Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl I PUMMELING THE PURPLE PEOPLE EATERS The American Football League AFL and National Football League NFL agreed to merge in 1966 The NFL was much older Many people thought that the quality of play in the NFL was higher They looked to the first two Super Bowls as evidence Until the merger became official in 1970 the Super Bowl pitted the NFL and AFL champions The NFL’s Green Bay Packers easily won Super Bowl I and II The AFL’s New York Jets raised a few doubts the following year though They beat the Baltimore Colts 9
Kansas City Chiefs The Minnesota Vikings were poised to restore order in Super Bowl IV They would take on the Kansas City Chiefs During the regular season Minnesota had won 12 games in a row The Vikings led the NFL in points scored They also allowed the fewest points The heart of the defense was the line Those players were nicknamed the Purple People Eaters The Vikings wore purple jerseys The Purple People Eater was the title of a popular 1958 song Minnesota was the overwhelming favorite This was in part due to the Chiefs performance in Super Bowl I The Packers had crushed them 35 10 The Chiefs hadn’t even won their division in 1969 People said they were sneaking into Super Bowl IV through the back door Furthermore Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson was an NFL washout But he flourished in the AFL Critics suggested that the lower level of play was the reason for his success Then five days before the game Dawson was linked to a federal gambling investigation He was cleared Still the anxiety he felt added to the pressure of preparing for the game It was beyond a doubt the toughest week of my life he said later Nevertheless Kansas City had its own weapons Three running backs combined for nearly 2,000 yards The defensive line didn’t have a nickname But tackles Buck Buchanan and Curley Culp would have starred on any NFL team After the game began the crowd was shocked Kicker Jan Stenerud booted three field goals giving Kansas City left Len Dawson 10
Kansas City Chiefs GRIDIRON GREATS HAIL TO THE CHIEF Kansas City mayor H Roe Bartle was the chief executive of area Boy Scouts He was nicknamed The Chief Physically Bartle looked like a chief He stood 6-foot-3 and weighed more than 300 pounds He heard that Lamar Hunt wanted to relocate the Texans Bartle invited Hunt to Kansas City Hunt wasn’t interested Bartle didn’t give up He promised to sell 35,000 season tickets He would enlarge Municipal Stadium too Bartle did a remarkable selling job on Lamar Hunt sports columnist Joe McGuff said and had it not been for his persuasiveness Hunt unquestionably would have taken his team elsewhere Many fans wanted to honor Bartle They suggested using his Chief nickname for the team Hunt agreed 11
