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The team is owned by Lamar Hunt, who founded
the team along with their original league, the American Football
League, in 1960. The Dallas Texans, as they were known then,
defeated the Houston Oilers in a dramatic 1962 AFL championship
which went into double overtime. The Dallas Texans moved to
Kansas City in 1963. The name, "Chiefs" was selected
by a fan contest, and is derived from the then Mayor of Kansas
City, H. Roe "Chief" Bartle, who was highly involved
in persuading Hunt to move from Dallas to K.C. It is rumoured
- though unconfirmed - that Hunt actually considered keeping
the team name as it was, and playing as the "Kansas City
Texans."
The
Texans/Chiefs franchise was the flagship team of the American
Football League, with the most playoff appearances as an AFL
team, six (tied with Oakland), the most American Football
League Championships (3), and the most Super Bowl appearances,
playing in the first Super Bowl, and in the last to be played
between League champions. The Texans won the classic 1962
double-overtime AFL championship game against the Houston
Oilers, 20 - 17, at the time the longest, and still one of
the best professional football championship games ever played.
The Chiefs dropped the first Super Bowl to the Packers, then
pulverized the Vikings 23 - 7 in the final "true"
AFL-NFL World Championsip game after the AFL's last season
in 1969. They have the largest presence in the American Football
League Hall of Fame, with 24 representatives, and they had
just one coach throughout their AFL history, Hall-of-Famer
Hank Stram.
Schottenheimer left as head coach, replaced by his defensive
coach Gunther Cunningham. In two years, Cunningham showed
little improvement, going 9-7 and 7-9. After the loss of Derrick
Thomas, the collapse of the defense was unmistakable. The
Chiefs' wins were mostly made by a high scoring offense rather
than a powerful defense.
After
coaching the St. Louis Rams to the Super Bowl and retiring,
Dick Vermeil took over as head coach in 2001 with the statement
that it takes three years to get a team ready for the Super
Bowl. He immediately dropped Elvis Grbac, replacing him with
his primary pick for the Rams' quartback, Trent Green. Another
notable replacement was Priest Holmes at running back. Three
years later, the Chiefs went 13-3 in 2003 and set many records
along the way. However, the season sputtered by November and
the Chiefs lost to the Indianapolis Colts in the playoffs.
As with the loss to the Broncos in the 1997 season, this loss
led to a poor following season.
In 2004
Gunther Cunningham was brought back as the defensive coach.
However, the defense showed little improvement. The offense,
unable to record the same high scores as the previous year,
was unable to bring in the wins as they had the previous year.
Franchise Founded: 1959
First Season: 1960 (charter American Football
League member; joined NFL in 1970 league merger)
Formerly known as: Dallas Texans, 1960-62,
then moved to Kansas City (1963-).
Uniform colors: Red, White, and Gold
Helmet design: Red helmet with white arrowhead
bearing initials K.C.
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Arizona
Cardinals 
