Once upon a time, the Cardinals had a game that ended with the winner taking home a trophy. Do you recall the game?
From 1968 to 1988, the St. Louis Cardinals participated in a contest every time they competed against the Kansas City Chiefs. Both clubs were located in the State of Missouri, and it was therefore conceived that when the two teams were on the schedule, there should be an additional incentive.
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The contest began in 1968, eight years after the Chicago Cardinals had relocated to St. Louis and became the St. Louis Cardinals. Or, as the media called them, because the city already had the baseball Cardinals, the St. Louis Football Cardinals. This was similar to New York City, where the New York Giants baseball team existed, and the NFL team became known as the New York Football Giants, a name they still use today.
1975 Missouri Governor’s Cup presented by Missouri Governor Kit Bond to Cardinals head coach Don Coryell and owner Bill Bidwill
The Chiefs were a member of the American Football League (AFL), whereas the Cardinals were an established club in the National Football League (NFL).
The two leagues had already agreed to merge into one large entity beginning with the 1970 season. But starting in 1967, the two leagues shared a common college draft, had inter-league games during the preseason, and then held a game at season’s end that pitted each league’s champion against the other.
After the third championship game against league champions, the game’s name was changed from the “AFL-NFL Championship Game” to the “Super Bowl.”
For 1968, a preseason game was scheduled with the Cardinals playing at Kansas City. Since it was the first game ever with the two in-state teams, the media referred to the game as “The Battle of Missouri” and “The Show-Me State Showdown.”
The first Missouri Governor’s Cup
Just a few seasons ago, the Cardinals had competed in the “Playoff Bowl,” an additional postseason game that pitted the league’s two division runners-up against each other. The Chiefs had gone to the very first Super Bowl as the AFL champion, so both teams had recent success.
In 1967, the Chiefs had gone 9-5-0 while the Cardinals finished 6-7-1.
During this time frame, the inter-league preseason contests were viewed as serious games and played to win. Neither league wanted to lose to the other league and appear to be inferior.
First Missouri Governor’s Cup game in Kansas City
The idea was floated that “The Battle of Missouri” should be amped up a bit since this was the first one ever. A trophy was ordered, and officially, the name of the contest would be known as “The Missouri Governor’s Cup.”
The Cardinals played their home games at Busch Stadium, which was also the home of the baseball Cardinals, with a capacity of 30,500. The Chiefs also shared their venue with the Kansas City Athletics baseball team. They played in Municipal Stadium, which had seating for 34,165.
The AFL teams played five exhibition games. This year, the Chiefs had three games scheduled against NFL clubs: the Minnesota Vikings, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Cardinals.
The first Missouri Governor’s Cup game was played on August 17, 1968, in Kansas City in front of 47,462 fans. The excess number included the team selling standing-room-only tickets. It was estimated that thousands more fans were turned away.
The game went back and forth, and the Chiefs came away with a 13-10 victory. Every win by an AFL team over an NFL club was considered a huge deal, even if it was only an exhibition contest.
The series, and then a new one sprouts
For 1968, the Cardinals would finish 9-4-1 and took second place in the Century Division, one-half game behind the 10-4-0 Cleveland Browns, who took the division. The Browns then defeated the Dallas Cowboys 31-20 before losing in the NFL Championship Game 34-0 to the Baltimore Colts.
The Chiefs went 12-2-0 but did not win their division as the Oakland Raiders also went 12-2-0. The two clubs split their games, but the Raiders had the greater point differential and were awarded the Western Division title. Kansas City then lost 41-6 to the Raiders in the playoffs.
The Cardinals moved to Phoenix in 1988. While still in St. Louis, the Cardinals and Chiefs played five regular-season games with the Chiefs holding a 3-1-1 record in the Missouri Governor’s Cup.
During this same time period, the two State of Missouri clubs played each other 20 times in the preseason for the Missouri Governor’s Cup. The Chiefs posted a 13-6-1 advantage in the exhibition series.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon presents Chiefs Chairman/CEO Clark Hunt and Head Coach Andy Reid with the Missouri Governor’s Cup following the Chiefs’ 34-7 victory over the Rams
When the Cardinals relocated to Phoenix, the series did not dissolve. When the Los Angeles Rams relocated to St. Louis in 1996, the rivalry among Missourians re-emerged. That series ran from 1996 to 2015 between the St. Louis Rams and Chiefs. In 2016, the Rams went back to Los Angeles.
The series is currently on recess as the Chiefs are the only NFL team in Missouri following the Rams’ move back to Los Angeles. However, recently the Chiefs announced they were relocating across the river into the State of Kansas.
The Missouri Governor’s Cup may have played its final game. But it was the Cardinals who participated in the origins of the series.