A New Beginning-1972 Kansas City Chiefs

[Music] [Music] on july 29 1972 lamar hunt president of the kansas city chiefs became the first representative of the american football league to be inducted into the pro football hall of fame just two weeks later arrowhead stadium officially became the new home of the chiefs arrowhead another shining example of the continuing growth of the kansas city community and for the chiefs the perfect setting for a new beginning one of the unique new features of arrowhead is the amazing 150-foot scoreboard a unique scoreboard a unique stadium a unique setting for almost 80 000 chiefs fans and a national television audience to witness the official opening of the 1972 professional football season for quarterback lynn dawson it was the start of his 16th season in pro football for coach hank straham the winningest coach in aflafc history it was the start of his 13th season and to officially inaugurate the chief's new home a rematch of christmas day 1971 and pro football's longest game for miami quarterback bob greasy putting points on the scoreboard was kid stuff because due to four unfortunate turnovers by the chiefs the dolphins never had to drive more than half the field to score on one of the hottest days in chief's history the temperature on the field reached 120 degrees and the chief suffered in silence as the sweltering afternoon melted on [Music] the kansas city offense actually outgained the future world champions as len dawson connected on 22 or 33 passes but the dolphins prevailed 20 to 10 and took their first step toward an unprecedented perfect season [Music] in the season's second week another national television audience saw the chiefs try to begin their season over again on a monday night in new orleans three times the chiefs trailed and three times len dawson brought them from behind as he completed 21 of 29 passes to a variety of receivers including both of his tight ends morris stroud number 88 and willie frazier number 83 the final touchdown went to otis taylor as the chiefs tiptoed past the saints 20-17 in week three the chiefs visited sold out mile high stadium in denver amidst a four-way tie for first place in the afc west len dawson again brought the chiefs from behind and at the half the score was tied at 10. in the second half dawson rested his banged up ribs while number 10 mike livingston added a new element to the kansas city offense [Music] livingston who had started only three games in the previous two seasons got hot right away and the chiefs went on a second half rampage against the broncos three times in the second half livingston passed for touchdowns one to high-stepping willie frazier his third in his many games one to wide receiver dennis homan number 21 and after scrambling away from the rush one to the incomparable otis taylor as the chiefs swept past the broncos 45-24 week four found the chiefs on the shores of lake erie where they forced cleveland into eight turnovers four of these winding up in the hands of number 20 mike sansa ball the running game exploded for well over 200 yards number 38 wendell hayes ran over the brown for 86 yards while diminutive mike adamly number one darted for 88 more [Music] for the second straight week however most of the headlines went to mike livingston and his receivers livingston passed for three more touchdowns including willie frazier's fourth in four games and another otis taylor spectacular as the red hot chiefs rolled over the browns 31-7 [Music] the chiefs had won three straight on the road and back home the quarterback was again mike livingston whose five-year record had included 10 previous starts of which the chiefs had won all 10 but against cincinnati livingston pulled up lane and suddenly an aching len dawson was back at quarterback against the division leading bengals otis taylor caught 10 passes good for 149 yards and the touchdown which had kansas city ahead 10-3 in the third quarter although the chiefs had the best of the statistics by a wide margin cincinnati came up with two of the season's biggest plays number 19 essex johnson covered 65 yards and then the ever toughening bengal defense broke off the other big play len dawson kept bringing the chiefs back but his final efforts died in the cincinnati end zone as paul brown's men held on 23 to 16. the international signal of distress was flying the following week at arrowhead as the low-flying philadelphia eagles came to town and incredibly ran up a three touchdown lead [Music] once again the chiefs refused to crumble and came back strong in the second half but victory once again eluded the jeeps and after three games in their fantastic new home a winning score had not yet materialized on the scoreboard next came a trip to sunny san diego where the chargers like most of the chiefs other opponents ran up an early lead [Music] true to their custom the chiefs came back strong in the second half first ed kodilak followed no mormon's block to a touchdown then len dawson turned his attention to the man who would go on to lead the afc in receiving yardage the one and only otis taylor number 89. [Music] with less than two minutes to play dawson again went for taylor this time with a 50-yard bomb [Applause] robert west scooped up the loose ball and went in to assure the chief's fourth straight road victory 26-14 but the chiefs were still winless at home and next up was arch rival oakland hankstram's chiefs were trailing the raiders by just one half game at the season's midpoint and another record crowd this time more than 82 000 and another national television audience tuned in to witness a great performance by the entire kansas city team and in particular 37 year old len dawson whose blockers kept his bruised ribs untouched while dawson threw for three touchdowns [Music] the chief's defense showed no mercy just before halftime buck buchanan beat bob brown and forced a fumble from daryl lamonica which set up a field goal by john stenner road [Music] in the third quarter the good news read kansas city 20 oakland zipsville and the chief's defense was determined to keep it that way [Music] the offensive heroics in the second half were supplied by ed podolak who totaled 115 yards rushing for the [Music] day [Applause] the chiefs soundly defeated oakland 27 to 14 and were once again on top in the afc west [Music] the first place chiefs traveled to pittsburgh in search of their fifth straight road victory jim kearney's 65-yard chaka had the chiefs in front seven to nothing at the half but then on came a rookie runner named franco as time wayne franco harris ran the first place steelers over the first place chiefs 16-7 and suddenly the chiefs were no longer in first place next came kansas john hadel's last appearance in kansas city as a member of the san diego chargers and the charges made the most of the occasion number 37 sid edwards set up the game's first touchdown but then kick returner larry marshall put the chiefs right back into the game len dawson and wendell hayes tied the game at seven but from that point it was all downhill as john hadel and the charges came back to win 27 to 17. finally came the annual duel in the sun with the raiders in oakland in desperate need of a victory the chiefs would instead leave oakland with an injury role listing names like dawson bell lanier buchanan marsalis marshall podolac fraser wright and taylor the men who were left fought hard but they were simply outmanned by the first place raiders the chiefs were defeated 26 to 3 and in just three weeks time a most promising season had been prematurely end it [Music] although they did not make the playoffs coach hankstram's 1972 chiefs showed bright promise for the future mike livingston once again proved that he has the tools to be a solid starting quarterback len dawson as always proved to be one of the game's great field generals and once again dawson led his conference in passing accuracy despite working with 13 different receivers ed podolak jim otis mike adamley wendell hayes elmo wright dennis homan willie frazier morris stroud robert west and of course otis taylor with protectors like jack rudney moe moorman ed buddy dave hill and jim tyer and with the addition of francis pay from green bay and willie ellison and pete beathard from los angeles the chief's offense should be even stronger in 73. [Music] for sixth straight season john stenner root has kicked 20 or more field goals an nfl record gerald wilson was simply the best punter in the entire league the chief's defense has been called the redwood forest but the rugged swarming teamwork of the awesome kansas city defenders is much tougher to get through than any forest redwood or otherwise across the front line the chiefs have always had an awesome array of redwoods with defensive ends like number 99 super strong will be young and number 81 rough and ready marvin upshaw and then there are the defensive tackles and there isn't a better pair in the league than curly culp and buck buchanan number 86. [Music] buchanan's partner number 61 curly culp is one of the game's strongest men buchanan upshaw and young assisted by a healthy george seals and with the addition of jerry philbin from the jets a tough gang for any offense to crack not all the tough guys are in the trenches there are four more in the chief's deep defense the chief's defensive backs have always been known for their ability to stick people but they've been even better known as ball hawks such as cornerbacks jim marsalis number 40 and emmett thomas number 18. and then there was a man who took over at free safety for the irreplaceable johnny robinson and led the afc and interceptions mike sensabaugh number 20. [Music] while free safety sensor bar had eight interceptions number 46 strong safety jim kearney had five but four of these he returned for touchdowns two of them in the same game thus tying two nfl records when injury struck the linebacking core number 54 clyde werner stepped in and filled the gaps while number 51 jim lynch played either in the middle or on the right side but always well on the left side there remain the surest tackler in the game number 78 bobby bell [Music] in the middle was nfl man of the year willie lanier the man more and more experts agree is the best middle linebacker in pro football [Music] all pro willy lanier one of the game's hardest hitters and one of the game's smartest middle linebackers watch yourself dog good shape baby get somebody [Applause] kid don't give me something dog take it inside take it inside [Applause] entering the final three games of the year the chiefs had to win all three to avoid their first losing season in a decade opposing the chiefs were first some of the coldest weather in kansas city's history and second the denver broncos number 44 floyd little and number 12 charlie johnson suffered at the hands of the fired up kansas city defense which forced a total of five turnovers including jim kearney's record-tying fourth touchdown of the season [Music] bobby bell applied the clincher when he took an interception 61 yards as the chiefs defeated the broncos for the 24th time in 26 tries 24-21 hanks grimes chiefs faced more bitter coal in week 13 but for the first time in many weeks the team was relatively healthy len dawson hit on 15 of 21 passes against baltimore's zone defenses including two touchdowns one of them to otis taylor a now healthy ed podolac regained his touchdown touch and potilak's running mate wendell hayes had his best day since joining the chiefs as he rammed through the colts for more than 150 yards in total offense kansas city cracked a three-game baltimore winning streak going away 24-10 len dawson led kansas city to the necessary third straight victory over the falcons in atlanta on the season's final sunday thus assuring the chiefs of their eighth consecutive winning season as coach hankstram said after the game i was proud of the way our people came back and won the last three games of the season we came back all year we did it again in the last three games and we did it twice today including the winning score on fourth down with only two minutes left in the season this is a proud football team a fine football team and i'm looking forward with great anticipation to a new beginning in 1973 [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Grey Beard

Views: 3,319

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: NFL Films, Steve Sabol, Ed Sabol, Kansas City Chiefs, Hank Stram, Lamar Hunt, Arrowhead Stadium, Len Dawson

Id: PAes4kaK5K0

Length: 24min 21sec (1461 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 22 2020