The Kansas City Chiefs have gotten used to winning Super Bowls in the modern NFL and heading into 2024, Patrick Mahomes and company are aiming for their third-straight Lombardi Trophy.
While the Chiefs have been on an unstoppable run reaching four Super Bowls since 2019 and coming away with three trophies in the last five seasons, there was a long drought where the NFL franchise didn’t come close to winning the big game.
In 1993 they lost the AFC Championship game to the Buffalo Bills, but before then, the Kansas City Chiefs hadn’t won a Super Bowl since 1969, the year before the AFL became the NFL as we know it. In Super Bowl IV, the Chiefs knocked off the Minnesota Vikings (23-7) and Len Dawson was named MVP of the game throwing for 142 yards and one touchdown.
Under wet conditions, the Kansas City Chiefs defense dominated Super Bowl IV by limiting the Minnesota offense to only 67 rushing yards, forcing three interceptions, and recovering two fumbles at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.
One of the defensive standouts of that game was Jim Kearney who spent nine of his 12 NFL seasons playing for the Chiefs.
He never missed a start for the Chiefs, a span of 115 games. In a 1981 interview with The Star, Kearney said he fought for his position every week.
“Week in and week out you’ve got to prove yourself,” he said.
Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Champion Jim Kearney Passes Away
On Monday, the Chiefs announced Kearney, a record-setting safety for the Chiefs who started in Super Bowl IV, has died. He was 81.
Kearney’s best season came in 1972, when he tied an NFL record with four interceptions returned for touchdowns. He also became the first Chiefs player to return two picks for scores in one game, in the fourth quarter at the Denver Broncos.
Kearney finished his career with 23 interceptions and had one in the 1969 AFL Championship Game victory over the Oakland Raiders.
In 1969, Kansas City Chiefs coach Hank Stram called Kearney “the most underrated safety in the AFL.”
Kearney was an All-SWAC and NAIA All-America quarterback at Prairie View A&M and a college teammate of future Chiefs wide receiver Otis Taylor. Kearney and Taylor hooked up for 12 touchdowns in 1964.
Kearney became a science teacher and coach at Washington High. He told The Star in 1993 that he found great satisfaction in teaching.
Kansas City Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said. “During his nine-year career in Kansas City, Jim was part of an AFL Championship team and helped lead the Chiefs defense to a 23-7 victory in Super Bowl IV. Jim first appeared in a Chiefs uniform in 1967, and for the next eight years, he never missed a game. And yet, the most impressive parts of Jim’s life happened off the field. After his playing days, he became a high school teacher and coach.
He mentored hundreds of children in the Kansas City area, and he will be remembered as a great player, a great teacher and a great man. My family and I send our deepest condolences to Shirley and the entire Kearney family.”
