The Kansas City Chiefs have fulfilled what Lamar Hunt visioned for the team when he founded it
The Kansas City Chiefs are one of the most storied franchises in sports history. From their AFL roots, to playing in two of the first four Super Bowls, and to being recognized as having the loudest outdoor stadium in the world, even the most basic sports fan can identify some accomplishment by the Chiefs. It's […]
The Kansas City Chiefs are one of the most storied franchises in sports history.
From their AFL roots, to playing in two of the first four Super Bowls, and to being recognized as having the loudest outdoor stadium in the world, even the most basic sports fan can identify some accomplishment by the Chiefs.
It's been very easy to do that as of late, as Kansas City has won back-to-back Super Bowls and three in the last five years. With the 2024 postseason about to get underway this weekend, the Chiefs have the opportunity to become the first team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in a row.
The most successful team of the last decade is here because of the vision of it's founder, Lamar Hunt, had all the way back in the 1950s. Failing to convince the NFL to expand, Hunt and others created the AFL, which kicked off play in 1960. Hunt became the owner of the Dallas Texans, then moved the team to Kansas City in 1963 and rebranded the team as the Chiefs.
Here are the seven other original AFL franchises:
- Oakland Raiders (now located in Las Vegas)
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Denver Broncos
- Buffalo Bills
- Houston Oilers (later rebranded as the Tennessee Titans)
- Boston Patriots (later rebranded as the New England Patriots)
- Titans of New York (later rebranded as the New York Jets)
X account NFL Nerd did some research and revealed that all eight original AFL teams have now played exactly 1,000 regular season games over the last 65 years (technically the Bills sit at 999 due to their 2022 Week 17 game being canceled). Over that stretch of games, the Chiefs have the best record out of all the teams at 547-441-12.
That is a tremendous feat not only for the Chiefs as a franchise, but for the late Hunt. Forming a league to compete against the NFL sounded asinine to most, but Hunt believed in the future of professional football. He coined the term Super Bowl in 1966, and played a big role in the NFL/AFL merger in 1970.
Like every other franchise, the Chiefs have had their ups and downs over the decades. The 70s and 80s were largely rough times, but they resurged in the 90s – winning the fourth-most regular season games in the NFL during the decade.
Hunt passed away at 74-years-old in 2006, and his son Clark took over as chairman. Fast forward to today, K.C. is in the middle of a dynasty and has won the most games in the league since Andy Reid became it's head coach in 2013.
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Doing their due diligence.
