It was a painful Christmas weekend for the Chiefs and their fans. Hope was high when the day began and even later, the best outcome seemed highly possible: everything was falling into place—if only Kansas City could pull out a win at home. But a failed field-goal attempt at the end of regulation meant overtime and ultimately, one big play and a relatively short field goal—and the Chiefs were officially out of the playoffs.

Hard to believe it was 40 years ago.

Wait. What? Which game were you watching?

Yes, one day after the Raiders defeated the Chiefs in overtime, for their fifth straight win at Arrowhead*, I found myself masochistically sitting through another heartbreaking Chiefs loss in overtime. Double overtime.

*The last time that had happened at Arrowhead? It hadn’t.

I’ve written before about my joy in reliving past Chiefs glory that I was not living to enjoy in the first place. On Sunday, I almost too eagerly took the chance to experience some of the pain I wasn’t yet born* to appreciate, either: The NFL Network had cobbled together some never-before-rebroadcast archival footage for an hour-long special commemorating “The Longest Game Ever,” Kansas City’s 1971 division playoff against the Miami Dolphins, which was—spoiler alert!—the longest game ever, lasting well into its second overtime before—double spoiler alert—Kansas City succumbed 27-24 on a Garo Yepremian field goal.

*Though, as I indirectly explained to my daughter, the game plays a role in my being born:

[There is] a story I like to repeat, though I most definitely was not there: On December 25, 1971, [your grandmother] was watching the historic Chiefs-Dolphins divisional playoff, which I’m sure you know is still the longest game in NFL history (that’s why it’s historic!). When the game went into a second overtime, she had to choose whether or not to leave to go on a scheduled date with your grandfather. She went. This started a process—one that, I hope, your own mother will be the one to explain to you in several years—that eventually resulted in me.

In fact, when my father came to pick up my mom, it was the first time he had ever met his future in-laws, who were visiting—and at that moment glued to the TV. They would claim, jokingly—though we were never sure how much so—that they couldn’t remember meeting him that day.

Though it is part of my own family’s lore, I had never known all the little details and dramas of that day—an unseasonably 63-degree Christmas Day, which was seen as an ominous sign against a team from south Florida. The players were somewhat bummed to be playing on Christmas, an NFL first, though Len Dawson reminds viewers that many were just happy to be playing for an extra paycheck in an era when football salaries didn’t always make ends meet (Bobby Bell was working full time for General Motors—being an all-Pro linebacker for the Chiefs was merely his second job).

In the end, it would come down to the kickers. Miami’s Garo Yepremian, who looks not unlike Wallace Shawn as Vizzini in The Princess Bride, was “the smallest man in professional football,” and had spent the previous two years selling his own line of neckties. Jan Stenerud, meanwhile, was “not just a kicker, but also an athlete”—no offense, kickers—who revolutionized the position as the first dominant soccer-style kicker,* and is still the only “pure kicker” voted into the Pro-Football Hall of Fame. In fact, this game featured 15 future Hall-of-Famers (12 on the field, both head coaches, and one beloved owner). Statistically, though, the game belonged to the unlikely Ed Podolak, whose 350 all-purpose yards set an NFL playoff record that still stands.

*Have you seen the straight-ahead style kickers used to use? It’s amazing they ever made a field goal from more than 10 yards away.

However, the game would be most remembered for how the foremost kicker in the league turned into the Lin Elliot of his day, if only for one day. Stenerud missed two field goals, including a potential game-winner near the end of regulation, and had another attempt blocked in overtime. Yepremian also missed, but not twice. Eighty-two minutes and 40 seconds after the game began (according to the game clock), the short, bald former tie-maker unmade this tie with a 37-yard field goal, and the favored Chiefs were out. Inconceivable!

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I’ve seen a lot of great football in my short life so far, but I sure wish I was alive on Christmas Day, 1971, to see the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Miami Dolphins at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City.

The 1969 Chiefs won Super Bowl IV but the 1970 Chiefs won only seven games in their first season in the NFL. In 1971, however, the team bounced back and went 10-3-1 on their way to the AFC West title. They still had most of the players from their 1969 Super Bowl victory and head coach Hank Stram considered the 1971 squad to be the best he ever coached. All of this set up the playoff game on Christmas Day that would end up being a major turning point for Lamar Hunt’s franchise.

The day was special from the start. It was as if the Dolphins had brought the Miami weather to Kansas City with them. When the game kicked off at 3 PM (CST) the temperature on the field was 62 degrees.

Things started off great for the Chiefs. Kicker Jan Stenerud nailed a 25-yard field goal and QB Len Dawson connected with Ed Podolak for a 7-yard touchdown pass. The Chiefs were up 10-0 at the end of the first. The Dolphins, however, had no intention of going down without a fight. Lead by RB Larry Czonka, the Dolphins stormed back to tie the game at 10 before the half.

The teams kept things even in the 3^rd quarter by exchanging TD’s. In the 4^th, Podolak continued his stellar day by finding the endzone on a 3-yard run to give the Chiefs the lead. The Dolphins and QB Bob Griese countered with 5-yard TD pass to TE to tie the game late in the 4^th.

The kickoff following the the Griese TD pass is when things would start getting crazy for the Chiefs. The kick was fielded by Ed Podolak, who already had two TD’s on the day. Podolak took the kick all the way back to the Miami 22-yardline. With 35-seconds left, Jan Stenerud, who was 1 of 2 on the day, came onto the field to attempt a 32-yard FG to essentially give the Chiefs the win. Unfortunately for Stram and the Chiefs,  Stenerud missed the kick.

We’re going to OT, right?

Not so fast.

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The Kansas City Chiefs lost their voice on Saturday.

Since Bill Grigsby passed away a few days ago, not long after his 89^th birthday, there have been any number of tributes, as there rightly should be, ranging from several vanilla, if sincere, platitude-filled statements to touching pieces full of insight and humor from people who truly knew him well, none more so than Joe Posnanski’s beautiful remembrance.

I have one personal memory of Bill Grigsby, one near, slight brush with his greatness.

I was at my friend’s house. It was summer. It wasn’t football season. And I don’t remember which video game we were playing—I’m guessing maybe Legend of Zelda, since this was the mid-to-late ‘80s—but it was intense enough that we didn’t even look up when my friend’s dad walked into the living room with another, older gentleman. But as the two of them discussed their business, there was something about the man’s cheery voice. I was pretty sure I had heard it before, or that he must have been some kind of actor or newscaster.

“Who was that?” I asked, after he had gotten what he’d come for and, from the door, shouted farewell to us where we remained, somewhere on Level 7.

“Mr. Grigsby.”

“Oh.”

Source: kansascity.com

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The story in the video is interesting but you can see Chiefs Hall of Fame QB Len Dawson toss a TD pass at around the 2:30 mark. It certainly gave me chills. This is extremely rare footage. Enjoy!

Our very own Len Dawson is one of the 18 person field and currently ranks #12 behind Eli Manning.

Think Lenny is getting the shaft being ranked behind Eli? I do too.

Get over to ESPN and show Lenny some love!

Johnny Nolan Robinson was born on September 9, 1938 in Delhi, Louisiana. He went to college at Louisiana State University, where he played running back. He received first-team All-SEC honors in 1958 and then second-team All-SEC honors in 1959. In1958, he helped the Tigers win the national championship. In 3 years at LSU, Robinson rushed for 893 yards. He also caught 36 passes in his collegiate career as a Tiger, and scored 14 touchdowns. He was a 1st round pick of the Detroit Lions in 1960. He was the 3rd player picked overall. He decided to go to the American Football League, where he was picked by the Dallas Texans.

Johnny Rob (which I started calling him because he robbed the opposing teams of the ball more than almost any other Chiefs player in history) started his pro football career as a halfback. He rushed for 458 yards as a rookie. He also caught 41 passes for an impressive 611 yards. Robinson also returned 14 punts for 207 yards and 3 kickoffs for 54 yards. He scored 4 touchdowns rushing, 4 touchdowns receiving, and ran back 1 punt for a score as well. He threw the only pass of his pro career that year too, but ironically it was picked off. In 1961, he had 52 carries for 200 yards and scored twice, both on the ground. He did catch 35 passes for 601 yards and caught 5 touchdowns that year as well.

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