The chefs aim to make history in the city where they won their first Super Bowl. The Eagles are held on the way – San Diego Union -Tribune

By Dave Skretta

New Orleans (AP) – Clark Hunt was not entirely 5 years when he moved to his headquarters in the Tulane stadium next to his parents to watch the heads of Kansas City, the franchise that her Father had founded in the cheeky days of the American football league, as they played the Vikings of Minnesota in the Super Bowl IV.

Hunt does not remember the game itself. But from time to time, the photos will surface that he has never seen before.

“I have a photo of myself sitting with my parents in the stands, right?” I think they were benches. It looked like a corner in a way, “said Hunt, now 59, who took control of the chiefs when his father, the visionary Lamar Hunt, died in December 2006.

“I guess it shows you how things have changed,” said Hunt.

Indeed, it is a sure bet that Hunt and the rest of his family will have comfortable seats in a luxury suite when the chiefs will face the Eagles on Sunday at Superdome.

Led by Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, and with a celebrity fans base which includes Taylor Swift and Caitlin Clark, the Chiefs were pursuing a third unprecedented consecutive Lombardi trophy.

The fact was not lost to Hunt that they were trying to make history in the same city where they won their first Super Bowl with a 23-7 victory against the Vikings on January 11, 1970.

In fact, Hunt seemed to consider coincidence as something closer to Kismet, a point he stressed by stressing that the chiefs spent this week to practice at the University of Tulane.

“I hate saying that I have no memories of this Super Bowl,” he said, “but going to Tulane where we train and being literally a stone’s throw from the old stadium where we We have won the really special Super Bowl IV.

“I still think of my parents’ super bowl week,” added Hunt, “there is no way not to do it. But it will be special.”

There is an argument to argue that no one had a greater influence on the big game than Lamar Hunt.

The oil magnate was part of the “stupid club” which founded the AFL, at the time when they were kept away from the NFL, and it played a decisive role in the merger of years later which has Finally gathered the two professional football leagues.

In a letter to the NFL commissioner, Pete Rozelle, Hunt thought about the pending title game, saying: “I joked the” Super Bowl “, which can obviously be approved.” He was inspired by the essential Christmas gift of the year that his wife, Norma, had obtained Clark Hunt and the rest of the children: the Super Ball, manufactured by the Wham-O toys.

Lamar Hunt regularly attended the Super Bowl, although he has never seen his chefs play again. They would not come back until the arrival of Andy Reid in town, and Mahomes and Kelce helped Kansas City to beat the 49ers in February 2020 – Five decades complete after having triumphed “purple people” and rest of the rest Vikings at the Tulane stadium.

Norma Hunt continued to attend the Super Bowl until her death in June 2023. At the time, she was one of the four people – and the only woman – who had attended each match, starting with the defeat of the defeat Chiefs against packers on January 15. , 1967.

Chiefs are back on Sunday for the fifth time in six years. And they continue three tours against the Eagles, the Kansas City team beat Glendale, Arizona, to win the first of its consecutive championships a few years ago.

“I would say that each fan of the chiefs is spoiled, and that includes me, right?” Because it was so special of five or six years, “Hunt told a small group of local journalists this week. “And I think we know that we are spoiled because of the trip it took to get to this point, and the five decades that we went without returning to the Super Bowl.”

This is the 11th time that New Orleans has welcomed the Big Game, linking Miami for most of all cities. The French district had been packed all week with fans carrying red chefs and green eagles, creating a Kaleidoscope of Christmas colors extending from Jackson Square to Canal Street, and bubbling to the Superdome.

The Maison des Saints, and the de facto replacement of the Tulane stadium, organizes the game for the eighth time.

“I don’t think we couldn’t really dream that it was like that and have the success we had,” said Clark Hunt. “My father would have loved it because in his heart, he was a fan – him and my mother were fans, above all. And he would love for our fans, because it was always one of his goals. »»

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Originally published: February 8, 2025 at 11:23 pm PST