Happy trails, Carl Peterson

Carl Peterson approached the podium for his 40-minute farewell address wearing his customary tan and double-breasted suit coat, a red handkerchief peeking out from the pocket.

Peterson delivered his remarks on Tuesday in the Chiefs practice facility, which smells like a tire factory on account of the rubber in the synthetic turf. The setting — a building large enough to accommodate a football field and even goal posts — felt appropriate, given the length and breadth of Peterson’s reign.

Before Peterson arrived, Kansas City sports dignitaries (Bobby Bell, Len Dawson, George Brett, former umpire Steve Palermo) mingled with the reporters, Chiefs employees and Red Coaters who had come to watch the team’s general manager and chief executive say goodbye. Passing The Kansas City Star‘s contingent on the way to his seat, original color analyst Bill Grigsby asked if his obituary had been updated recently.

Clark Hunt introduced the man his father had hired 20 years earlier. Hunt said that Peterson was leaving a great legacy. He cited the excitement at Arrowhead, the community-outreach efforts and, of course, the occasional 13-3 campaign. Hunt said Peterson had served as an “outstanding ambassador” for the family, a true statement in the 1990s, when 10-win seasons were the norm. But, ultimately, the organization came to be defined by the team’s failure to reach the conference championship and Peterson’s imperiousness.