Back in the day
Posted on 12/12/2006 2:11:48 PM PST by Dysart
Hunt has battled cancer for several years and was hospitalized the day before Thanksgiving with a partially collapsed lung. Doctors discovered that the cancer has since spread, and Hunt has been under heavy sedation since last week.
"They're trying to make him as comfortable as possible," said Carl Peterson, president and general manager of Hunt's Kansas City Chiefs. "He's battling a very courageous fight. We'll continue to hope that miracles will happen."
The son of Texas oilman H.L. Hunt tried unsuccessfully to buy an NFL team in the late 1950s, and when continually rebuffed, he persuaded several other wealthy sportsmen to form the American Football League to compete with the NFL.
His Dallas Texans moved to Kansas City in 1963 and became the Chiefs. Several years later, the NFL was forced to merge with Hunt's successful AFL, and the modern league was born.
Long an eloquent spokesman for the league and for small-market teams such as Kansas City, Hunt in 1972 became the first AFL figure inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The AFC championship trophy is named after him and, coincidentally, it was Hunt who gave the Super Bowl its name.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
NFL noteworthy
Back in the day
Can still remember watching the Texans along with running back Abner Haynes. The Texans beat the Oilers for the AFC championship and then upped and moved to Kansas City, back then the Cowboys were woeful and people thought the wrong team had moved.
Well that was well before my time but I know the history pretty well. I would have liked for Mr. Hunt to remain in Texas with a team. KC is lucky to have him. Hope he pulls through.
Prayers for one of the Giants of Professional Sport's.
Please know that I am praying for all involved. May God provide healing and comfort as needed.
Blessings,
trussell
If you want on/off my prayer ping list, please let me know. All requests happily honored.
One heck of an oilman, too.
Prayers up for his healing.
Thanks for your kind thoughts and prayers for a very fine gentleman.
Indeed. Wish more knew of his contributions to our country, humanity.
I join in your prayer!
Bump.
Knew it must be bad when he missed the Thanksgiving game with the Chiefs. Prayers for Mr Hunt and his family.
Just heard of his death on ESPN SportsCenter.
Admin Mod, is it possible to update the thread title to reflect this?
Truly, the passing of one of the great leaders in the history of the NFL. Hunt helped found the AFL in 1959 and was almost as influential as Pete Rozelle in shaping the modern NFL as we know it today.
Thanks for the update, Lunar.
God bless Mr. Hunt!
I realize that there aren't as many fans for soccer here as there are NFL fans, but he was also active in promoting Major League Soccer. He owned the Columbus Crew and built our stadium with his own money when the city didn't want to cough up for it themselves. I had the honor of bumping in to him several years ago at one of the games, and he was surprised that any fan would recognize him. We had a nice couple-of-minutes chat, and gave me his autograph on a team jersey I was preparing to donate for an charity auction. What a sincerely nice man, a very humble fellow. The world is surely missing a great man. We could stand to have more like him.
That sums up Mr Hunt very well. The people here in Kansas City love him and his loss will be deeply felt. Seemed to me he always had a twinkle in his eye and would be a person easy to talk to unlike many influential people. I usually refer to him as Mr Hunt as a sign of respect for a good man.
A big thank you to Mr Hunt and prayers for his family.
Jerry Jones said (i paraphrase) that, as much as anyone, Mr. Hunt was responsible for the NFL as we know it today. But he was more. I strive to be as decent and thoughtful as he was.
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