History of the Kansas City Chiefs
[3] In their early years, the Texans had a strong home-state identity with quarterback Cotton Davidson from Baylor, linebacker Sherrill Headrick from TCU and running back Abner Haynes from North Texas.
The club moved its training camp to Lamar Hunt's alma mater of Southern Methodist University and started the regular season at 3–1 before hitting a six-game losing skid, the longest such streak of Stram's tenure with the franchise.
The team won the 1962 AFL Championship when kicker Tommy Brooker connected on a 25-yard field goal during the second overtime of the title game, giving the Texans a 20–17 victory against the Houston Oilers.
[2] Tragedy struck the club when rookie running back Stone Johnson, who was a sprinter in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck in a pre-season game against Oakland on August 30 in Wichita, Kansas.
Eastern Jackson County was chosen as the site of the Chiefs and Royals' new stadiums, and groundbreaking ceremonies took place in July with plans calling for a unique "rolling roof" design (which was later scrapped).
During the days preceding Kansas City's clash with the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings of the NFL, unsubstantiated media reports associating Len Dawson with a known gambler hounded the Chiefs quarterback.
That tie ultimately cost the Chiefs the opportunity to split the AFC West division title with Oakland as Kansas City finished the year with a 7–5–2 record, while the Raiders went 8–4–2 and reached the conference championship.
[8] Wiggin inherited the unenviable task of rebuilding a squad whose pool of talent had been largely depleted due to age and a number of ill-considered trades that had left the club devoid of first-round draft choices in 1973 and 1975.
[9] Pro Bowl safety Gary Barbaro became the most notable Chiefs player to defect to the rival United States Football League, signing with the New Jersey Generals on February 2 after sitting out the entire 1983 campaign in a contract dispute.
[9] Former quarterback Len Dawson became the third Chiefs player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on August 8,[9] while injuries forced the retirement of the club's all-time leading tackler Gary Spani.
A duo of rookies made a splash in a 20–13 win on Opening Day against San Diego as running back Paul Palmer returned a kickoff for a TD and Christian Okoye dashed for 105 yards.
[9] The Chiefs strike squad received an ominous welcome in Los Angeles when in the early morning hours of October 4, the day prior to a contest against the Raiders, an earthquake rattled Southern California.
The result was a 42–0 Dolphins victory, setting the stage for an 0–3 performance by Kansas City's replacement unit, giving the Chiefs a 1–4 record before the club's regular roster returned at San Diego on October 25.
Thomas established an NFL single-game record with 7.0 sacks in an inspiring Veterans Day performance against Seattle, a game the Seahawks miraculously won, 17–16, on a last-second, 25-yard TD pass to wide receiver Paul Skansi.
The Chiefs suffered a heart-breaking, 17–16 loss at Miami on January 5, 1991, in an AFC wild card game as placekicker Nick Lowery's potential game-winning 52-yard field goal fell short with 0:56 remaining.
A melancholy off-season awaited the Chiefs, who mourned the passing of Player Personnel Director Whitey Dovell on May 22 and Hall of Fame defensive tackle Buck Buchanan on July 16.
Owning a 9–6 record and needing one more victory to secure a playoff berth, the Chiefs defense tallied three touchdowns, while Dave Krieg tossed a pair of scoring passes as Kansas City claimed a 42–20 win against Denver to finish the season at 10–6.
[10] Kansas City got its first true taste of "Montana Magic" as the Hall of Fame passer engineered a brilliant comeback in a 27–24 OT win in an AFC Wild Card thriller against Pittsburgh on January 8, 1994.
While the previous off-season saw the Chiefs stockpile several key free agents, a number of familiar faces departed following the 1993 season, most notably cornerbacks Albert Lewis and Kevin Ross, as well as placekicker Nick Lowery.
Immediately, so-called media experts predicted much gloom and doom for the 1995 Chiefs under Bono, leading Schottenheimer to quip during training camp that his club had been picked "sixth in a five-team division.
The Chiefs won a home game for the third time on a last-second return score that concluded in Arrowhead's west end zone when cornerback Mark Collins scooped up a fumble for a 20–13 win against Houston.
Kansas City clinched a division title with a 29–23 victory at Oakland on December 3 en route to a franchise-best 13–3 regular season record and a team-record sixth consecutive postseason berth.
Gannon assumed the starting reins for a 28–24 win in a Thanksgiving Day game at Detroit as Marcus Allen registered his 111th career rushing TD to surpass Walter Payton as the NFL's all-time leader in that department, a mark that was later broken by Emmitt Smith.
However, Atlanta placekicker Morten Andersen's 30-yard field goal attempt went wide left with 0:04 remaining, preserving a 19–17 win and the AFC's final Wild Card spot for the Jaguars, who won a tiebreaker with Kansas City.
The club engineered several dramatic finishes, the first of which came in a Monday Night Football thriller at Oakland on September 8 when Elvis Grbac connected with Andre Rison on an improbable 32-yard TD pass with just 0:03 remaining to cap a 28–27 win.
In the 2008 season opener at New England, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was hit in the leg by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard, tearing his ACL and removing him from action for the rest of the year.
During the next offseason, the team made news by acquiring quarterback Matt Cassel (who had filled in for Brady during the previous year) and veteran linebacker Mike Vrabel from New England for a second-round draft pick, which was used to obtain LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson.
However, the team did manage to inflict an overtime defeat on the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 11, and closed out the year with a 4–12 record by overpowering Denver and preventing the Broncos from going to the playoffs.
Kansas City began 2011 by losing its first three games, including blowout losses at home against Buffalo and at Detroit, where the Chiefs lost Jamaal Charles for the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL.
With interim head coach Romeo Crennel and recently acquired quarterback Kyle Orton at the helm, the Chiefs were able to knock off then-undefeated Green Bay, and at 6–8, still had a shot at the division crown.
