A TRUE STAR RETURNS TO HEAVEN
Lamar Hunt: August 2, 1932 - December 13, 2006
I "met" Lamar Hunt by long distance in the late 1960's.. I would write him passionate, heated letters berating the American Football League's owners for "giving in" and merging with the hated NFL, and he would respond with a calm, reasoned "Thank you for your interest"... I'd send him a missive telling him I thought he was failing his fans, he'd send me a Christmas card... I'd figuratively "stomp my feet", he'd send me an autographed copy of "The Other League".
Lamar Hunt clearly had patience, but not always.. In 1958, he tried to join the pro football fraternity by attempting to obtain an NFL franchise in his home town of Dallas, but was rebuffed by the league that once thought low-cut shoes were revolutionary.. The league might have let him buy a share in the Cardinals, but then cringed at the idea that he wanted to move the franchise to Dallas.. "A pro football team in Texas? Preposterous!"
Hunt finally caught on to the NFL's conservatism, and decided to start a league of his own.. The result was the American Football League, one of the most successful American professional sports leagues of all time, and the true genesis of modern professional football.. National network television of all league games? Revenue sharing of home receipts and television income? Moving cameras instead of static fifty-yard-line shots? Miked-up players? Recruiting small black colleges? Two-point touchdown conversions? Names on players' jerseys? A clock on the scoreboard, so that fans knew the time remaining?. Flashy offenses instead of three yards and a cloud of dust? A Thanksgiving Day game in a different city every year? All those innovations were made by Hunt's brainchild, the AFL.
Hunt's character was made evident early in the league's existence... When the NFL realized he wasn't just going away, they offered him an NFL franchise in Dallas after all, if he would dump the AFL owners and their plans... Lamar Hunt said he had made a commitment to the other AFL founders, and he couldn't, with honor, pull out. The result of Hunt's efforts are incalculable, but let me list a few:
The New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins, and Cincinnati Bengals would not have existed if it hadn't been for Lamar Hunt.. What's more, the NFL's Cowboys team, which was created specifically to drive the AFL out of. Dallas, would not have existed. if it hadn't been for Lamar Hunt.. Neither would the Minnesota Vikings, an NFL franchise that was given to Max Winter so that he would pull out of the original eight-team American Football League; nor would the Atlanta Falcons, an NFL franchise sold to Rankin Smith to convince him not to buy the AFL's Miami franchise.. And neither would the New Orleans Saints, whose franchise was granted by the NFL after certain Louisiana congressmen pushed the AFL-NFL merger to completion.
That's fourteen teams. Fourteen professional football teams that would not have existed in fourteen cities today, if Lamar Hunt had not had the vision and the courage to "fight the establishment".. Nor would there have been a professional football championship game that has reached such proportions that it's counted in ROMAN NUMERALS!
Knowing what a humble, unassuming gentleman he was, he would probably not want to take the credit for making pro football what it is today; but make no mistake:. Lamar Hunt INVENTED today's pro football.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to the Dallas Museum of Art and the Heart of a Champion foundation.
Dallas Museum of Art
1717 N. Harwood
Dallas, TX 75201
Heart of a Champion Foundation
P.P. BOX 740126
Dallas, TX 75374-0126
My suggestion is that the Super Bowl trophy should immediately be re-named THE LAMAR HUNT TROPHY.
Angelo F. Coniglio
http://www.RememberTheAFL.com
Lamar Hunt article
December 13, 2006
Lamar Hunt: August 2, 1932 - December 13, 2006
I "met" Lamar Hunt by long distance in the late 1960's.. I would write him passionate, heated letters berating the American Football League's owners for "giving in" and merging with the hated NFL, and he would respond with a calm, reasoned "Thank you for your interest"... I'd send him a missive telling him I thought he was failing his fans, he'd send me a Christmas card... I'd figuratively "stomp my feet", he'd send me an autographed copy of "The Other League".
Lamar Hunt clearly had patience, but not always.. In 1958, he tried to join the pro football fraternity by attempting to obtain an NFL franchise in his home town of Dallas, but was rebuffed by the league that once thought low-cut shoes were revolutionary.. The league might have let him buy a share in the Cardinals, but then cringed at the idea that he wanted to move the franchise to Dallas.. "A pro football team in Texas? Preposterous!"
Hunt finally caught on to the NFL's conservatism, and decided to start a league of his own.. The result was the American Football League, one of the most successful American professional sports leagues of all time, and the true genesis of modern professional football.. National network television of all league games? Revenue sharing of home receipts and television income? Moving cameras instead of static fifty-yard-line shots? Miked-up players? Recruiting small black colleges? Two-point touchdown conversions? Names on players' jerseys? A clock on the scoreboard, so that fans knew the time remaining?. Flashy offenses instead of three yards and a cloud of dust? A Thanksgiving Day game in a different city every year? All those innovations were made by Hunt's brainchild, the AFL.
Hunt's character was made evident early in the league's existence... When the NFL realized he wasn't just going away, they offered him an NFL franchise in Dallas after all, if he would dump the AFL owners and their plans... Lamar Hunt said he had made a commitment to the other AFL founders, and he couldn't, with honor, pull out. The result of Hunt's efforts are incalculable, but let me list a few:
The New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins, and Cincinnati Bengals would not have existed if it hadn't been for Lamar Hunt.. What's more, the NFL's Cowboys team, which was created specifically to drive the AFL out of. Dallas, would not have existed. if it hadn't been for Lamar Hunt.. Neither would the Minnesota Vikings, an NFL franchise that was given to Max Winter so that he would pull out of the original eight-team American Football League; nor would the Atlanta Falcons, an NFL franchise sold to Rankin Smith to convince him not to buy the AFL's Miami franchise.. And neither would the New Orleans Saints, whose franchise was granted by the NFL after certain Louisiana congressmen pushed the AFL-NFL merger to completion.
That's fourteen teams. Fourteen professional football teams that would not have existed in fourteen cities today, if Lamar Hunt had not had the vision and the courage to "fight the establishment".. Nor would there have been a professional football championship game that has reached such proportions that it's counted in ROMAN NUMERALS!
Knowing what a humble, unassuming gentleman he was, he would probably not want to take the credit for making pro football what it is today; but make no mistake:. Lamar Hunt INVENTED today's pro football.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to the Dallas Museum of Art and the Heart of a Champion foundation.
Dallas Museum of Art
1717 N. Harwood
Dallas, TX 75201
Heart of a Champion Foundation
P.P. BOX 740126
Dallas, TX 75374-0126
My suggestion is that the Super Bowl trophy should immediately be re-named THE LAMAR HUNT TROPHY.
Angelo F. Coniglio
http://www.RememberTheAFL.com
Lamar Hunt article
December 13, 2006
