Alex Marvez of Fox Sports reports the Kansas City Chiefs have accused the Detroit Lions of tampering, filing charges with the NFL. Tampering occurs when one NFL team tries to take another team's employee without following proper protocol. It's not clear which Chiefs employee the Lions are being accused of having tampered with, though Marvez references speculation that it could involve Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham.
Lions Charged With Tampering By Chiefs, According To Report
Cunningham was the Chiefs DC from 2004 to 2008, and earlier this year made what sounds like an offhand remark that he’d like to set up a pipeline ferrying Chiefs defensive talent to Detroit:
I would like to be there to catch a lot of them, because I know a couple of those guys.
The Lions would probably like to obtain defensive players from just about any team in the league, so the statement didn't cause that much of a stir at the time. Tom Kowalski of MLive.com talked with a league spokesman on Cunningham's comment, reporting the comment "hadn't even registered on a league level" because it didn't mention any players by name.
Former Chiefs safety DaJuan Morgan, how with the Indianapolis Colts, was one rumored trade piece between the two teams who was around for Cunningham's time in Kansas City. The Chiefs apparently approached the Lions in that deal, with Cunningham's team rejecting the offer. The only current Lion who played for Cunningham in Kansas City is DE Turk McBride, who was claimed off waivers fair and square.
If this tampering charge does involve Cunningham, then either the Chiefs think Cunningham crossed a line at some other point or are convinced some other Lions employee broke a rule.
Or Todd Haley just thinks everybody is out to get him, which can’t possibly be the case.
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