![]() ![]() Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images But the Chiefs were not shocked to be playing in their second Super Bowl in four years. ![]() Three years after trading Tarkenton to the Giants, Minnesota went 12-1 behind former CFL star Joe Kapp at quarterback and shocked the world by beating the Rams and Browns en route to their first Super Bowl appearance. Debuting in 1961 with future Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton at quarterback, the Vikings struggled to compete for their first eight seasons but then suddenly it all came together under head coach Bud Grant in 1969. The new kings of the NFL were the Minnesota Vikings, themselves a franchise that weren’t even as old as most teams in the AFL. The number one reason being: The Packers weren’t there. The Chiefs would be outclassed in the AFL by the much more dominant Raiders over the next two seasons, but Stram and Dawson wouldn’t have to wait long for redemption.īet on Super Bowl 57 at DraftKings Sportsbook 1969 season: Won Super Bowl IV, 23-7Ī year after Super Bowl III, always known to some as “the first rigged Super Bowl” ( including some players) because of how much it benefited the league to show fans that in fact it could be a great game won by either team, the Chiefs went into their second championship opportunity with a lot of reasons to be confident. Green Bay head coach Vince Lombardi said after the game: The best AFL team “doesn’t compare with the top NFL teams.” Despite a close 14-10 halftime score thanks to AFL Pro Bowl quarterback Len Dawson throwing a second quarter touchdown, the Packers pulled away in the second half behind Bart Starr, the MVP of the 1966 season and the league’s first Super Bowl champion. The Chiefs were 14-point underdogs against a Green Bay Packers organization that had won eight NFL championships, including three of the last five. Only a few years later would it be changed to being called the Super Bowl. 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Coliseum between the champions of each league. Rather than competing for players and driving up the cost for a quarterback or running back, the two leagues soon agreed to a merger, which would mean an “AFL-NFL World Championship Game” to be held on Jan. That not only gave the AFL the money necessary to compete for top players, but also gave the NFL reason to think that not unlike a modern day cinematic universe that there could be even more money in crossover events than simply trying to hold a monopoly on pro football. Started in 1960 as a rival to the much older NFL, there was a vast disparity in talent in the beginning as the AFL tried to play catch up for five years until securing a $36 million TV contract with NBC in 1965. Can they carry on their legacy beyond this current run as pro football’s premier franchise unlike their last time on the perch over 50 years ago? 1966 season: Lost Super Bowl I, 35-10Īs the upstart AFL’s championship team in 1966, the Chiefs carried the weight of being the new league’s first hope of proving they belonged with the big boys. But in the very beginning of the Super Bowl era and the present day, the Chiefs serve as the league’s bookends of great teams.įrom Len Dawson and Hank Stram to Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, the Kansas City Chiefs have been one of the NFL’s top franchises under two regimes and only those two regimes. If you grew up in the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, aughts, or most of the 2010s, then the Kansas City Chiefs may carry little significance in your image of great NFL teams. ![]()
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