The Larry Johnson era is finished in Kansas City, and that means one of the most prolific runners in team history has his legacy: He will be remembered for his troubles and not his skills.

The Chiefs released Johnson on Monday morning, two weeks after he made disparaging comments that got him suspended two weeks. Johnson's suspension was scheduled to expire today.

But it seemed during those two weeks that, regardless of his suspension time table, he would never again wear a Chiefs uniform. It just seemed like too much of a stretch. Johnson became the face of poor judgment in Kansas City, and his last time wasn't his first time. He and Kansas City seemed a bad fit from the start, and Johnson complained and called out coaches and asked to be sent somewhere else for years.

The Chiefs have spent this year, and perhaps sacrificed some victories, in an effort to cleanse their roster of players who don't fit their type. They're looking for the "right 53," which is something coach Todd Haley and general manager Scott Pioli have said often since they arrived in Kansas City nine months ago.

Players who don't fit that model have been released, traded, shunned or ignored. Johnson, somehow, got another chance.

"I go by what I see," Haley said during training camp.

Two weeks ago, the new Chiefs saw the same old LJ. He called out Haley on Twitter and insulted fans, and a day later he used a gay slur in the Chiefs locker room.

How could he return? How could that player, with his attitude and history, return to that locker room? The Chiefs seemed to legitimately have no idea last week on what they would do with Johnson. Surely, though, he couldn't just rejoin the team and expect that the relationship move forward as if nothing happened. He was 75 yards shy of Priest Holmes' team record. How could the Chiefs have been comfortable allowing Johnson, especially considering his relationship with Kansas City, become the flag-carrying running back in a town that seemed to enjoy LJ's company as little as LJ enjoyed being in KC?

It didn't feel right. But the Chiefs had to have a running back. They had to retain at least some talent so that the team could be competitive, even in a year stained by rampant losing. That's why Sunday's game at Jacksonville was so important. It became clear that the game wasn't just an audition for Jamaal Charles and Kolby Smith to be the Chiefs' featured running back. It was an audition for the Chiefs to gauge life without LJ. Smith looked powerful and healthy. Charles looked quick and reliable. The Chiefs still don't have a rushing touchdown, but they'll survive. And they'll do it without Larry Johnson.

It shouldn't be a surprise that this arranged marriage never worked. It's unclear yet what, if any, conditions are attached to Johnson's release. Regardless, the Chiefs made their move. A career marked with two outstanding seasons will now be forgotten in the shadow of Johnson's misbehavior. The Chiefs couldn't afford to have Johnson break that record and in some ways fake that all he did in Kansas City was run the football with power, authority and talent. That just wasn't true for Johnson's time here.

Now it's finished. And LJ's legacy is defined. He won't be remembered for those powerful runs. He'll be remembered for being a troublemaker whose talent never outweighed his many other issues.