Traded before the 2009 season after an amazing 12 years with the Chiefs, Gonzalez has shown in his three years with the Atlanta Falcons that he still has plenty left in the tank.  This year the best TE in Kansas City history has caught 79 passes for 867 yards and seven touchdowns, all better than the number he posted last season.

On the AFC side, Brian Waters, released by the Chiefs shortly after the lockout ended, is slated to start at guard.  Not a bad way for the 12-year veteran to respond after being pushed aside by Kansas City GM Scott Pioli.

Gonzalez and Waters are both headed to the playoffs and very well could decline their invitations to the game.  Even if they make early exits in the postseason, neither is new to the game and it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if they allowed a younger alternate to take their place.

As more players drop out, expect to see CBs Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr get their ticket punched for solid efforts this season.

A day after making their first big move in free agency, the Kansas City Chiefs made one of the more surprising moves in the Todd Haley/Scott Pioli era by releasing veteran G Brian Waters.

The longest tenured member of the Chiefs helped anchor the line that produced the NFL’s leading rushing attack.  He was also heavily involved in the labor dispute between the owners and players.  How much both of those things weighed on the mind of Pioli leading up to making this move we will never know.

For his part, the General Manager released a statement praising Water’s work with the Chiefs while saying this is the best move for all parties.

“He and I had a good discussion and mutually agreed that this is a sound football decision for both Brian and the Chiefs.  Brian has been an integral part of this organization and will always be part of the Kansas City Chiefs.  We wish him nothing but the best.”

Haley and Waters reportedly clashed immediately following the head coach landing in Kansas City, but in the same statement was effusive in his praise for his now former player.

“I truly appreciate Brian’s professionalism and consistent approach to the game on and off the field.  That was of great significance especially while trying to create a solid foundation for this football team.  I know his work ethic and competitiveness will allow him to continue to be successful and I want to thank him for his contributions to our team.”

The Chiefs are now staring at a huge leadership void on both sides of the ball.  Mike Vrabel’s retirement and Waters’ release remove two of the most veteran players from the 2010 AFC West champions.

This move also officially ushers in the Jon Asamoah era.  The second-year guard was impressive in limited duty last season, but will now have huge shoes to fill as the presumed starter at right guard.  With the Chiefs unable to hold OTAs thanks to the lockout, there will be a huge spotlight on Asamoah and the other young players being asked to take big steps forward in 2011.

For the past decade, OLG Brian Waters has been a premier player for the Chiefs, earning five Pro Bowl appearances while being a leader both on and off the field.  However, he might be nearing the end of his Kansas City career.  According to our team sources, Chiefs management is very high on reserve OG Jon Asamoah, a third-round pick a year ago.  GM Scott Pioli comes from New England, which was known for getting rid of veterans with big salaries and replacing them with younger players.  That scenario might play out soon with Waters.

We didn’t get to see Asamoah on the field much last season, but when he did get his change the young lineman more than held his own.  He is the perfect fit for what Haley and offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Bill Muir want to do and would be able to step in for Waters this season if needed.  However, it’s hard to imagine the Chiefs cutting ties with Waters this season.

The lockout has prevented the second-year guard — and the rest of the team’s younger players — from getting in extra work with the Kansas City coaching staff, meaning it will be more important than ever to keep as much consistency as possible on both sides of the ball.

Asamoah is the future, but the lockout has done a good job to make sure the future is not now.

The NFL Network is counting down the Top 100 current players as voted on by the players, revealing 10 new names every week.  So far 40 names have been released and three of those are from the Kansas City Chiefs:

64. Tamba Hali
67. Brian Waters
93. Eric Berry

No matter how much Berry improved down the stretch last season, it’s impressive that a rookie was able to crack the top 100 at all.  We talked about his workload last week and as he is able to concentrate more on just defense, I expect to see him climb up into the top half of this list sooner rather than later.

Waters has been fantastic for the Chiefs, playing through both injury and controversy the last couple of years.  Guards are usually overshadowed by big name tackles, making it surprising the veteran was able to catch the eye of so many of his peers.

The most head scratching of the list early on for Kansas City is Hali not being able to crack the top 50.  Not only was he the best player on the Chiefs defense, but he was able to frustrate quarterbacks almost non-stop without any help from another pass rusher.

I’m used to the national media snubbing Hali, I just never expected the guys that got to see him on game film do the same thing.

As the NFL Network continues to count down to No. 1, it’s hard to imagine we’ll see many more Chiefs pop up.  Jamaal Charles and Dwayne Bowe should after their performances in 2010, but the worthy names dry up after that.

“Our suggestion was to wait until some of this is cleared up.  We wanted to give the Chiefs time to decide how the situation would be handled before we showed up and put a trainer, manager, or coach in an awkward situation they were not prepared for.  Guys have a right by court order to enter the facility so it us up to them as individuals what they do. I don’t know if anyone will show up, but our recommendation was to give it some time.”

Brian Waters, a big part of negotiations throughout this process, talked about the players new found leverage with The Star.

“We’re excited, but we’re not overly excited.  We were confident this would be the ruling.  We have to let the process continue on its course before we know exactly what’s going to happen.  This has nothing to do with settlement conversations or negotiations.”

The NFL is free to set rules for free agency if it is forced to begin the offseason while its appeal is being heard.  Last year, players required six years of service to become an unrestricted free agent.

Waters said he expected an identical set of rules this year.

“We hope they at worst would install last year’s rules because it’s a set of rules we’ve played under before, and it’s not any worse for the players,” he said.  “We think that’s what they’ll do.  We don’t think they’ll want to risk any more damages or any more scrutiny by making rules harsher than what they’ve already done.  That would be the safest route for them to go.”

Just when you think things can’t get any crazier…

Can we just agree that the best thing for both sides is to just officially lift the lockout — without any help from a judge — and play 2011 under the same guidelines as 2010.  Everyone can get back to business and negotiations can start up again on a new CBA.  If that happens, maybe the two sides can get serious about finding middle ground starting now instead of waiting until the 11th hour.

There has been no shortage of blame being thrown around for the current labor situation in the NFL.  Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt was right in the middle of the negotiations that didn’t end up bearing fruit, but so were players Mike Vrabel and Brian Waters.  The way NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith tells it (via Bob Gretz), Waters was one of the final voices at the table before things fell apart for good.

“I’ll tell you what: the last message to the owners of the National Football League didn’t come from the Executive Director.  It came from the Vice President of the Executive Committee, (Indianapolis Colts center) Jeff Saturday.  The last word to the owners came from the Vice President named (Kansas City Chiefs guard) Brian Waters.  The men who sat across from the owners and did most of the talking today wasn’t a lawyer from D.C.

“It was players who risk everything, every day, for the game that they love.”

I can respect the idea of having the players going face-to-face with the owners, but why anyone thought they wouldn’t be overly emotional is beyond me.

There is a reason why lawyers should be the ones doing the talking for the players — and owners — down the stretch to avoid exactly what happened.  Clearly Saturday and Waters were going to bat with the ideas Smith had championed, meaning get everything they wanted or bust.

As the blame game continues between now and whenever a deal is finally agreed to, Waters and Saturday are likely to have targets on their back.  If a deal really was as close as many people believe, it has to be the last people at the table that deserve the most blame.

If there is a work stoppage in the NFL, most superstar players won’t have financial problems no matter how long the standoff lasts.  That may not be the case with fringe players yet to establish themselves.  Kansas City Chiefs guard Brian Waters suggested to SI that a fund could be created in which higher-paid players help those struggling to meet their living expenses.

“It’s something that had been on my mind for months,” Waters says.  “I was thinking about which group would be the most vulnerable if there was a lockout, and I thought it would be the guys who had more to lose because they had fewer resources to pay things like healthcare and day-to-day expenses.  Most of those guys really need the money that comes from the offseason workout checks, as well as the checks that come from training camp.  I used to be one of those guys.  I was a college free agent who was cut and played in the World League, and coming into that second season that money was an integral part of paying my bills.  I knew there were a number of guys who didn’t have the medical savings and reimbursement accounts, and I knew there were a number of guys who weren’t high draft picks, but I also knew this number as a whole was a small number on every team’s roster.”

This is such a good idea, I’m not sure how it hasn’t been a part of the discussion from the beginning.  If you’ll remember, the NFLPA told players to save their final three game checks in anticipation of a lockout.  While that was a good suggestion, how many actually took that advice?  Or more importantly, how many minimum salaried players could afford to do it?

An account anonymously funded by players with big-money contracts would go a long way to erasing any thought of caving from the union due to financial worries from players.

I’m not sure what the tax repercussions of such a move would be, but on the surface it looks like a potential home run for the players union and it’s members.

The Chiefs season is long over, but you can still help their players get some recognition.  PFT is having readers vote for the best players at ever position, starting with the offensive line.  Not surprisingly, there is a Kansas City lineman in the running.

The finalists for top offensive lineman of the season (regular and post) are: Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, Chiefs guard Brian Waters, Buccaneers tackle Donald Penn, Packers guard Josh Sitton, Browns Joe Thomas, and Falcons tackle Tyson Clabo.

Get on over to PFT and make sure Waters wins this one going away.

Chiefs fans stepped up and made sure that Jamaal Charles won the NFL Ground Player of the Year award, so handing this award to Waters shouldn’t be a problem.

Probable
Quinten Lawrence (illness)
Brian Waters (illness)

Ravens

Questionable
LB Dannell Ellerbe (head)
LB Tavares Gooden (shoulder)
DT Haloti Ngata (thigh)
S Ed Reed (chest)
LB Terrell Suggs (knee)
CB Josh Wilson (head)
S Tom Zbikowski (back)

Probable
C Matt Birk (knee)
WR Derrick Mason (abs/ankle)
LB Jameel McClain (back)
T Michael Oher (knee/ankle)
WR David Reed (wrist)

They may have two names on the injury report, but the Chiefs are 100% healthy.  Right after the Arrowhead advantage, the difference in health should be the most important factor in this game.

While it looks like all of the major players for the Ravens will be active on Sunday, it is worth watching just how effective they will be.

Oher was saying the right things after practice today, but that ankle will be tested every down as he tries to contain Tamba Hali coming off the edge.

Reed wanted to stay in the game last week and has played hurt in the past so I don’t expect the Chiefs to see anything but the best from one of the league’s best.  Suggs, on the other hand, hurt his knee when he was cut block making it interesting to see how often the Chiefs offensive line and running backs go low to try to slow him down.