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Originally Posted by TwYsTeD
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Let Mr. Davis compare to this...
Recognized as one of the greatest sportsmen in American history, Lamar Hunt served as the guiding force behind the formation of both the American Football League and the Kansas City Chiefs franchise.
Hunt served as a positive influence on the game for 47 years dating back to his conception of the American Football League in ‘59. He was the first AFL figure to be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in ‘72, a remarkable feat considering he became involved in the game just 13 years earlier.
Hunt served as the catalyst who brought together the whimsically-named “Foolish Club” comprised of the eight original AFL owners. His “impossible dream” became a reality when his fledgling league took foot on the field for the ‘60 season. On June 8, 1966, the AFL-NFL merger was announced by NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle and on January 15, 1967, Hunt’s Kansas City Chiefs were participating in the inaugural Super Bowl.
“Before there was a player, coach or a general manager in the league there was Lamar Hunt,” late Patriots owner William Sullivan remarked at Hunt’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony. “Hunt was the cornerstone, the integrity of the league. Without him, there would have been no AFL.”
Despite his many accomplishments, Hunt’s humility was one of his most unwavering and most endearing traits. While he modestly declined to take credit for his efforts, he truly played an important role in the design, ongoing development and direction of the modern-day National Football League.
Whether it was serving as the driving force behind the formation of the AFL, serving as a key player in the AFL-NFL merger talks in the ‘60s, or overseeing many crucial issues concerning pro football and the Chiefs franchise during the past four decades, few individuals helped change the face of America’s favorite game for the better than this quiet Texan.
In addition to being a principal negotiator in the merger of the AFL and NFL in the late ‘60s, he was a contributor to the design of the NFL playoff format. He is also credited with accidentally putting the name “Super Bowl” on the NFL’s championship game — the name coming from his children’s toy “Super Ball.”
For many years, he was a persistent advocate of the two-point conversion option for pro football — an old college and AFL rule that was finally adopted by the NFL in ‘94. Hunt had also lobbied for many years that an additional Thanksgiving game be added to the NFL schedule and in 2006, those efforts were rewarded when the Chiefs hosted the first-ever Thanksgiving contest at Arrowhead Stadium.
Perhaps Hunt’s biggest influence on the league over the years was his quiet, yet persuasive voice of reason. Hunt’s name is rightfully mentioned alongside other legendary family surnames in pro football history such as Halas, Mara and Rooney for his commitment to putting the betterment of the league ahead of any potential individual gain.
As the founder of the AFL, he helped pave the way for much of the modern growth of pro football. Possibly the greatest tribute to his contributions to the sport was the naming by the league of the Lamar Hunt Trophy, which is presented annually to the champion of the American Football Conference.
The early days of the AFL were problem-filled and often tenuous, but Hunt saw his Dallas Texans franchise achieve on-field success. In ‘62, the Texans won the AFL Championship with a double-overtime victory over the Houston Oilers, the first of three titles won by the Texans/Chiefs during the league’s 10-year existence.
After three years in Dallas, Hunt moved his team to Kansas City in ‘63, where the organization was renamed the Chiefs. Hunt truly helped put Kansas City on the “big-league” map, thanks to a star-studded football team that was the winningest in the 10-year history of the American Football League.
