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First published on Kansas
City Chiefs website
©2006 Kansas
City Chiefs
1959
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.
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1960-62
The Texans take the field for the AFL’s inaugural season
in ‘60 sporting red helmets with gray facemasks. The
helmet features the state of Texas in white with a gold
star situated on Dallas. Home jerseys are solid red
featuring white numerals, white “TV” numerals on the
sleeves and white lettering, all trimmed in gold. Road
jerseys are white with red numerals, red “TV” numerals
on the sleeves and red lettering, all of which are borderedby
thin gold trim. Both jerseys are a cloth design, featuring
three-quarter sleeves with stitched “tackle twill” numerals
and letters. The team wears white pants featuring vertical
stripes of red, gold and red. Socks are red on top,
white on the bottom with alternating stripes at the
calf of white, red, gold, red and white. Although several
minor changes are made to the stripe width over the
years, the primary sock design remains relatively consistent
to the present day.
1963-67
The Texans move to Kansas City in ‘63. Hunt and head
coach Hank Stram initially plan on calling the relocated
team the “Kansas City Texans.” However, general manager
Jack Steadman wisely convinces the duo to change the
franchise’s nickname to “Chiefs.” The club’s uniform
remains virtually unchanged, with the exception of the
helmet logo. The state of Texas is replaced on the headgear
by a design originally sketched by Hunt on a napkin.
Hunt’s inspiration for the interlocking “KC” design
was the “SF” inside of an oval on San Francisco’s helmets.
Kansas City’s overlapping initials appear inside a white
arrowhead instead of an oval and are surrounded by a
thin black outline. The result is one of the most distinctive
helmets in all of football.
1968
The most dramatic changes to the Chiefs uniform come
in ‘68. Head coach Hank Stram prefers more red in the
club’s road attire and orders red pants to go with the
team’s white road jerseys. Stram asserts that the red
pants will match the red numerals on the white road
jerseys. While Stram’s fashion sense is never in question,
some in the organization theorize that the superstitious
Stram really wants to part ways the white pants because
the club lost Super Bowl I while wearing them. No matter
the logic, the white pants are not seen again during
the Stram era. The club’s new red pants feature alternating
vertical stripes of white, red, gold, red and white
and are paired with predominantly white socks that feature
striping of red, gold and red at the calf. Alterations
are also made to the club’s jerseys at this time. Sleeves
are shortened from three-quarter length to their present-day
short-sleeve status. Stripes are also introduced on
the bottom of the sleeves, where they still reside.
Red jerseys feature white, gold and white stripes on
the sleeves, while the club’s white jerseys receive
red, gold and red stripes.
1969
Following a victory in the AFL Championship
Game, Stram orders new red jerseys to be worn in Super
Bowl IV and they are delivered just days before the game.
Stram also directs equipment manager Bobby Yarborough
to have all the helmets repainted before the Super Bowl,
but relents after players insist on wearing their “battle-scarred”
headgear. The “AFL-10” patch worn on the left shoulder
of Kansas City’s jerseys in Super Bowl IV is the collaborative
effort of AFL President Milt Woodard and longtime AFL
fan Angelo Coniglio. During the entire ‘69 season, all
NFL teams wear an “NFL-50” patch which commemorates the
NFL’s 50th Anniversary season. At the suggestion of Coniglio,
Woodard counters by designing and implementing a patch
of his own to celebrate the 10-year existence of the AFL,
which is proudly worn by the Chiefs on behalf of the entire
AFL in their 23-7 victory vs. Minnesota (1/11/70).
1970
Following Super Bowl IV, the team’s
cloth jerseys give way to a more breathable mesh fabric.
Heat-transfer numerals and letters replace sewn-on “tackle
twill” characters. The style of the numerals and letters
changes slightly. The characters decrease in size, while
the gold trim around both the numerals and letters expands
to become more visible. Jersey numerals remain this size
before eventually returning to larger proportions in the
early ‘80s.
1974
The club’s facemask changes from gray
to white. A change in manufacturers results in a slightly
smaller arrowhead logo on the helmet with a thicker black
border compared to the design of the ‘60s.
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Secondary Logo
History
Although never part of the club’s
uniform, the franchise boasted a pair of strikingly
similar secondary logos during its early days.
According to Lamar Hunt, both logos were the creation
of Bob Taylor, a cartoonist for the now-defunct
Dallas Times-Herald. While there were several
color schemes for both logos, the Texans logo
featured a football-toting gunslinger set over
the state of Texas. This logo adorned the Texans
stationery and the billboard outside the club’s
offices in Dallas. When the club moved to Kansas
City in ‘63, Taylor was commissioned to update
the logo. The result was a Native American figure
running with the same stride and holding the pigskin
in the same manner as the gunslinger with the
states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma,
Iowa, and Arkansas serving as his backdrop. This
logo was utilized prominently during the ‘60s
and was affixed to the club’s Swope Park headquarters
on 63rd Street before the club moved to Arrowhead
in ‘72.
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1983
The Chiefs wear a circular patch on
their left upper chest bearing a gold eagle and the number
37 in memory of RB Joe Delaney who drowned on June 29,
1983 in Monroe, Louisiana after trying to save the lives
of three youngsters.
1984
The original eight American Football
League teams all wear circular “Silver Anniversary” patches
on the upper left chest of their jerseys commemorating
the 25th anniversary of the AFL and their respective franchises.
Kansas City’s patch features the Chiefs helmet and the
AFL logo.
1989
The arrival of head coach Marty Schottenheimer
signals the club’s most dramatic uniform change in over
20 years. Schottenheimer asks and receives permission
from Hunt to revert to back to white pants on the road,
a “white-on-white” look that has not been utilized by
the Chiefs since ‘67. White belts also return to the club’s
pants after using red belts at various periods of the
‘70s and ‘80s. Kansas City reintroduces the white pants
at Denver (9/10/89) and maintains this look on the road
through the ‘99 season.
1991
A sticker bearing the American Flag
adorns the back of all NFL helmets to honor troops fighting
in the Gulf War. The NFL Shield becomes a standard part
of all NFL uniforms, appearing on the back of helmets,
on the “v” of jerseys and on the left hip of pants.
1992
The club wears a black panel with the
white initials “WWD” on the upper left chest of itsjersey
in memory of Director of Player Personnel Whitey Dovell,
who passed away on May 11, 1992. The team also paints
the number “86” on the field at Arrowhead Stadium to honor
the memory of Hall of Fame DT Buck Buchanan, who passed
away on July 16, 1992.
1994
Solid fabric jerseys complete with
“tackle twill” numerals and letters return, taking the
place of mesh jerseys and heat-transfer characters. All
NFL teams wear “NFL Diamond Anniversary” patches on their
left upper chest in honor of the league’s 75th season.
The Chiefs also wear a “35th Anniversary” patch on their
right upper chest in celebration of the franchise’s 35th
season. The patch features the AFL, Texans and Chiefs
logos. It marks the only time in team history the club
has worn two different patches in the same season. The
Chiefs also wear “Throwback” uniforms – replicas of the
club’s ‘63 attire – for games at Atlanta (9/18/94) and
vs. St. Louis (9/25/94).
1999
The club wears a “40th Anniversary”
patch in honor of the franchise’s 40th season. The patch
features the AFL and Chiefs logos.
2000
The Chiefs wear a circular sticker
bearing the number “58” on the back of their helmets in
memory of LB Derrick Thomas, who passed away onFebruary
8, 2000. Ever mindful of Stram’s legacy and the franchise’s
glory days, head coach Gunther Cunningham receives Hunt’s
blessing to revert back to the red pants on the road.
The resurrected red pants debut in a 23-22 win at Denver
(9/24/00) and remain a fixture of the club’s road attire.
2001
A sticker bearing the American Flag
returns to the back of all NFL helmets following the terrorist
attacks of September 11th. The flag reappears on Chiefs
helmets vs. the N.Y. Giants (9/23/01) and remains there
to this day.
2002
The Chiefs wear a “40th Anniversary
in Kansas City” patch vs. Oakland (10/27/02), commemorating
the franchise’s 40th season in Mid-America. “The Scout”
- Kansas City’s most recognizable civic icon - is prominently
featured on the patch along with Kansas City’s downtown
skyline. The NFL Equipment Shield replaces NFL Shield
on jerseys and pants.
Note: Special
thanks to Bobby Bell, Chiefs equipment manager Mike
Davidson, Len Dawson, Rick Dean of the Topeka Capital-Journal,
Bob Gretz of KCFX Radio, former Chiefs team photographer
Rod Hanna, Lamar Hunt, former Chiefs equipment manager
Bobby Yarborough and Chiefs photographer Hank Young
for their research assistance.
First published on Kansas
City Chiefs website
©2006 Kansas
City Chiefs
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