By Staff
One of the great owners in National Football League history died after a lengthy battle with cancer.
When Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt lost his battle with the disease on Wednesday in Dallas, it was one of the few times the man lost at anything.
Hunt set the standard for which NFL owners should be measured.
He was a man of principal, dignity and class. When Lamar Hunt spoke, people listened.
One of Hunt's biggest victories came in the 1960s when he took on the National Football League and helped create the American Football League (AFL) with seven other owners.
Hunt moved his franchise, the Dallas Texans, to Kansas City in 1963. Three years later he was instrumental in merging the AFL and NFL.
After the Chiefs played in two of the first four NFL-AFL championship games, Hunt helped rename the title game.
Thinking of a toy his children played with, the Super Ball, Hunt came up with Super Bowl.
Hunt was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972. He was the first of the old AFL members to be enshrined in Canton, Ohio.
The loss of Hunt is felt not only in Kansas City and the National Football League, but also in the sports world in general.
His family was instrumental in helping form World Championship Tennis and the North American Soccer League.
His family is still involved in soccer – F.C. Dallas and Columbus Crew.
Hunt was also one of the founding investors in the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball League.
Hunt will be forever remembered in the NFL, as his name is on the trophy presented to the American Football Conference champion each year.
Ironically, Hunt was unable to watch the NFL Network's first Thursday night game, which was held on Thanksgiving.
Hunt was unable to view the game because the hospital in which he was staying did not have access to the network.
Hunt fought the league for years to break the grip of the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys on the annual Thanksgiving Day game.
We can think of no better way to honor Hunt than to permanently play that third Thanksgiving Day game in Kansas City.