UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 12: Los Angeles Chargers vs. Dallas Texans. Texans Quarterback Cotton Davidson(19) runs the ball as teammates block for him. (Photo by Bob D’Olivo/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)
10. Texans play first game (1960)
If there is a cornerstone of the Kansas City Chiefs organization, it was transplanted to Kansas City from the Dallas Texas. In 1962, the Hunt family deposited its team in Kansas City after an AFL title in Dallas.
Before the Hunt Family’s arrival in Kansas City, the team had been assembled and nurtured as the AFL’s Dallas franchise. Being directly in competition with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, as well as sharing the the Cotton Bowl stadium with them, Hunt’s team had a large obstacle to gaining notoriety and a fan base for the “upstart” AFL. However, Lamar Hunt had a plan.
From the first game played, the Texans were building the NFL’s AFC conference of the future. Hunt was the man with the plan and built the AFL and the Chiefs into a product the bigger NFL had to recognize. Hunt hired future NFL Hall of Fame coach Hank Stram to be the organization’s first head coach. He would lead the Texans and the Chiefs to three AFL titles. As the AFL-NFL merger went into history, Hunt had been the driving force and the AFC conference trophy is in Hunt’s honor. It remains named for Hunt to this day.
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