Chiefs, 49ers Get a Jump on the Season

CANTON, Ohio —  Frank Gansz, the new coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, welcomes the opportunity to open the exhibition season a week ahead of the rest of the National Football League.

“I’m anxious to start setting things,” said Gansz, whose Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers today in the annual Hall of Fame game (Channels 7 and 10, 9 a.m., PDT). “The work we’re getting (in practice) is very good, but we’re going to be a 45-man roster, not a 100-man roster. I’m anxious to start honing it down.”

San Francisco Coach Bill Walsh isn’t quite so enthusiastic about the early opening.

“In the sense of getting game experience for the players, it’s good,” Walsh said. “But as for our practice schedule, it disrupts it.”

Walsh said he will start veteran Joe Montana at quarterback, following him with former Tampa Bay quarterback Steve Young and possibly rookie John Paye from Stanford.

Montana missed seven weeks last season because of back surgery that threatened to end his career, but he came back to lead the 49ers to a 10-5-1 record and the NFC West title.

Kansas City, which went 10-6 last season and made the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, had the worst offense in the NFL.

Gansz describes his quarterback situation as “competitive,” with Bill Kenney and Todd Blackledge battling for the starting job. Both are likely to play today.

The game at Fawcett Stadium, adjacent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, will follow the annual induction ceremonies on the steps of the hall.

Being inducted this year are former Kansas City quarterback Len Dawson, Miami Dolphins fullback Larry Csonka and center Jim Langer, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Joe Greene and running back John Henry Johnson, Oakland Raiders guard Gene Upshaw and New York Jets receiver Don Maynard.