The Dallas Texans, later to be the Kansas City Chiefs, were a founding member of the American Football League. Lamar Hunt, who had tried to join the National Football League (NFL) but was denied admittance. Hunt consequentially went off and started his own league. His efforts resulted in the AFL. Franchise fee at the time for admittance into the new league was $25,000.
The Texans faced stiff competition in town from the new NFL franchise, the Dallas Cowboys. The two teams shared the same stadium, the Cotton Bowl from 1960 to 1962. Despite winning an AFL championship in 1962, Hunt moved the franchise to Kansas City after the season.
Quarterback Len Dawson joins the team
The 1962 season was memorable, as the emphasized the run with their first 1,000-yard rusher, Abner Haynes (1,049 yards, and running back Curtis McClinton. McClinton would be votedthe AFL Rookie of the Year at the end of the season. Quarterback Len Dawson , who began his career in 1957 with the Pittsburgh Steelers, joined the team that year. He would go on to a Hall of Fame career, spending 14 years with the franchise. The Texans defeated the two-time defending champion Houston Oilers 20-17 in double overtime for their first of three AFL championships.
In 1963 Hunt moved the franchise to Kansas City, and the Chiefs were born.
Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl appearance
The Chiefs would win their second AFL title in 1966 by defeating the Buffalo Bills 31-7 in the championship game. They would go on to appear in Super Bowl I in 1967, losing to the Green Bay Packers, 35-10. The Chiefs would play their home games until 1972 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium, a venue rich in history. The stadium was initially opened in 1923 as Muehlenbach Field. In 1937 the Stadium was renamed Ruppert Stadium, in honor of the New York Yankees owner Col. Jacob Ruppert.
The Yankees had a farm team, the Blues that played in the stadium. The stadium underwent rebuilding prior to the 1955 baseball season when the Kansas City Athletics moved to Kansas City from Philadelphia. The dual baseball-football stadium was also home to the Kansas City Monarchs, where Jackie Robinson played before signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The Chiefs won their third AFL championship in 1969, going 12-3 for the season, as they capped off their season with their first Super Bowl victory, a 23-7 over the Minnesota Vikings. Five players from the three championship teams would go on to be elected to the Hall of Fame: Dawson, defensive end Buch Buchanan, linebackers Bobby Bell and Willie Lanier, and kicker Jan Stenerur.
New Stadium built
With the AFL-NFL merger of 1970, all teams were required to play in a stadium with a seating capacity of at least 50,000. Municipal Stadium only seated 35,000. Public funded bonds were issued and Truman Sports Complex was built. The complex includes Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs started playing their home games in 1972, as well as Kauffman Stadium, home to the Kansas City Royals. As a footnote, the baseball Athletics left Kansas City after the 1967 season, before construction of the new complex was complete. The expansion Kansas City Royals came to town in 1969.
The Kansas City Chiefs currently play in the American Football Conference (AFC) West Division along with the Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers.
The Chiefs have been very competitive recently under head coach Andy Reid, who has become the franchise’s winningest coach, superseding Hank Stram. Reid is also the winningest coach in Philadelphia Eagle history. Patrick Mahomes was selected 10th by the Chiefs in the 2017 draft. He became the starting quarterback in 2018. With quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs won Super Bowls LIV (2020) and LVII. In between the two championship seasons, Kansas lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady 31-9 in Super Bowl LV.
Super Bowl LVIII was a rematch of the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Franscico 49ers from four years earlier. The game was held in Las Vegas, and was the first time a Super Bowl was held in the state of Nevada. The Chiefs defeated the 49ers 25 – 22. It was their fourth Super Bowl appearance and third win in five years.
Barry Schustermann
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