SUMMARY
- The Kansas City Chiefs won their first-ever Super Bowl in 1969, marking a significant moment in the franchise's history.
- The article explores the circumstances leading to the AFL-NFL merger in 1969.
Kansas City Chiefs was established on August 14, 1959. Chiefs is one of the oldest franchises in the league and, at present, the most successful team in the nation. The franchise won 4 Super Bowls in their history, and probably the best in recent times.
In 1969, the Chiefs won their first-ever Super Bowl and the last when the league was known as AFL. That year, the Chiefs won their first-ever Super Bowl by beating the Minnesota Vikings in a dominating manner. They defeated the Vikings with a score line of 23-7 and tasted Super Bowl glory for the first time. Len Dawson, one of the best quarterbacks of that generation, and won the Super Bowl MVP by guiding his team to a new height.
Dawson was unstoppable that day. He completed 12 passes out of 17, covered 142 yards and had a single touchdown and interception. That night in LA at Tulane Stadium is still very much brightening in the hearts of the Kansas City Chiefs. After the 10-year-long wait, the whole city finally saw their dream come true, and the town was filled with tears of joy.
Chiefs will remain as the last team to win the Super Bowl during AFL. In the last season of AFL, they not only lifted the Super Bowl but also managed to set up a record in the league. The franchise won 87 games, considered the most in the last ten years of the history of the NFL.
Why AFL merged with the NFL?
In the beginning, United States football fans witnessed two leagues, the AFL and the NFL. During that time, the NFL was regarded as the best league in the nation, and the AFL was considered the second-division league.
Even the eight teams of the AFL were assumed to have players who were not able to get a contract from the NFL. The NFL has all the support from the media which pushed the AFL to backfoot. AFL’s only advantage was their owners, who were much more affluent than their NFL counterparts.
Eventually, after days of discussion in 1969, the two leagues merged and formed a single league. The merge occurred via a backchannel Tex Schramm, the general who was the then manager of the NFL franchise Dallas Cowboys.
Lamar Hunt also played a vital role in merging the two leagues. First, the new league began with 26 teams in 1969, and in 1970, 2 more teams joined the league and made it a league of 28 teams. The actual reason behind the merging was the tremendous rivalry between the leagues.
Also read: How Many Super Bowls Has Kansas City Chiefs Won Without Patrick Mahomes?
Kansas City Chiefs’ achievements after merging of AFL and NFL
Chiefs were the last team to win the Super Bowl before merging, and after merging 50 years later, they won their second and first Super Bowl title in the new league in 2019. However, the franchise did manage to win AFC West division titles 14 times since the merging of the two leagues.