The Chiefs and Missouri Western Univ. on Thursday "officially announced a three-year extension with two additional mutual-option years to keep the team in St. Joseph" for training camp, according to Terez Paylor of the K.C. STAR. The Chiefs have trained at MWU since '10, and the "final guaranteed year of the original 10-year contract" was '14. The Chiefs "possessed a series of one-year options, but the two sides had been discussing a possible extension, which was unanimously approved" by the school’s BOG on Thursday. Chiefs President Mark Donovan said, “It’s become, really, something special there in St. Joe.” Donovan said that the "biggest issue the Chiefs had with the facilities -- which will be rectified as a part of the extension -- was the current state of the two grass practice fields, which are scheduled to be overhauled" by July 1. Donovan: “The biggest issue that we faced this year was just making sure the playing surface was good and safe.” Paylor notes the school will "install a new sprinkler system, a new drainage system, new turf and new soil" by July 1. The Chiefs will also "receive additional space in the residence hall." MWU also agreed to "freeze the Chiefs’ food costs" at '14 levels for the next three years, and the club will also "have additional security" (K.C. STAR, 1/16).
TOUGH DECISION: In Cleveland, Kevin Kleps reported whether the Browns move their training camp to Columbus, Akron or a college campus elsewhere in Ohio, they will "still hold some practices that fans can watch" in Berea. Browns President Alec Scheiner said, “I’m not positive we’ve gotten our message out, which is we will have some training camp in Berea. No matter what. I think almost every team that has a training camp outside its practice facility has some practices at its facility. I’m not sure we’ve gotten that out there as much as we could." Scheiner said that now that the season is over, the Browns are “'getting back' to their analysis of whether or not it makes sense to hold training camp away from their Berea facility" -- the team’s camp home since '92. He added that it will "take 'a couple months' before a decision is reached" (CRAINSCLEVELAND.com, 1/15).
