European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 3, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday april 3, 1990 the stars and stripes a a Page 25 chiefs of with Okoye carries his nil Rushing title to berlins olympic stadium aug. 11. File by Rob Staggenborg staff writer Berlin a six years after being spurned by the nigerian olympic track team Christian Okoye has the Kansas City chiefs Back on a winning track. Okoye who visited Berlin last week to promote the aug. 11 american bowl against the los Angeles rams made history in Only his sixth year in organized football. The Enugu Nigeria native known As the nigerian Nightmare for his barging Ball carrying led the nil in Rushing last season and became the first chief to gain 1,480 Yards. A i never expected to do this Well a he said in his slightly broken nigerian accented English. A a it a always possible when you have a mind to work hard and Hope to do belter. Good things like that Are always possible to come. As far As in a concerned playing football for Only six years i never thought id Ever reach this  the 6-foot-1-Inch, 256-Pound Hulk in his fourth season is looking for great things out of his Kansas City cohorts this year. A the players and coaches of the Kansas City chiefs have worked really hard to get where we Are today a Okoye said. A coming into this season we re going to work even harder and we re looking to have a better team a a it a not a matter of working hard to please the fans. When we work to improve ourselves to gain our goals the fans Are benefiting from that. They Are excited about that. We re just going to go in play the game and prove the  the chiefs second round pick in the 1987 draft Okoye left his dreams of starring on the nigerian olympic team Back in Enugu and headed to California. He first picked up a football at tiny Azusa Pacific in 1984, and the rest As they say is history. Okoye became Azusa a Al time leading rusher with 3,569 Yards in three seasons including 1,680 Yards in his senior year. Okoye capped his Azusa experience by setting a senior bowl record with four touchdowns. By the time he left with his diploma Okoye had scored 34 ads a nil in Berlin raging 6.8 Yards a carry. Kansas City traded up 11 spots in that 87 draft swapping second round positions and giving the Houston oilers a fourth Rounder to pick Okoye. Selected As the eighth running Back in the 87 draft he More than doubled the Rushing output of each of the seven backs chosen ahead of him and had Only 651 Yards fewer than All seven backs combined. Okoye made an immediate Impact on the chiefs Rushing for 660 Yards on 157 carries a a 4,2-Yard average a in his Rookie season. He snagged 24 receptions in his inaugural season Lor 169 Yards a a 7-Yard average. In his Rookie year Okoye added stability to Kansas City s shaky offence. His Fumble ratio was one of the Best in the nil. Okoye lost the Ball Only five limes in 157 carries or a Fumble every 31,4 carries a better than Eric Dickerson . Simpson Jim Brown Franco Harris Tony Dorscht Walter Payton and Gale Sayers. The scouting report on Okoye was Short succinct simple. Quot possesses sprinter Speed and a lineman a  that pretty much sums it up. He a big a a tank with legs. Okoye does t look the part of a running Back but lie plays the role unbelievably. His Glare his Hare his intensity Are More suited for a linebacker. When he runs though linebackers hate him. Being the leagues leading rusher does no to help linebackers View of the nigerian Bulldozer. Is he a marked Man in 1990? a no i was led to think that i go out there to get my Job done a he said. Looking out of the Corner of his Eye on every carry a would just be a distraction Quot the chiefs sudden improvement a going a near playoff 7-9 a has Okoye ecstatic about the coming season. Just How Good they will be depends largely on Okoye a legs. �?o1 think the chiefs will be very Good this season a he said. A a we be got very Good Quality players. I know their minds Are set and Well be ready to play. We re Gonna be Good. A a it a simple As  wrestling audience deserves to be pinned dear editor this letter is in response to the commentary by Tom maunders in the feb. 25 Issue of your paper. Or. Saunders commentary about the Central european wrestling championships missed the Mark. He Jam dunked Young Jimmy murrin of Heidelberg for it Oor sportsmanship. He praised Chon Watson for Perse France. What of the audience or. Saunders forgot Crit Cal procedures in his reporting those being objectivity ind thoroughness. He was obviously Blind to the atmosphere present at the championship matches. That was one of hostility to the Home team Heidelberg. Why was nothing written about the rude behaviour of he competing teams their coaches managers and Rainors the catcalls and hisses whenever a Heidel it org wrestler was introduced or won a match has no parallel. Had the writer been paying attention he would have noted the Frankfurt contingent. It was the instigator of the anti Heidelberg sentiment. I make no apologies for this statement. It is what 1 and no doubt several Hundred others saw. If anyone is at fault for poor sportsmanship it is the visiting fans and wrestlers. They debased themselves by their actions. What Jimmy murrin did is Small compared to what those visiting the championships did. I am a resident of Heidelberg and proud of it. I am Foud of the Heidelberg Lions wrestling team. Their record Speaks for itself. 1 support them to the nth degree and sports letters stand behind them for their actions. Perhaps they can make an occasional Faux Pas but then who does no to in a certain that the Young Man from Heidelberg has been counselled sufficiently. 1 wonder who will counsel the fans coaches and wrestlers of the visiting teams Mike Kaminski Heidelberg West Germany coaches influence actions dear editor thank you for a Good article on the wrestling program in Dodds. 1 especially liked that you pointed out five Good examples of sportsmanship for the one example of a Rotten sport. However id like to Point out something else. The coach plays a very big part in How kids act. Its significant that a Ramstein wrestler acted with such class and style because he is coached by Dave Izzo a Man with class and style. The same is True about the Stuttgart coach and the shape coach. You never saw them running around arguing and acting like bad sports. Apply that in the opposite direction As Well. When the kid acts up because of losing perhaps he has been taught to be a bad loser. What you teach a child he will show you As a Mirror of your lessons. Just look at the actions your reporter Tom Saunders described in his Story. Perfect mirrors of coaching styles. Paul Brimmer Mannheim West Germany Praise Fram wrestling ref dear editor at the recent Dodds Southern regional wrestling championships two noteworthy events occurred. The Overall organization of the tournament under Jim Cheney and Lou Schiedrich deserves High Praise and the eight coaches of the involved schools should be praised for the Way they conducted themselves throughout the  you this Praise comes from one of the referees who worked that Day. Very often coaches and referees seem to be in an adversarial situation. As hard As it May be to believe not one coach challenged a single referee in an unsportsmanlike manner Over a single Call in the Day Long tournament. As unlikely As that seems it is True. We tip our hats to the sportsmen coaches from Augsburg Ansbach Munich Patch Stuttgart Wurzburg Ulm Niernberg and Vil suck. They did themselves and their schools Well. Al Semff Wurzburg West Germany