Team History

In 1959, a 26-year-old Texan, frustrated in his attempts to gain an NFL franchise, embarked on an alternate course that would drastically change the face of pro football. Lamar Hunt founded the American Football League and served as its first president when eight new teams began play in 1960.

Hunt's own team, the Dallas Texans, was located in his hometown where it would compete with the NFL's newest expansion team, the Dallas Cowboys. The Texans quickly made their mark as one of the new league's strongest teams. In 1962, their third season, they won the AFL championship by beating the Houston Oilers, 20-17. The game went into two overtimes and lasted 77:54. Up to that time, it was the longest game ever played up.

Although the Texans fared well in Dallas, Hunt decided that the league would be better off if he moved his team to Kansas City in 1963. The team was renamed the Chiefs and it continued to be successful. Kansas City won a second AFL title in 1966 and it was the first team to represent the AFL in the Super Bowl.

Kansas City won its third title in 1969, becoming the only AFL team to win three championships. Although the Minnesota Vikings were heavily favored in Super Bowl IV, Kansas City upset the NFL champions, 23-7. It was the last game ever played by an AFL team.

The Texans-Chiefs' 10-season AFL record—92-50-5—was the best of any AFL team. Coach Hank Stram was the only man to serve as a head coach throughout the league's history. Thanks to Hunt's wise personnel moves, his teams were loaded with stars, including five—quarterback Len Dawson, defensive end Buck Buchanan, linebackers Bobby Bell and Willie Lanier and kicker Jan Stenerud—who have been elected to the Hall of Fame. In 1972, Hunt, who was instrumental in the growth of pro football in the 1960's, was the first Chief inducted.

In 1971, the Chiefs won the AFC Western Division title, but on Christmas Day, they lost a double-overtime playoff game to Miami. It was the Chiefs last playoff appearance until 1986, when they captured a wild-card berth. Under coach Marty Schottenheimer, the Chiefs made the playoffs in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995, winning their division in 1993 and 1995.  In 1999, Gunther Cunningham took over the reins as Chiefs head coach.

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