By Brock Ascher

Breakdown: The Chiefs attended morning meetings before a 10:30 AM special teams practice. After a 1:30 PM Chapel service, players put on their spider pads for a 3:30 PM practice.

Play of the Day: QB Brodie Croyle had his best Dan Marino impression foiled by rookie CB Brandon Carr. During a two-minute drill exercise, Croyle hustled the line up to the ball to kill the clock with a spike. The QB faked the spike and threw a fade to WR Dwayne Bowe, with whom he had communicated the fake before the snap. Carr didn’t bite on the fake, rather he ran with Bowe the whole way and swatted the pass to the ground. “He’s a heady kid,” said head coach Herm Edwards after practice.

Looking Ahead: The end is officially near for the Chiefs time in River Falls this year. Just five days remain until the team’s Friday return to Kansas City. In the meantime, the team will practice in full pads tomorrow at 3:45 PM.

Weather Watch: It’s perfect again in River Falls. Today’s forecast calls for clear skies and a high of 76. Back at Arrowhead, the forecast calls for a sunny day with a high of 81.

Look Who’s Talking: “Hey, my favorite crew is still Motley Crue”
- Associate Director of Public Relations Pete Moris on the Olympic crew competition.

“Oh, it’s very close. I think it’s still a 50/50 shot for both guys. I’m not surprised, to be honest with you. I think they’re both doing exactly what I expected them to do.”
-Special Teams coach Mike Priefer on Ks Connor Barth and Nick Novak’s training camp competition.

Reader Questions: How is the offensive line shaping up? Who will replace C Casey Wiegmann?
-Levi Eastin (Mercer, MO)

Replacing Wiegmann at the center position is no short order. Remember he’s from Eastern Iowa; home to smart, strong and strikingly beautiful people (full disclosure – your friendly neighborhood Camp Wrap writer is from Eastern Iowa – hail our University of Northern Iowa Panthers!). All love for Iowa aside, C Rudy Niswanger has the brains and the brawn to fill in nicely. If he wasn’t playing for the Chiefs, he would probably be doing open heart surgery or a brain transplant or something (he was a pre-med student at LSU). He has learned the offense quickly and started the Chiefs opening preseason game against the Bears with good results. Look for Niswanger to be one of a few pleasant surprises when the regular season begins.

Why do players that handle the ball wear gloves?
- Tim (Shawnee, KS)

I’ll spare you the berating I gave the last guy who only left one name and just answer your question. These aren’t your regular, run-of-the-mill gloves. Many people might equate receiver’s gloves with batting gloves used by baseball players, but in fact, nothing could be farther from the truth. The Chiefs gloves are pock-marked with textured bumps and actually help receivers and RBs hold on to the ball. The gloves, along with pretty much everything else the players wear on the sidelines, are made by Reebok as part of the NFL Equipment line of gear and apparel.

There’s a glove for every occasion, so gloves worn by linemen may have padding to protect fingers and palms, while receivers’ gloves are made from a tackier material to help them grip the ball better.

Back in the olden days (when RB Christian Okoye was a huge stud in Tecmo Super Bowl, and even earlier) players used to spray stick-em on their hands to help them hold on to the ball. Thanks to the excess of some players, such as Raiders CB Lester Hayes, who liberally bathed himself in the substance, it was eventually outlawed by the league office. Now that they have these gloves, stick-em has been rendered obsolete anyhow.

Bonus video game reference: One of John Madden’s random announcements in Madden 2004 was: “They used to put stick-em on their hands to catch those balls, now they’ve got those gloves.”

Questions?: Is there a question about training camp or the Chiefs that you want answered? Chiefs insiders Josh Looney and Brock Ascher will answer fan questions daily in the River Falls Wrap.

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