Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs
Current season
Established August 14, 1959 (August 14, 1959)[1][2]
First season: 1960
Play in Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, Missouri
Headquartered in University of Kansas Health System Training Facility
Kansas City, Missouri[3]
Kansas City Chiefs logo
Kansas City Chiefs logo
Kansas City Chiefs wordmark
Kansas City Chiefs wordmark
LogoWordmark
League/conference affiliations

American Football League (1960–1969)

  • Western Division (1960–1969)

National Football League (1970–present)

Current uniform
Team colorsRed, gold, white[4][5][6]
     
MascotWarpaint (1963–1988, 2009–2020)
K. C. Wolf (1989–present)
Personnel
Owner(s)Hunt family[7][8]
ChairmanClark Hunt
CEOClark Hunt
PresidentMark Donovan
General managerBrett Veach
Head coachAndy Reid
Team history
  • Dallas Texans (1960–1962)
  • Kansas City Chiefs (1963–present)
Team nicknames
  • The Redwood Forest[9] (defense, 1966–1971)
  • The Legion of Zoom[10][11] (offense, 2018–2021)
Championships
League championships (5†)
Conference championships (4†)
Division championships (16) † Does not include AFL Championships won the same season as Super Bowls.
Playoff appearances (26)
Home fields

The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division.

The team was founded in 1959 as the Dallas Texans by businessman Lamar Hunt, and was a charter member of the American Football League (AFL).[12] In spring 1963, the team relocated to Kansas City,[13][14] and assumed its current name.[15][16] The Chiefs joined the NFL as a result of the merger in 1970, and the team is valued at over $3.7 billion.[17] Following Hunt's death in 2006, his wife, Norma, and children became legal owners of the team. After Norma's death in 2023, the Hunt children inherited her stake in the franchise. Clark Hunt, one of the Hunt's children, has served as chairman and CEO since 2006 and is the ultimate authority over personnel decisions. He is also the team representative at league owner meetings.

The Chiefs won three AFL championships, in 1962, 1966, and 1969,[18][19] and were the second AFL team (after the New York Jets) to defeat an NFL team in an AFL–NFL World Championship Game, when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. That victory on January 11, 1970, was the final game before the leagues' merger went into full effect. The Chiefs were also the second team, after the Green Bay Packers (whom they played in Super Bowl I), to appear in more than one Super Bowl (and the first AFL team to do so) as well as the first to appear in the championship game in two different decades. Despite post-season success early in the franchise's history, winning five of their first six postseason games, the team struggled to find success in the playoffs for decades, including losing ten of eleven playoff games from the 1993/94 AFC Championship Game to 2017, which included an eight-game losing streak. Since then, the Chiefs have risen to dynastic performance under head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and tight end Travis Kelce, appearing in four Super Bowls since 2019 and winning three, LIV, LVII, and LVIII.[20][21][22]

  1. ^ "Chiefs History" (PDF). 2023 Kansas City Chiefs Media Guide. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  2. ^ "Kansas City Chiefs Team Facts". ProFootballHOF.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  3. ^ "Fan Experience". Chiefs.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  4. ^ "Kansas City Chiefs Team History–NFL Football Operations". Operations.NFL.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on November 21, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  5. ^ "Chiefs Uniform History" (PDF). 2023 Kansas City Chiefs Media Guide (PDF). NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2023. At one of the initial organizational meetings of the American Football League in late '59 – before the teams even had any players or coaches – the AFL owners choose their team colors. Lamar Hunt desires Columbia Blue and Orange for his Dallas Texans franchise. But before Hunt or any other owner can make a selection, Houston's Bud Adams claims Columbia Blue for his Oilers franchise. Hunt reverts to Red and Gold for the Texans, which remains the primary color scheme for the Chiefs to this day.
  6. ^ "Kansas City Chiefs Team Capsule" (PDF). 2022 Official National Football League Record and Fact Book (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  7. ^ "Front Office Staff". Chiefs.com. Archived from the original on June 2, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  8. ^ Edholm, Eric (February 12, 2024). "Chiefs owner/CEO Clark Hunt expects HC Andy Reid to return next season for chance at 'three-peat'". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on February 13, 2024. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  9. ^ Allen, Scott (January 28, 2020). "The Chiefs' last Super Bowl appearance featured gambling accusations and a monumental upset". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 13, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  10. ^ Gregory, Sean (February 3, 2020). "Patrick Mahomes Led the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl Comeback. He Also Affirmed His Greatness". Time. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  11. ^ Wagoner, Nick (January 29, 2020). "Chiefs, 49ers fill the need for speed in Super Bowl LIV". ESPN Internet Ventures, LLC. Archived from the original on February 4, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  12. ^ "Guest column: The best Chiefs NOT in Canton and why they deserve to be there | Sports Illustrated Talk Of Fame Network". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on March 25, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  13. ^ "Everything is set for Texans' change". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. May 23, 1963. p. 10. Archived from the original on April 29, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  14. ^ "AFL team moves to Kansas City". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). AP, UPI reports. May 23, 1963. p. 4D. Archived from the original on April 29, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  15. ^ "K.C. pro eleven has 'Chiefs' tag". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). May 27, 1963. p. 17. Archived from the original on April 29, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  16. ^ "Text Page - American Indian Heritage Chiefs Name". Chiefs.com. January 1, 2020. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  17. ^ Ozanian, Mike (August 22, 2022). "NFL Team Values 2022: Dallas Cowboys Are The First Franchise Worth $8 Billion". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference PFHOF was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Shuck, Barry. "The 1969 Kansas City Chiefs: Two Championships in One Season". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on March 25, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  20. ^ "Perspective | The Patrick Mahomes era is only beginning. The end could be astonishing". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  21. ^ "Chiefs rally to defeat 49ers, 31-20, claim first Super Bowl title in 50 years". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  22. ^ Staff, KMBC 9 News (February 13, 2023). "Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII". KMBC. Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)