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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781629378527 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Triumph Books |
| Publication date: | 11/03/2020 |
| Series: | 100 Things...Fans Should Know Series |
| Edition description: | Super Bowl Edition |
| Pages: | 320 |
| Sales rank: | 618,480 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
100 Things Chiefs Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die
By Matt Fulks
Triumph Books
Copyright © 2014 Matt FulksAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-62937-015-6
CHAPTER 1
Lamar Hunt
Lamar Hunt, a native Texan and resident of Dallas throughout the time he owned the Chiefs, did an incredible amount of good for Kansas City during his lifetime. Of course, there are the Chiefs, which started out as the Dallas Texans in the American Football League. Oh, yeah, there's the American Football League, which Hunt founded and helped foster to what is now (basically) the NFL's American Football Conference. "It starts with Lamar Hunt," said Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson. "I've said many times: what would professional football be today without Lamar Hunt?"
But there's also Worlds of Fun. And Oceans of Fun.
Then there are the Wiz, Kansas City's pro soccer team, which has morphed into Sporting Kansas City and plays in the league that Hunt helped start, Major League Soccer (MLS). "To Kansas City, he's more than just the owner of a professional franchise," said the Chiefs' former president and general manager, Carl Peterson. "He's committed himself there with other businesses such as Hunt Midwest Enterprises, creating thousands of jobs throughout the Kansas City community. He's been one of the most philanthropic people I've ever been involved with."
He also encouraged his players to get involved in the Kansas City community with charitable endeavors. Really, there's no telling how many lives in Kansas City have been touched — directly or indirectly — by Lamar Hunt, the most unassuming and unsuspecting son of a billionaire oil man. "When you looked at the guy, you wouldn't think he had 20 cents on him, and he never did to my knowledge," Dawson said. "But he was a very humble person who wanted to win."
Hunt's humility helped shape the Chiefs franchise. Along the way, whether in the early days of the organization when they were his contemporaries or in his later years when he was a fatherly figure, Hunt left an impression that remains today.
"The difference between Lamar and all of the other owners I've had the opportunity to meet," said former defensive back Jayice Pearson, "is that he genuinely cared about the players. That's something that is rare. He would walk up to you and know your name, know where you're from. He'd come up to us after a game, almost apprehensive like a fan ... and here's the dude who's signing the checks! He could talk to us any way he wanted to, but he was a really humble guy and cared about people."
The son of wealthy oil baron H.L. Hunt, Lamar used that money to purchase an AFL team, an understandable investment, considering he played college football at SMU. His impact on football was immeasurable. He would even coin the term "Super Bowl," a term originated from the Super Ball toy with which his children played. While owning the Chiefs, Hunt became one of the more popular and respected figures — both within the NFL and his own franchise.
"Lamar Hunt was a wonderful man; I love Lamar Hunt and his wife Norma," said former quarterback Bill Kenney. "Great people and great for this city. When I decided to run for the Missouri Senate, I called Lamar and asked him if he'd support me. He said he would, so I asked if he'd host a fund-raiser for me at his suite. He agreed to do it. The event was kicking off, and Lamar and I were standing there, looking at the field [at Arrowhead]. They were just putting down grass. I had played on artificial turf my entire career here. I joked and said, 'Lamar, if we had grass when I was playing, I might still be collecting a paycheck from you.' He chuckled and said, 'Yeah, but you never would've gotten into politics.' I asked what he meant. He said, 'Bill, I think you hit your head one too many times on that artificial turf.'"
No one worked closer with Lamar Hunt than Jack Steadman, who had been working for Hunt Oil for about five years before joining Hunt and the Texans with the AFL endeavor. Steadman, of course, became the team's general manager and president. "When God created man," Steadman has said many times, "he had Lamar Hunt in mind. He was one of the most humble, gracious, caring persons that I've ever been around. In all of the 47 years that I worked with Lamar — it was always with — there was never a time that he made me feel I was working for him. It was a very unique quality for him to have. He was a visionary beyond all of the people I've ever known. He could see things beyond where I could even comprehend. He was very, very quiet, which is interesting because we'd be having discussions in a meeting, and Lamar would just sit there and listen. They would think that he wasn't paying attention. I will guarantee that his mind was going 100 miles an hour on everything that was said. He also had an incredible photographic memory. He could remember plays years after they occurred ... He might be presenting an award to one of the players and he'd bring back things that I'd forgotten a long time ago. He was a brilliant man, fun to work with because he was so creative."
Among Hunt's other contributions to the sports world, he co-founded World Championship Tennis and the North American Soccer League (1967–84) and he was one of the original investors in the NBA's Chicago Bulls. Hunt was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972 and into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1992.
Hunt passed away on December 13, 2006, following a long battle with prostate cancer. "[He was] arguably the greatest sportsman of this last half-century, although he never sought fame or recognition for the improvements and changes he brought to the world's sports institutions," Peterson said. "His was a creative, constructive, and loving life not nearly long enough, and we will likely never see one like it again."
CHAPTER 265 Toss Power Trap
The night before the Chiefs took on the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV in New Orleans, safety Johnny Robinson was chatting with his road roommate, quarterback Len Dawson. "Can you score any damn points against these guys?" Robinson asked Dawson.
"Yes, I can," said Dawson. "We're going to put some points on the board. What about you guys on defense against Joe Kapp? They killed the NFL in the playoffs. Can you guys stop him?"
Robinson looked Dawson in the eyes and, in a tone full of more sincerity than bravado, said: "I've seen him all week and I think we might just shut them out."
With an outstanding offense and their defensive "Purple People Eaters," the Vikings seemed like a team of destiny. In 1969 they ranked first in both offense (379 points) and defense (133 points) in the NFL. The only time they allowed more than 14 points in a game came during a 24–23 season-opening loss to the New York Giants. Offensively, they scored more than 50 points three times in 1969. So Robinson's comment might've seemed crazy if it weren't for what the Chiefs had done that season.
Kansas City had the top-ranked defense (177 points) and the second-ranked offense (359 points) in the AFL that year. The Chiefs defense was so good in 1969 that not only were they the only team that gave up fewer than 200 points in the wide-open AFL, they were the only team that gave up less than 240 points. "We still had that shadow of the 'Mickey Mouse League' following us around," said wide receiver Frank Pitts, referring to the AFL's nickname. "We were determined to let everybody know we were going to take care of business."
And the Chiefs did just that during the 23–7 victory.
The confidence they felt going into the contest with Minnesota came out during the game's first two possessions. After Minnesota marched to the Kansas City 39-yard line, the Chiefs defense woke up and stopped the Vikings. The Chiefs, after starting on their own 17, promptly moved the ball into Minnesota territory, thanks largely to a 20-yard pass play from Dawson to Pitts. Four plays later, Jan Stenerud booted a 48-yard field goal, giving the Chiefs an early 3–0 lead. Stenerud's field goal remained a Super Bowl record for distance until Super Bowl XXI. It also gave the Chiefs a lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
Kansas City scored on three of its next four possessions, including two more Stenerud field goals. The third score in that stretch has become one of the most memorable moments in Super Bowl history, when head coach Hank Stram sent wide receiver Gloster Richardson into the game on third and goal from the 5 and said: "Gloster, come on; 65 Toss Power Trap. Get in there; 65 Toss Power Trap."
Because of Minnesota's defense, Stram felt it would work. "Their great defensive tackle, Alan Page, occasionally lined up between the guard and the tackle on short yardage downs instead of between the guard and center. So he would be on the shoulder of our tackle, Jim Tyrer," Stram wrote in his autobiography They're Playing My Game. "Page had quick reactions. If Tyrer pulled, Page would chase him along the line of scrimmage, and we could run a trap play to the inside. I watched Page at work several more times to confirm this, then put in a play based on it — 65 Toss Power Trap."
"When I told Lenny the play, he looked at me like I was crazy and asked if I'm sure that's what [Stram] called," Richardson said. "We didn't normally run it in the red zone. We usually called it in the open field." And, really, 65 Toss Power Trap wasn't a play the Chiefs used often. "We hadn't worked on that play in weeks," Dawson said. "He called that out of nowhere. So, yes, when Gloster brought the play in, I said, 'Gloster, are you sure that's what he called?' He told me it was."
The play has become an iconic part of Chiefs and Super Bowl history — mainly because it worked. Mike Garrett ran the ball five yards for a touchdown that gave Kansas City a 16–0 lead at halftime. "I remember the run, but it wasn't a big run," Garrett said. "What I remember most about scoring is thinking about how the city of Kansas City was going to be beside themselves. They loved us, and it was great to be a part of a team that represented Kansas City the way it should be."
The day definitely belonged to Kansas City and the Chiefs. Even after Minnesota scored on a touchdown late in the third quarter, the Chiefs answered on their next possession with a 46-yard pass play from Dawson, the game's MVP, to Otis Taylor. A 7-yard reverse by Pitts on third and 7 set up the play.
The convincing win gave the city of Kansas City its first pro sports championship since the Monarchs won the 1942 Negro World Series. With the Chiefs winning Super Bowl IV, a year after the New York Jets became the first AFL team to win the championship by beating the Baltimore Colts, the AFL gained the respect that it deserved.
Super Bowl IV marked the end of the AFL vs. the NFL. The two leagues merged following that season. Since Lamar Hunt had the foresight to start the AFL, it was only fitting that the Chiefs reach this particular game. "It was poetic justice that we were the first team to play and represent the American Football League in Super Bowl I," Stram said. "So it also seemed appropriate that we were the team to win Super IV, the last championship game before the two leagues officially merged. There was a lot of satisfaction in that."
Speaking of Stram, perhaps the main reason "65 Toss Power Trap" remains embedded in Super Bowl history — besides the play working — is that NFL Films had a microphone on Stram. (As the story goes, Minnesota coach Bud Grant was asked, but he declined because of his penchant for cussing.) The players didn't know about it during the game. Even though they thought Stram was acting a little more animated than usual, they didn't find out until a few months after the win over the Vikings.
"That spring they showed the highlights at the Lyric Theatre in downtown Kansas City," Dawson said. "We didn't know it before then. He didn't tell anybody. He also had the rights to edit what was used or to even let something be used. It explained a lot."
Because of that we can go back and hear such now famous lines — including his misuse of the word that actually means to enroll — as, "Just keep matriculating the ball down the field, boys," and "Here comes a reverse from tight-I," and perhaps the most famous play in Chiefs history: 65 Toss Power Trap.
Dawson's Distraction
The day before the 1969 AFL Championship Game at Oakland, a league official told coach Hank Stram that Len Dawson's name had surfaced in a betting scandal involving Detroit gambler Donald Dawson (no relation). Shortly before the Raiders game, however, the league official, Mark Duncan, called Stram and told him that everything had been resolved.
It was. Until the Chiefs arrived in New Orleans. "When we got off the bus in New Orleans, we heard the same thing again about Lenny and this betting nonsense," Stram said 30 years after Super Bowl IV. "Only this time it was all over the papers. The story was absolutely absurd!"
In hopes of putting it behind them so they could focus on the game, Stram and Dawson decided to hold a press conference to squash the rumors. NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, whom Stram called a "great friend" and who was the former public relations director for the Los Angeles Rams, suggested that if they held a press conference, they shouldn't talk about the scandal, only the upcoming game with the Vikings. "[Rozelle] didn't look at us like we had done something wrong," Stram said. "He was mainly concerned about having a good Super Bowl. I was, too, but I didn't agree with his thoughts on Lenny's press conference."
So the press conference went on as Stram had envisioned at 11 pm. The media seemed satisfied with Dawson's comments. "Of course he handled everything with typical class and style and grace and dignity," Stram said, "and did a fantastic job as everybody knows."
Stram's biggest concern then was his team's reaction — and possible distraction — due to the reports and all of the questions from the media. So he addressed his squad at the team breakfast the morning after the press conference.
"I told [our team] what we did the night before," Stram said. "Then I asked if anybody had any questions. E.J. Holub, our center, said, 'Yeah, I've got a question, Coach. When are we going to eat?' ... That's how distracted they were. It was amazing how they responded to the situation and rallied around Lenny. The whole team just did a fantastic job of not letting the story affect them, which was obvious in the game."
CHAPTER 3Len Dawson
It could be said that Len Dawson was destined to be a quarterback. That really seems to be the most logical reason he went from a hesitant 125-pound fifth-string quarterback during his sophomore year in high school — with more passion and ability to play baseball and basketball — to a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Well, destiny unless you believe in luck for the seventh son of a seventh son.
Len Dawson, who was from Alliance, Ohio, went to Purdue after being recruited by a relatively unknown assistant coach named Hank Stram. While at Purdue, Dawson had an outstanding career, starting with his first game. In his first varsity game, Dawson threw for 185 yards and four touchdowns in Purdue's 31–0 win against Missouri. Dawson went on to throw for more than 3,000 yards, led the Big Ten in passing for three seasons, and led the Boilermakers to an upset over top-ranked Notre Dame in South Bend. Before the draft the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns were among the teams that contacted Dawson to see if he'd be interested in playing if they drafted him.
The Steelers beat the Browns in a coin flip to see which team would draft fifth in 1957. Pittsburgh won and picked Dawson. Walt Kiesling, Pittsburgh's coach at the time of the draft, resigned before the season because of health reasons. When training camp opened, Buddy Parker had taken over. "Buddy was going to do it his way, and Buddy was known as a coach who didn't play rookies, particularly at quarterback," Dawson said. "They made a trade to get Earl Morrall. So there's Earl Morrall, me, and another rookie quarterback named Jack Kemp. They ended up releasing Kemp, so I was the understudy to Morrall."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from 100 Things Chiefs Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die by Matt Fulks. Copyright © 2014 Matt Fulks. Excerpted by permission of Triumph Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Foreword Trent Green xi
Introduction Deron Cherry xvii
1 Lamar Hunt 1
2 Super Bowl LIV 4
3 65 Toss Power Trap 9
4 Len Dawson 14
5 Derrick Thomas 18
6 Super Bowl 23
7 Bobby Bell 25
8 MVPat 28
9 Tony G 31
10 Willie Lanier 35
11 Alien, Montana, and the 1993 Season 37
12 Kansas City, Here We Come 40
13 Buck Buchanan 46
14 Hank Stram 48
15 The Longest Game 51
16 Tailgate at Arrowhead 55
17 So Close: The 2018 AFC Championship Game 56
18 Jamaai Charles 61
19 Marrybali 63
20 1962 AFL Championship 67
21 Deron Cherry 70
22 Carl Peterson Changes the Culture 73
23 Birth and Death of the AFL 78
24 Raider Haters 83
25 Travis Kelce: The Loose End 85
26 Eat Kansas City Barbecue 88
27 Marcus Allen 91
28 Hall of Fame Snub 95
29 Montana's Magical Night at Mile High 98
30 Neil Smith 103
31 Priest Holmes 105
32 Tom Condon 108
33 Eric Berry 110
34 Trading for Joe Montana 112
35 Abner Haynes: The Team's First Superstar 115
36 The Norwegian Ski Jumper 117
37 Dick Vermeil 119
38 2012-13: What a Turnaround 121
39 Jack Steadman 123
40 The Detroit Connection 125
41 Trent Green 128
42 Dying as a Hero 132
43 The Playoff-Crushing Colts 134
44 Visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame 138
45 Montana vs. Young 140
46 Three Wise Men: Reid, Dorsey, and Smith 143
47 Tour Arrowhead 146
48 Attend Training Camp 148
49 1966 AFL Championship 150
50 Arrowhead's First Playoff Game 153
51 Watch the X-Factor 155
52 2003 Offensive Line 158
51 Nick Lowery 162
54 Super Fans 166
55 Eat at Chappeli's 170
56 Grigs 173
57 Tragedy Strikes Organization Early 175
50 Marv Levy 177
59 Failure to Develop a Quarterback 180
60 Gary Spani 184
61 The Nigerian Nightmare 186
62 Ed Podolak 189
63 L.J. and the Bad Boys 191
64 From Heisman Winner to Super Bowl Champ 194
65 Visit Municipal Stadium and Eat at Bryant's 196
66 Blackledge and Other Draft Busts 199
67 The Brawl 203
68 The NFL's Best Defensive Backfield 206
69 Chiefs Player at Center of KU-MU Dispute 208
70 Will to Succeed 211
71 The Cheetah 212
72 1969 AFL Playoffs 214
73 The KC Wolf and Other Mascots 218
74 MNF Returns to Arrowhead 221
75 Arrowhead Stadium, the Home of the 223
76 Art Still 227
77 Watch Chiefs Kingdom 229
78 Steve Bono 230
79 Curtis McClinton 234
80 Anatomy of a Great Fourth-Quarter Comeback 236
81 Psycho 239
82 The Father of the Touchdown Dance 242
83 The Tomahawk Chop 243
84 Chris Burford 246
85 Fantastic Fullbacks 247
86 Stram's Race Relations 249
87 Jovan Belcher Tragedy 253
88 Revolving Coaching Door 255
89 Frank Pitts 261
90 Arrowhead's First Win 263
91 Visit Big Charlie's Saloon 264
92 Scott Pioli 266
93 Kennison Silences Broncos 269
94 The Holler Guy 272
95 Bill Kenney 275
96 Grbac vs. Gannon and Chiefs vs. Broncos 277
97 Monday Night Meltdown 280
98 Watch M*A*S*H with Super Gnat and the Hammer 281
99 Buy a Bottle of Vermeil Wine 284
100 Watch Magical Mahomes Moments 287
Acknowledgments 291
Sources 295
About the Author 299
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