There’s No Need to Call a Priest

At times during his first two seasons in Kansas City, Larry Johnson felt unwelcome, unappreciated and certainly untapped. This season, the third-year running back has been something else:

Unbelievable.

Once the understudy to the now-injured Priest Holmes, Johnson has burst onto the scene and, since the start of November, leads NFL running backs in touches, 162; yards rushing, 709, and yards from scrimmage, 871. He’s the No. 1 offensive weapon of the Chiefs (8-4), who put their three-game winning streak to the test today at Dallas (7-5).

Since taking over for Holmes, sidelined because of a spinal injury, Johnson has strung together five 100-yard rushing games. One more and he’ll break the franchise record he shares with Holmes.

Coach Dick Vermeil told reporters in Kansas City this week that he envisioned this type of productivity from Johnson, selected 27th by the Chiefs in 2003.

“I’ve predicted what Larry would be,” during closed-door meetings with Johnson when he was a rookie, Vermeil said. “All I asked him was to be patient and take the time it takes to be what you have the ability to be. He was very impatient, but part of it was because of his passion to play the game. Part of it was caused by the fact that we have a great running back in Priest Holmes.”

From the start, Johnson has lugged a sizable chip on his shoulder. He questioned why the Chiefs drafted him if they already had a featured back in Holmes; he wasn’t excited about being an insurance policy for a coach who had hoped to spend a first-round pick on a defensive player. Johnson was itching to prove he wasn’t just another Penn State back who’d put up big numbers in college but disappeared in the pros.

He had to wait awhile to prove himself. Because he wasn’t a great pass blocker coming out of college, he spent most of his fall Sundays in street clothes. He was activated for only six games during his rookie season. Again, he questioned why the Chiefs would have drafted him if they’d planned to keep him on ice.

Tension between Vermeil and Johnson grew last season when the coach said it was time for Johnson to “take the diapers off.” Johnson felt insulted and did little to mask his displeasure. He openly talked about his desire to be traded.

After injuries to Holmes and Derrick Blaylock, however, he made the most of his opportunity to play, becoming the first player to rush for at least 150 yards in each of his first three games.

Off the field, things have been anything but smooth for Johnson. He has had a couple of run-ins with police, and he recently alienated some people in Kansas City when he spoke critically in a newspaper article.

“I love this team. I love my teammates. I’d do anything for them dudes ... “ he told the Kansas City Star. “I just don’t ... I am very uncomfortable with the people here and the way they see me and the way they sometimes treat me. It has nothing to do with football. It has to do with when I’m out on the town.

“You get a young guy, tattooed up, diamonds everywhere, who can talk and speak his mind but also back it up, and it kind of rubs people the wrong way. Usually out there, everybody’s old. It’s like the Bush Republican crowd. Nobody’s going to want to accept something strange. They’re always going to fear what they don’t understand and don’t know.”

Johnson refuses to do postgame interviews in the locker room but did tell the Chief radio network last Sunday that “everybody, including the media, expects me to fold.” That, after rushing for 140 yards and two touchdowns in a victory over Denver.

He sounds angry when he talks.

And, to the dismay of Chief opponents, he now runs that way too.

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Peak Producer

Larry Johnson’s overall totals and rankings since Nov. 1. Note: Seattle’s Shaun Alexander is the one player with more rushing touchdowns than Johnson during that span with 10:

*--* Category No. Rank Touches 162 1st Yards rushing 709 1st Rushes 10+ yards 18 1st Yards per rush* 4.9 1st Scrimmage yards 871 1st Rushing touchdowns 7 2nd

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-- minimum 60 attempts. Source: STATS LLC