Kansas City Chiefs Mount Rushmore: The Fab Four
By Mike Norris
Oct 25, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; A view of the plaza and the Lamar Hunt statue before the game between FC Dallas and the Portland Timbers at Toyota Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Lamar Hunt, Owner
It’s possible there is no one who had a bigger impact on the NFL without ever playing a down than Lamar Hunt.
The late Chiefs owner, at just 26 years old, founded the American Football League (AFL) in 1959 after failed attempts to own an NFL team.
The eight-team league was laughed upon at first, but its success forced a merger with the NFL in 1966. It would become the springboard to the league becoming one of the most successful businesses in the world today.
It’s possible there is no one who had a bigger impact on the NFL without ever playing a down than Lamar Hunt.
After the merger, a championship game between the AFL and NFL’s best was born. The Chiefs played in the inaugural one, losing to the Green Bay Packers, 35-10.
It wasn’t until three years later the big game received its formal name: Super Bowl.
Hunt is widely credited with coining the term that came to him because his children had recently been playing with a Super Ball.
Hunt’s original team, the Texans, resided in Dallas from 1960-62 before he moved the team to Kansas City. According to profootballhof.com, the Chiefs, under Hunt’s leadership, “became known as one of pro football’s finest organizations, both on and off the field.”
Hunt passed away in 2006 at 74.
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