Kansas City, Mo. ? Kansas City defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham declined comment Wednesday on a picture that appears to show him making an obscene gesture during the Chiefs’ game last week at Dallas.

The picture shows Cunningham on the Chiefs’ sideline facing the field and making the gesture, apparently near the end of the Cowboys’ 31-28 victory. It has been all over the Internet and appeared on at least one Kansas City television station.

A team spokesman said Cunningham would have nothing to say on the matter. But head coach Dick Vermeil said the two had discussed it.

“But not in any serious discussion,” Vermeil said. “He made a mistake, and that happens.”

Vermeil, a former broadcaster, said he had seen others make the same gesture.

“I tell you this – I have seen that sign of peace in a national broadcast by an NCAA college football player. That’s a sign of frustration more than anything else. And sometimes they deserve it,” Vermeil said.

Cunningham long has been known for a fiery passion that produces loyalty among players.

“We all should demonstrate more professional poise, and (Cunningham) would tell you the same thing,” Vermeil said.

“But in the heat of the battle, sometimes when you’re an intense, passionate guy like he is and other people are … I don’t know how many of you have ever put yourself in that kind of environment to know what finger you might wave. I talked to him about it, but not in a reprimanding way.”