I’ve been a Buffalo Bills fan since their inception. And of course a diehard AFL fan.
Few Chiefs or Bills fans remember 1966-7. I will never forget it.
Throughout the short history of the AFL, probably the hardest fought games (and one of the biggest rivalries) were those between Buffalo and Kansas City. Both teams dominated on both sides of the ball.
There was one difference between the two teams. Buffalo was on its way down and Kansas City was reaching their pinnacle. For me as a Buffalo fan though, the most important thing every year was, the Boston Patriots sucked.
The story starts earlier that summer of 1966, in a clandestine meeting between the owners of Kansas City’s team (Hunt) and the Dallas Cowboys (Schram) of the NFL. It was determined there would be a championship game between the NFL and the AFL. It was the first Super Bowl though that term was not used until championship game #3.
Little remembered fact #1. When Buffalo and the Chiefs met January 1st, 1967 in the AFL title game, it was to see who got to play in that first Super Bowl. And Buffalo lost 31-7. Of course. The Chiefs went on to lose to Green Bay in that 1st championship game. As a Bills fan, I had to wait almost 25 more years to see Buffalo get that far again. And I still await a win.
There are indeed old ties between these two teams. Little known fact #2. Did you know the two coaches for Buffalo and Kansas City completed a trade at mid-field after that first game of the 66-67 season, after Buffalo beat Kansas City? Buffalo traded their kicker to Kansas City for a 5th round draft pick. Buffalo was left, I believe, with the first soccer-style kicker in either league after that trade, Pete Gogolach.
Now for something new, something old. Unknown fact #3. Note I said “unknown” and not “little known”. I know for a fact that anybody reading this will not be aware of this little known fact.
Kansas City back then was known for its’ Defense. They were, in my opinion, one of the best that ever played. But Hank Stram and the Chiefs were always looking for a way to beat the odds, to add a weapon.
Again, Buffalo was brought back into the equation and history of the Kansas City Chiefs when Hank Stram came to Buffalo to meet with Jules Yakapovich, the coach for the Kenmore West Blue Devils HS football team (my high school).
Why you may ask? I have no idea.
Well… I have ONE idea. Here it is.
At the end of the 1969 HS football season, Kenmore West was declared the best HS football team in the country. Stats were fed into a computer and the computer chose Kenmore West as the best, over a HS team in Florida.
The simple fact was this HS team caught the eye and ear of Hank Stram when he heard about a “special defense” called the Radar Defense. Now keep in mind… Hank Stram and Defense went hand in hand. Mention one you had to mention the other. About K-West football back then…
*This from the Buffalo News: “ The Blue Devils won their third straight NFL title in ’69, outscoring their opponents, 389-67 — in eight games. If they weren’t rolling over you with the option, they were stuffing you with Yakapovich’s famed “Radar” defense.
The defense had all 11 players standing, at or near the line. No down linemen. Kenmore West only had a total of 67 points scored against them in 8 games. The last game of the season was against arch-rival Kenmore East. Both teams were 7-0. The final score was 44-0. ‘Nuff said.
So it was a BIG deal in Buffalo when Hank Stram came to Buffalo for a day to meet with Jules Yakapovich. Hank wanted to learn about the Radar defense. And yep… the next season they incorporated this into their repertoire of defensive schemes.
And it still lives today. The Radar Defense is still borrowed from today by teams in the NFL. And those East-West HS games? Funny thing … the Buffalo Bills sucked by 1969, and that East-West game and other K-West games … rumors were they outdrew the Buffalo Bills. I was at that East-West game and it was estimated the crowd was over 20,000 strong.
Now you have the whole story behind a part of the history of the old AFL, The Kansas City Chiefs, and the Buffalo Bills. And I still, to this day, think they were both better than the Packers.
Author Bio
JD Adams is a sports nut/history fan who has followed painstakingly (and with much pain) the Buffalo Bills and the old AFL and current NFL. He has a love for all sports and particularly sports history. In his spare time, he has been known to play with the many motorcycles he has owned, hiking, camping, photography, and something new… repair of vintage (pre-1980) stereo equipment.
