Wake Up Call: He’s fleeing the white man’s oppression, and Otis Sistrunk
May 18, 2011, 9:00 AM EDT
Or, as ESPN’s Bill Williamson replied when I showed him this: “Nice leg Mohawks.” Can anyone with a working knowledge of Kansas City Chiefs history tell me when, or if, this was ever their official logo? I came across it a Bleacher Report, and I’d like to hear the story behind it. Lewis and Clark met many native Americans on their famous journey, but never mentioned any toting footballs.
As I understand it, the Chiefs name was born in a vote by fans when the AFL Dallas Texans relocated there in 1963, although the top two vote-getters were “Mules” and “Royals.” Seriously, it was almost the Kansas City Mules. I’d love to see that logo.
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ABOUT LAST NIGHT
What you missed while deciding on a sensible name for your baby …
- Maloof brother throws ice water instead of Gatorade on celebrating Sacramento Kings fans.
- Charles Barkley on on gays coming out in the NBA: “I’d rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can’t play.”
- Inventors claim 33-in-one adjustable golf club is only club you will need. The Swiss Army Club?
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TODAY IN MARK TRAIL …
People trapped in other nearby pits: Mary Worth, Beetle Bailey, Rex Morgan M.D.
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- thetoast74 - May 18, 2011 at 12:55 PM
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Hunt agreed to relocate the franchise to Kansas City on May 22, 1963 and on May 26 the team was renamed the Kansas City Chiefs. Hunt and head coach Hank Stram initially planned on retaining the Texans name, but a fan contest determined the new “Chiefs” name in honor of Mayor Bartle’s nickname that he acquired in his professional role as Scout Executive of the St. Joseph and Kansas City Boy Scout Councils and founder of the Scouting Society, Tribe of the Mic-O-Say. A total of 4,866 entries were received with 1,020 different names being suggested, including a total of 42 entrants who selected “Chiefs.”
The logo in question was used from 63-71. The arrowhead has always been on the helmet.
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- remembertheafl - May 18, 2011 at 12:56 PM
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When the Chiefs’ franchise was the Texans, in Dallas, their logo was a cowboy in a ten-gallon hat, with a sixgun raised in the air, as he ran across a map of Texas. When the franchise moved to KC, it was re-named the Chiefs (after the mayor of KC who was instrumental in bringing them there, Harold Roe “Chief” Bartle). The team’s logo morphed from a cowboy with a sixgun running across Texas, to an American Indian Chief in a warbonnet with a raised tomahawk, running across a map of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. See http://www.remembertheafl.com/TexansChiefs.htm
The logo was widely used, inluding on one of a set of AFL hardboard plaques. See As an AFL fan, I thought that was STILL the Chiefs’ logo. See http://www.remembertheafl.com/images/KCplaq.jpg Don’t know if it’s still being used.
