Chiefs: Remember the Texans!

Chiefs: Remember the Texans! – He was the brash young Texan who dared to dream. A young Lamar Hunt, pockets bulging with family money pumped from the oil fields of Texas and Oklahoma, wanted but one thing — to own a professional football team. With the National Football League rivaling the Major Football League for the hearts of American sports fan, it was just common sense that the young Hunt would first try to break into the NFL, either by buying an existing franchise, or starting an expansion franchise. Man, did he try!

Hunt first put forth the idea of an expansion NFL franchise in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but was turned down by the stuffed shirts who rejected his application. He then tried to purchase the Chicago Cardinals who were unable to compete with those Monsters of the Midway, Chicago Bears in the Chicago media market. Again, he was denied. The Chicago Cardinals moved south to become the St. Louis Cardinals.

Undaunted, our wealthy, upstart entrepreneur put together an unlikely team of eight other wealthy, successful young businessmen who had also failed in their bid to breach the NFL. Hunt challenged his soon-to-be rivals, “Why not just start our own league?”

Indeed, they did. Hunt and the seven other founders established the American Football League — AFL — in August of 1959. Laughed at by much of the nation and certainly the titans of the NFL, these original eight laughingly, and perhaps nervously, referred to themselves as the “Foolish Club.”

The “Foolish Club” consisted of:

Faced with the loss of the Dallas-Fort Worth market along with a lucrative Minneapolis-St. Paul market, the NFL changed their mind, bringing in the expansion Dallas Cowboys along with the Minnesota Vikings, originally a member of the “Foolish Club,” but lured away from the more established NFL (the Oakland Raiders replaced them).

That first year was a struggle for both the AFL and our future Kansas City Chiefs, the Dallas Texans. Most top-tier college draft picks opted for the more established NFL rather than try their luck with the fledgling AFL. To make matters worse for the Texans, they had to vie with the new Dallas Cowboys for their fanbase.

Despite sharing the same stadium, the Cotton Bowl, and never actually playing a game against one another, the Cowboys still managed to beat the Texans early and often. The Texans first choice for head coach, declined and became coach of the Cowboys. Likewise, did future HOF quarterback, “Dandy” Don Meredith and fellow HOFer, linebacker Bob Lilly.

The Dallas Texans started their inaugural season with an unproven and relatively unknown assistant coach from the University of Miami, Hank Stram, to serve as head coach. Years later, Hunt would explain,

“One of the biggest reasons I hired Hank was that he really wanted the job. It turned out to be a very lucky selection on my part.”

Joining HC Stram, was a former 1954 Baltimore Colt 1st round pick and backup quarterback to NFL HOFer Johnny Unitas, as well as punter and kicker, Cotton Davidson, as starting QB. While most Chiefs fans have never heard of Cotton Davidson, remember that name. He is as important to the story of the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs as is Lenny “The Cool” Dawson.

That first year, was perhaps not the best for the Texans. They started off losing their first ever AFL game 20-21 to the Los Angeles Chargers. To further worsen matters, in addition to the battle for the hearts and minds of Dallasites, the Texans also had to battle the other seven original teams of the “Foolish Club.”

While the Texans were struggling in Dallas, the AFL was flourishing. American Football League fans, and more importantly, the NFL was taking notice of the brash new league. They liked their colorful team uniforms, including the red and white stripes of the AFL referees, but more so, they loved the numerous offensive backfield shifts and shuffles, the wide-open passing game, and, perhaps, more importantly, these awesome African-American players, plucked from HCBUs by the great AFL Scout Lloyd Wells. One must bear in mind that the last NFL team to integrate their roster was the Washington Redskins in 1962, and even then only under the duress of a progressive President John F. Kennedy.

The second season of the Dallas Texans was even worse than the first. They went 6-8 on the season, with our only consolation being that we swept the Raiders that year, beating them twice. 42-35 and 43-11, respectively.

As a side note, it should be known that although the Texans/Chiefs and the Raiders have always harbored a healthy hatred for one another, the Dallas Texans and the Houston Oilers that were the first AFL rivalry. The Oilers would win the first two AFL Championships in both 1960 and 1961. Apparently, as big as Texas is, it wasn’t big enough for the two of these two teams!

That rivalry ended in the last game of the 1962 season, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Tired of being mediocre, or less than, the Texans tried a new approach. They traded up in the draft, nabbing the Oakland Raiders number one pick by shuttling starting QB Cotton Davidson (told you to remember the name) to the Raiders in return. Who’d we get? None other than, Buck Buchanan, the man who legendary Grambling coach, Eddie Robinson, called the “the finest lineman I have seen.“

Also in that draft, the Texans would select both linebacker Bobby Bell and punter Jerrel Wilson. Starting at QB for the Texans was an NFL castoff from the NFL’s Cleveland Browns by the name of Len Dawson. Apparently it worked. That last season in Dallas, the Texans would finish with an 11-3 record.

It would be the longest championship football game ever played. It went into double-OT and lasted 77 minutes. The Dallas Texans won the slugfest 20-17. It was the Texans first AFL Championship, and also the last game the Dallas Texans would ever play.

Convinced that the Dallas-Fort Worth market could not sustain two professional football teams, Hunt moved his 25-17 AFL Texans to Kansas City, and changed their name to the Chiefs. Meanwhile, the 9-28-3 NFL Cowboys stayed.

The rest is history. Prior to the NFL/AFL merger in 1960, the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs would be remembered not only as having won the most AFL Championships as any other team, but also the winningest franchise of the original eight.

Not so foolish at all Mr. Hunt and fellow “Foolish Club” members.

Michael Travis Rose — ArrowheadOne

If you are viewing this in Apple News and would like to join the Discussion, [GO HERE.](http://arrowheadone.com/chiefs-remember-the-texans/#disqus_thread)