Did you order a reprint online, or did you find an antique?
Great share, thank you! I asked AI to help turn this into text…
⸻
The Chiefs: No. 1 — The Hard Way
By Bill Richardson
Star Sports Staff
It’s a theme we’ve seen before — something that happened before January 11, 1970, never really changed the Kansas City Chiefs.
After ten long years, they’ve finally changed the image of the American Football League champion that would return to the Super Bowl only to lose again to the National Football League champion.
But the Chiefs made sure that wouldn’t happen again — and they did it the hard way.
No team in professional football history ever had a tougher road to travel than the Chiefs had in the 1969 season. They not only had to fight off injuries and adversity, they also had to fight off the tag that said AFL teams couldn’t win the big one.
⸻
Injuries Take a Toll
Kansas City’s long and bruising campaign started last summer when Mike Garrett and Robert Holmes were both sidelined early. Later, Len Dawson, the team’s quarterback, was lost for a stretch that seemed to threaten everything the Chiefs had worked for.
The Chiefs were 5–1 when Dawson went down with a knee injury in November, and the team’s hopes seemed to go with him.
But the Chiefs found out something important about themselves: they could still win.
Behind the leadership of veteran quarterback Jacky Lee and the hard-charging running of Holmes and Garrett, Kansas City stayed alive — winning enough to reach the playoffs when Dawson returned to lead them through the post-season.
⸻
Super Determination
If the Chiefs were a determined group before, they were something more after Dawson came back. Their defense was already the most feared in the league, and now the offense found its rhythm again.
It took a 13–6 win over the New York Jets in the AFL divisional playoff and a 17–7 victory over the Oakland Raiders in the final AFL championship to get Kansas City to the Super Bowl.
And when they got there, they were ready.
⸻
Second-Half Victory
In the first half against Minnesota, the Chiefs’ defense and kicker Jan Stenerud gave them a 9–0 lead, and by the time Dawson hit Otis Taylor for the clinching 46-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, the game was all but over.
Kansas City’s defense made Minnesota look helpless. Buck Buchanan, Curley Culp, Bobby Bell, and Willie Lanier were relentless.
It was the kind of game that proved what the Chiefs — and the AFL — were all about.
⸻
A Well-Earned Title
As the crowd roared and the clock wound down, the Chiefs finally reached the goal they had been chasing for a decade.
A championship — the hard way.
And here’s the Lombardi article…
“What About You, Mr. Lombardi, Sir, How Did You Like the Game?”
Vince Lombardi isn’t a man to give compliments quickly. But the Kansas City Chiefs and their coaching staff got the supreme tongue-and-maybe-cheek praise Sunday night following Kansas City’s 23-7 beating of the Minnesota Vikings.
“You put on a great show. Your players executed beautifully. Your coaches had an excellent game plan.”
The speaker was, of course, Vince Lombardi, who for lo these many years has been THE coaching symbol in the National Football League and the first coach ever to win a Super Bowl game. Lombardi, now executive vice president of the Washington Redskins, was watching his former colleagues from the NFL and the invading Chiefs of the AFC do battle for the World Championship.
Lombardi looked sharp and talked even sharper. He was asked if the Packers (his two-time Super Bowl champions, not to mention their NFL domination from 1961-67) could have beaten either of Sunday’s foes.
Lombardi squinted, then smiled. “I think Green Bay would have given either one of them a good game,” he said, a mild note of understatement.
What did he really think of the game? “I thought it was a tremendous show. Kansas City did everything right that you could possibly do to win a championship game. They were prepared. They executed. Their defense was just tremendous.”
What about Hank Stram’s role? “That’s what coaching is all about,” said Lombardi. “Stram did a tremendous job preparing his team. Not just this week or this game, but all season. Look at the way their defense played the last six weeks. They’re a great football team.”
Did he think the Vikings were soft? “No, no. You can’t call a team that gets to the Super Bowl soft. They just ran into a team on a roll. Kansas City played a perfect game on defense, and they executed on offense under pressure.”
Would he say K.C. deserved to be the champions? “Absolutely. They earned it on the field, nobody gave them anything. That’s the way football should be.”
What about the difference between that Green Bay team and the 1969 Chiefs? “Football changes every year. You have to adjust to the times and the personnel you have. Green Bay was built on defense too, but we won with the running game. Kansas City did it with a great defense and good balanced offense. That’s what it took this year.”
Lombardi watched the game from a private box and stayed until the trophy presentation. He shook hands with Coach Stram and several Chiefs players.
“You know,” he said as he turned from the field, “a championship is always something special. This one belonged to Kansas City. They earned it.”
Oh man! My aunt sent me this paper back in the day. I had it stowed away safely. Lost it in a flood in 86 along with several pennants. Sad faces all around.
8 comments
I’m about to head over to Montgomery Wards, going to get my breaks fixed, get a set of new tires and then get my taxes done.
https://preview.redd.it/mj6547oft4xf1.jpeg?width=3468&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2289188be99c5d1f27c81b220785d437b52fe79
Did you order a reprint online, or did you find an antique?
Great share, thank you! I asked AI to help turn this into text…
⸻
The Chiefs: No. 1 — The Hard Way
By Bill Richardson
Star Sports Staff
It’s a theme we’ve seen before — something that happened before January 11, 1970, never really changed the Kansas City Chiefs.
After ten long years, they’ve finally changed the image of the American Football League champion that would return to the Super Bowl only to lose again to the National Football League champion.
But the Chiefs made sure that wouldn’t happen again — and they did it the hard way.
No team in professional football history ever had a tougher road to travel than the Chiefs had in the 1969 season. They not only had to fight off injuries and adversity, they also had to fight off the tag that said AFL teams couldn’t win the big one.
⸻
Injuries Take a Toll
Kansas City’s long and bruising campaign started last summer when Mike Garrett and Robert Holmes were both sidelined early. Later, Len Dawson, the team’s quarterback, was lost for a stretch that seemed to threaten everything the Chiefs had worked for.
The Chiefs were 5–1 when Dawson went down with a knee injury in November, and the team’s hopes seemed to go with him.
But the Chiefs found out something important about themselves: they could still win.
Behind the leadership of veteran quarterback Jacky Lee and the hard-charging running of Holmes and Garrett, Kansas City stayed alive — winning enough to reach the playoffs when Dawson returned to lead them through the post-season.
⸻
Super Determination
If the Chiefs were a determined group before, they were something more after Dawson came back. Their defense was already the most feared in the league, and now the offense found its rhythm again.
It took a 13–6 win over the New York Jets in the AFL divisional playoff and a 17–7 victory over the Oakland Raiders in the final AFL championship to get Kansas City to the Super Bowl.
And when they got there, they were ready.
⸻
Second-Half Victory
In the first half against Minnesota, the Chiefs’ defense and kicker Jan Stenerud gave them a 9–0 lead, and by the time Dawson hit Otis Taylor for the clinching 46-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, the game was all but over.
Kansas City’s defense made Minnesota look helpless. Buck Buchanan, Curley Culp, Bobby Bell, and Willie Lanier were relentless.
It was the kind of game that proved what the Chiefs — and the AFL — were all about.
⸻
A Well-Earned Title
As the crowd roared and the clock wound down, the Chiefs finally reached the goal they had been chasing for a decade.
A championship — the hard way.
And here’s the Lombardi article…
“What About You, Mr. Lombardi, Sir, How Did You Like the Game?”
Vince Lombardi isn’t a man to give compliments quickly. But the Kansas City Chiefs and their coaching staff got the supreme tongue-and-maybe-cheek praise Sunday night following Kansas City’s 23-7 beating of the Minnesota Vikings.
“You put on a great show. Your players executed beautifully. Your coaches had an excellent game plan.”
The speaker was, of course, Vince Lombardi, who for lo these many years has been THE coaching symbol in the National Football League and the first coach ever to win a Super Bowl game. Lombardi, now executive vice president of the Washington Redskins, was watching his former colleagues from the NFL and the invading Chiefs of the AFC do battle for the World Championship.
Lombardi looked sharp and talked even sharper. He was asked if the Packers (his two-time Super Bowl champions, not to mention their NFL domination from 1961-67) could have beaten either of Sunday’s foes.
Lombardi squinted, then smiled. “I think Green Bay would have given either one of them a good game,” he said, a mild note of understatement.
What did he really think of the game? “I thought it was a tremendous show. Kansas City did everything right that you could possibly do to win a championship game. They were prepared. They executed. Their defense was just tremendous.”
What about Hank Stram’s role? “That’s what coaching is all about,” said Lombardi. “Stram did a tremendous job preparing his team. Not just this week or this game, but all season. Look at the way their defense played the last six weeks. They’re a great football team.”
Did he think the Vikings were soft? “No, no. You can’t call a team that gets to the Super Bowl soft. They just ran into a team on a roll. Kansas City played a perfect game on defense, and they executed on offense under pressure.”
Would he say K.C. deserved to be the champions? “Absolutely. They earned it on the field, nobody gave them anything. That’s the way football should be.”
What about the difference between that Green Bay team and the 1969 Chiefs? “Football changes every year. You have to adjust to the times and the personnel you have. Green Bay was built on defense too, but we won with the running game. Kansas City did it with a great defense and good balanced offense. That’s what it took this year.”
Lombardi watched the game from a private box and stayed until the trophy presentation. He shook hands with Coach Stram and several Chiefs players.
“You know,” he said as he turned from the field, “a championship is always something special. This one belonged to Kansas City. They earned it.”
Oh man! My aunt sent me this paper back in the day. I had it stowed away safely. Lost it in a flood in 86 along with several pennants. Sad faces all around.
$8.88 for a tune-up sounds amazing.
Damn wish car battery’s were still that price