Carl Peterson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Carl Peterson | |
|---|---|
| Position(s) | General Manager |
| College | UCLA |
| Team(s) as a coach/administrator | |
| 1989-2008 | Kansas City Chiefs |
Carl D. Peterson grew up in Long Beach, California, and is an alumnus of the UCLA. He is best known as the former president, general manager, and chief executive officer of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He served in those roles from 1989-2008. Peterson hired four coaches for the Chiefs during his tenure: Marty Schottenheimer, Gunther Cunningham, Dick Vermeil, and Herman Edwards.
Peterson took over the general manager duties in 1989 from Jim Schaaf. During his 20 years at the helm in Kansas City, the Chiefs amassed a 176–141–1 record, won the AFC West four times and reached the AFC Championship Game in 1993.[1]
On December 15, 2008, Owner Clark Hunt announced Peterson's resignation effective the end of the 2008 NFL season.[1]
[edit] Reception
Peterson had been praised for hiring quality coaches, and re-establishing a winning tradition for a franchise that was moribund by the late 1980s. Prior to Peterson's arrival, Kansas City had only made one playoff appearance in the previous 18 years. The Kansas City Chiefs were the winningest team in the NFL for the decade of the 1990s by percentage, qualified the playoffs in six of seven seasons from 1990 to 1997, and reached the AFC Championship game following the 1993 season.
Peterson was also criticized by some fans, particularly in the second decade of his tenure, during which the team did not win a playoff game and posted greatly diminished results in the regular season. During Peterson's 20-year tenure the Chiefs failed to reach the Super Bowl, and posted only three playoff wins in 8 appearances, the most recent being against the Houston Oilers on January 16, 1994.
Peterson held his job for 20 years, which is considerably longer than most other NFL general managers, despite the team's lack of playoff success during that time. Due to his longevity as general manager, local columnist Jason Whitlock famously dubbed Peterson as "King Carl"[2] [3] in the Kansas City Star, and the nickname has become a well-known moniker around the league.
Leading up to the 2007 Chiefs season, criticism was drawn to the Chiefs' attempts to trade quarterback Trent Green [4] especially towards general manager Carl Peterson's failure to execute the trade. [2][3][5] The media were also critical of Peterson and his apparent neglect to return the phone calls of Trent Green's agent, Jim Steiner, and Peterson's assertion that the then-36 year old Green was a starting quarterback in the NFL, and worth far more than the compensation the Miami Dolphins were offering. [6] On June 5, 2007, the Chiefs traded Green to the Dolphins for a conditional fifth round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.[7]
Peterson was also criticized over the manner of former head coach Gunther Cunningham's firing following the 2000 NFL season. Some reports said that Cunningham only learned of his firing through media reports stating that the Chiefs were close to a deal to bring former St. Louis Rams head coach Dick Vermeil out of retirement, and others stated that Cunningham was unaware that he had been removed from his position before finding an item posted to the team's official website announcing his ouster.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Associated Press (2008-12-15). "Chiefs GM Peterson to step down at end of season". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3771725. Retrieved on 2008-12-15.
- ^ a b Whitlock, Jason. Where's Trent's love? Kansas City Star, 13 May 2007.
- ^ a b Whitlock, Jason. Two sides to sad Green story Kansas City Star, 24 May 2007.
- ^ Merrill, Elizabeth. QB situation not a distraction for Edwards ESPN.com, 2 May 2007.
- ^ King, Jason. It's not easy being (Trent) Green Kansas City Star, 22 May 2007.
- ^ Associated Press. Green's agent says Chiefs won't return calls ESPN.com, 24 May 2007.
- ^ Pasquarelli, Len. Green goes to Dolphins from Chiefs in trade ESPN.com, 5 June 2007
- ^ Dean, Rick. [1]Topeka Capital-Journal, 6 Jan 2001
[edit] External links
|
|||||
