The Chiefs began as a charter member of the AFL in 1960. It was originally based in Texas and called the "Dallas Texans."
In the spring of 1958, owner Lamar Hunt had tried to get an NFL expansion team or purchase an existing club and move it to Dallas. At one point, he thought he had a deal to buy the Chicago Cardinals but was rebuffed by Chicago owner Charles Bidwell who would constantly hedge on whether the Cards were really for sale or not.
In frustration, he teamed up with Bud Adams out of Houston and began his own league. As Hunt was lining up franchises in several cities and the new league was imminent, the NFL suddenly announced expansion into four cities; one of which just happened to be located in Dallas and eventually named the Cowboys. This was an obvious attempt to squelch the new league before it began.
The Texans were an early success on the field and would later capture the 1962 AFL Championship. Off the field was a totally different matter however. At the time, Dallas was not the sprawling metropolis that it is today with a population of only 679,684. It could barely support one team, much less two. In three years the Cowboys lost $2 million while Hunt’s Texans were in the hole $2.5 million.
Despite having a better team than the cross-town Cowboys, 1,100 more season ticket holders and a better gate average, Hunt couldn’t absorb the losses any longer.
He began to scout other cities. His first interest was New Orleans, but the city’s only large stadium was still segregated. Coincidentally, Kansas City mayor H. Roe Bartle had on his agenda to bring a pro football team to his city just as he had brought the Major League Athletics from Philadelphia years earlier.
Bartle wooed Hunt to transfer his club to the Midwest. He promised to enlarge the stadium and guaranteed three times the season ticket sales as the Texans had experienced in Dallas. After losing money in Dallas despite winning, Hunt relocated his club to Kansas City for the 1963 season.
At first, the team was to be called the Kansas City Texans. As a secondary thought, Hunt offered a “name-the-team” contest to drum up fan interest. A total of 1,020 different names were submitted amongst 4,866 entries. After the finalists were formulated, Hunt chose "Chiefs" in honor of Mayor Bartle, whose nickname was Chief. Other finalists were Royals and Mules.
This franchise has captured four championships: three AFL titles and one Super Bowl.
One note of interest: the Chiefs helmet logo is patterned after the 49ers logo.
Origin Facts:
Established: 1960
Original Owner: Lamar Hunt
Original Colors: Red & white
First Stadium: Cotton Bowl, seating 92,100
Retired Jerseys: No. 28 Abner Haynes, No. 16 Len Dawson, No. 78 Bobby Bell, No. 86 Buck Buchanan, No. 33 Stone Johnson, No. 36 Mack Lee Hill, No. 18 Emmitt Thomas, No. 3 Jan Stenerud, No. 63 Willie Lanier, No. 58 Derrick Thomas
Need a quick and flavorful appetizer you can whip up in just 20 minutes? Well, you don't need a ton of ingredients to make our Bacon Cheddar Bites and you can bet these babies will disappear right before your eyes!
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 stick butter
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- 8 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- Preheat oven to 350º. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine milk and butter until butter is melted and mixture is hot. Add flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon, until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 egg until mixture is smooth. Repeat with remaining eggs, adding 1 egg at a time, until thoroughly combined. Stir in remaining ingredients.
- Drop mixture by teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets.
- Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Serve warm.
- Pastries can be traced as far back as the ancient Mediterranean where they had almost paper-thin, multilayered baklava and Phyllo dough.
- Pastry making began in Northern Europe after the Crusaders brought it back from the Mediterranean.
- French and Italian Renaissance chefs eventually perfected the puff and choux pastries while 17th and 18th-century chefs brought new recipes to the table. Included in the innovative recipes were Napoleons, cream puffs and eclairs.
- Shortcrust pastry – simplest and most common.
- Sweetcrust pastry – similar to the shortcrust but sweeter.
- Flaky pastry – simple pastry that expands when cooked.
- Puff pastry – has many layers that cause it to puff when baked.
- Choux pastry – very light pastry that is often filled with cream or other fillings.
- Phyllo pastry – paper-thin pastry dough that is used in many layers.
