By AFRO Staff
Kansas City Chiefs veteran tailback Larry Johnson (Courtesy Photo)
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(November 5, 2009) - Kansas City Chiefs veteran tailback Larry Johnson is 75 yards away from becoming the team's all-time leading rusher. But according to The Associated Press, many Chiefs fans wish to keep it that way.
AP reported several fans have started an online petition asking Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli to deactivate Johnson so he never breaks the record of current Chiefs’ all-time rusher Priest Holmes, who rushed for 6,070 yards during his tenure in Kansas City. The petition also requests that Johnson is never inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor at Arrowhead Stadium.
“We are asking you, as fans of this team, this organization, and of the pride that this city has in the Chiefs, please deactivate Larry Johnson. Please do not let his name sit atop the all-time rushing leaders in Kansas City Chiefs history," the petition reads, according to ESPN, who used information from an AP report ESPN reported that as of Nov. 4 at least 1,400 people signed the online petition.
“While we are thankful for his service, we feel that Larry has been a black eye on the organization and has no business being mentioned among the team’s all-time greats,” the petition continued.
According to AP, Johnson was suspended by the Chiefs without pay until Nov. 8 after questioning the qualifications of the team’s head coach, Todd Haley, on his Twitter account and used an offensive comment towards homosexuals. Johnson and the team reached a settlement on Nov. 2, reducing the amount of pay he would lose in half, to $315,000, AP reported.
“Larry apologized,” said Peter Schaffer, Johnson’s agent. “He learned from it and hopefully other people learned from it. My hope is that people learn that something positive can come out of this and that there are words that should not be used because they demean people.”