The Kansas City Chiefs are one of the original AFL teams. They were founded in 1959 by owner Lamar Hunt and played under the name Dallas Texans for three seasons...beginning in 1960 when the AFL played its first season. The Texans won the AFL championship in the 1962 season. They defeated the Houston Oilers 20-17 in two overtimes. The game lasted 77 minutes and 54 seconds and was the longest in pro football history at the time. It was their final game as the Dallas Texans. They moved to Kansas City and were re-named Chiefs for the 1963 season. The Chiefs won the AFL championship in 1966, earning the right to represent the league in the first AFL-NFL championship game. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Chiefs 35-10 in the championship game that later would be called the "Super Bowl." The highlight of Chiefs history came in January of 1970 when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 in Super Bowl IV. It was the final year of existence for the AFL.
The following year the two leagues merged and began inter-conference play. In 1971 the Chiefs made history once again, playing the longest game ever in the NFL. That Christmas Day game went more than 82 minutes before the Chiefs fell 27-24 to the Dolphins in the first round of the AFC playoffs. It was the beginning of a sorrows for the Chiefs. The team did not reach the playoffs again until 1986. and would fail to reach that plateau again until the turnaround by way of head coach Marty Schottenheimer who was hired in 1989. The Chiefs missed the playoffs by one game in 1989 and have reached the playoffs in each seven of the past eight seasons. The Chiefs strung 6 playoff appearences in a row and until the '96 season had the longest string of playoff appearances in the NFL.
The Chiefs played their games at Municipal Stadium their first nine seasons in Kansas City. They moved to Arrowhead Stadium in 1972 and continue to play their home games there. Over the years, the Chiefs have been one of the most decorated of the American Football League teams. Owner Lamar Hunt is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and five players who spent most of their career in Kansas City also have been elected to the Hall of Fame. They are quarterback Len Dawson, linebackers Bobby Bell and Willie Lanier, defensive tackle Buck Buchanan and kicker Jan Stenerud. Seven Chiefs players were selected to the all-time AFL team (1960-69). The Chiefs honored on that team were Bell, tight end Fred Arbanas, tackle Jim Tyrer, guard Ed Budde, defensive end Jerry Mays, safety Johnny Robinson and punter Jerrel Wilson.
