From the Pages of Chiefs History: January 11, 1970
It was 39 years ago Sunday that the Kansas City Chiefs reached the pinnacle of pro football.
Led by quarterback Len Dawson and a defense that smothered the Minnesota Vikings, the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV 23-7 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.
The franchise had won an American Football League championship in 1962 and had played in the first championship game between the leagues in January of 1967 against the Green Bay Packers.
But the victory over the Vikings made them the third football team that could call itself a Super Bowl champion, after Green Bay and the New York Jets. Since then 13 other teams share that distinction as well.
Chiefs fans complain that they’ve waited too long for another Super Bowl title, that it has been too many years since scenes like the one below with Hank Stram being carried off the field with a championship game victory. But they’ll have to stand in line for that designation and their position won’t be anywhere close to the head of the line.
There are 15 teams in the NFL right now that have never won a Super Bowl. Seven of those clubs have been around as long, or longer than the Chiefs: Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns (old and new), Chicago/St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals, San Diego Chargers, Buffalo Bills and Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans.
Throw in the New York Jets who have been waiting 40 years now, and at best the Chiefs are ninth on the list when it comes to longevity. Lined up after them would be the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks and younger teams like the Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans.
That’s what makes that January day 39 years ago bigger and bigger. The day dawned cool, cloudy and windy in New Orleans. In fact, the area was under a tornado watch through most of the morning. It had been a strange week for weather as the fountain outside the Chiefs hotel froze. It was a strange week for the Chiefs as well as the relative calm of the pre-game week was disturbed by a national television report that associated Dawson with a known Detroit gambler with the same last name. They were not related, but Len did know him and had received a sympathic phone call from the gambler after the death of Len’s father. Dawson was one of five players who reportedly were going to be called to testify before a grand jury. However, he was the only man still playing that week, so all the attention fell on him.
Even in the days before the 24-hour news cycle it caused a great deal of coverage and commotion. The TV report came out on Tuesday evening and dominated the discussion for the rest of the week. It certainly dominated Dawson’s life, causing distress for his wife and children. “It’s tough enough getting ready for a good defense like Minnesota had,” Dawson said several years ago. “It did not make the week very enjoyable.”
But it didn’t slow the Chiefs down. His teammates rallied to Dawson and despite being heavy underdogs, the outcome of the game was never really in doubt.
The Vikings had the ball first but eventually punted to the Chiefs. Dawson led them on this first possession with a combination of short passes and running plays until they got into field goal territory. Jan Stenerud hit a 48-yarder and the Chiefs had the lead.
Stenerud made it 6-0 with a 32-yard FG on the next Kansas City possession and followed that up with a 25-yarder that made the score 9-0.
That’s when the Chiefs hit them with a touchdown, as Mike Garrett hit the 65 Toss Power Trap for a five-yard touchdown. With Stenerud’s PAT kick it was 16-0 before half-time.
With just over four minutes to play in the third quarter, Minnesota finally scored on a four-yard run by Dave Osborn. The PAT kick made it 16-7
The Chiefs answered with a 46-yard Dawson to Otis Taylor touchdown play, as Taylor caught a short pass and finished up the play with a great run into the end zone.
That play broke the back of the Vikings and the Chiefs defense put the hammer to Joe Kapp and the Minnesota offense. “The Chiefs defensive line looked like a redwood forest,” Kapp said after the game. “They took the running game away from us. We went into the game wanting to run the ball and their defense was table to take it away.
“We were well prepared. It was our intention to stay away from Bobby Bell’s side of the field as much as we could. But that line, like a redwood forest in California just seemed to block things out sometimes.”
It all happened 39 years ago.
And, happening NOW
Time check: 7:09 p.m. CST, Sunday, January 11, 2009…and yup, Herm’s STILL The Man!
OMG ur an idiot!!…lol
Stop calling Bob names…
Wow 1970 !I was just four years old when the Chiefs won a championship . I got a question for you guys which Chiefs team would you rank after the 1966 and the 1970 teams my top five after those teams would be in this order 1. 1993 2.1990 3.1997 4. 1995 5. 2003 Why I picked the 93 team first was because they went in the playoffs as the underdogs and shown a lot of heart being the underdogs against Pittsburgh , and Houston that year going into Buffalo might have been a different outcome had Kimble Anders had caught the ball from Montana for the score before the half. And the fact if Montana had not suffered that concussion during the game . We would have played the Cowboys in that Super Bowl .Now winning it might have been a different story because Dallas had more talent then but I just loved the way the Chiefs had prove the critics wrong those two games. Great Memory!
lol haha wow u are dumb..for wanting to keep that jackass herm!
espn reports Denver signs Josh Mcdaniels…wonder if Pioli is going as well?
It’s time for a Super Bowl. Maybe 40 years might be enough.
Great choice for the Broncos I think?
richard
Stop calling NFL fan dumb…
NFL fan says:
“I got a question”
- you’ve come to the right man- er, dog…go ahead.
“which Chiefs team would you rank after the 1966 and the 1970 teams my top five after those teams would be in this order 1. 1993 2. 1990 3. 1997 4. 1995 5. 2003″
- 1968, 1971, 1967 & 1962- any teams after not in the conversation. My favorite year & team remains 1966 because that is the year that put the Chiefs here to stay and was the most exciting year in KC Chiefs history as it was the year AFL finally met NFL. 1967 my 2nd favorite (as well disappointing) season & 1970 next…without 1966, there may well not have been any Chiefs teams thereaft.
Up to that season – 1966 – there was a very real sentiment (though denied by the club) the Chiefs were looking at leaving KC for another locale due to attendance. LA/Anaheim, New Orleans, Atlnata & Miami were all potential new landing spots. 1966 success which begot improved attendance made all talk of that non sequitur.
Good…another over-hype, Josh McDaniels gone… one less choice to hear from the whining throng of Herm haters!
heh heh heh
cheap shot. It is too easy call everyone a over hype. Most are, so your odds in truthsaying are warped. How about a real chancey prediction, not your usual? I know you have some knowledge, how about using it? Come on, I know you got it in you.
tm1946 says:
“cheap shot.”
- ok… Mad Dog 20/20… your preference on a ‘Herm’s STILL here’ i.e. ‘The Man’ bender?
“It is too easy call everyone a over hype.”
- explain…in copious detail, prove your case faux fellow of football fallacy.
“Most are”
- but not I Rin, a Champion among Champions!
“so your odds in truthsaying are warped. How about a real chancey prediction, not your usual?”
- your boarding house reach will continue to be exceded only by the lengths of despair you will suffer in trying to put asunder that brilliance that be me, Rin!
“I know you have some knowledge”
- stop coveting mine rapier wit & astuteness vis a vis football acumen…
“how about using it?”
- ok, turn the other cheek…you’re done on this side.
“Come on, I know you got it in you.”
- Rin loves it when they beg…and THEN roll over, dead.
heh heh heh
I think the old Browns / Ravens did win a Super Bowl 8 years ago under Belichek.
Of those 7 clubs you mentioned, all have been to the SB since the Chiefs except the Cards ( who still may go) and the Detroit Lions.
If according to your measure of success, we are only trying to keep teams like New Orleans, and Atlanta from winning a Super Bowl we have done our job as the 9th worst team on the list.
I say 39 years is way to long to reach, let alone win a SB. This team is behind crappy teams like the Arizona Cardinals if success is measured in reaching the conference championship game in the last 15 years.
Every new startup team has won a playoff game since we won our last after the 93 season.
We are in the bottom 1/4 – 1/3rd of the league in playoff success the last 40 friggin’ years.
The Chiefs, of which I am a fan and 21 year season ticket holder, are an also ran. There is no measuring stick you can use to make them look like a success the last 39 years. NONE!
Here’s a new coaching staff I dreamed up. I’m curious to see peoples comments.
Head Coach: Mike Shanahan
Off. Coor: Al Saunders
QB Coach: Brian Schottenheimer
Off. Line: Bob Saunders
Running Backs: Jimmy Raye Sr.
Tight Ends: John Embree
Wide Receivers: Eric Price
Def. Coor: Dom Capers
Def. Line: Romeo Crennel
Linebackers: Gunther Cunningham
Secondary: David Gibbs
Special Teams: A proven, successful coach
When you look at these coaches, a collection of former head coaches and coordinators, you see the possibility of a successful product on the field. The number one task for Mike Shanahan and the new GM will be for every coach to check their egos at the gate and come together, game plan, develop schemes that no other team in the NFL will be able to compare.
What a fantasy but who knows, anything is possible in the NFL.
“The Chiefs answered with a 46-yard Dawson to Otis Taylor touchdown play, as Taylor caught a short pass and finished up the play with a great run into the end zone.”
Touch-down Kann-sas City!!!!!