Losing Lamar

I was greatly saddened last night to learn of the death of Lamar Hunt. Why grieve over the passing of a billionaire? Because Lamar was more than a rich man; he was a visionary. When, at the age of 26, he could not get the NFL to allow him to acquire an NFL expansion franchise, he started his own football league, the AFL. His foresight was uncanny. His AFL creation was not of the fly-by-night variety such as baseball's Federal League, football's AAFC, WFL and USFL, basketball's ABA and hockey's WHA. His new league was built to last. Rather than going bust after a few years, the creation of the AFL changed sports history in a way not seen since the creation of baseball's American League just after the turn of the 20th century.

Lamar was also instrumental in bringing about the historic merger of the NFL and AFL to stop the pricey bidding war that threatened to collapse both leagues. The result of all this, among other factors, was the ascendancy of professional football as the most popular sport in America. We can thank Lamar Hunt for bringing about not only the successful big business of the NFL, but also the great excitement of following NFL football. One of my joys in following the NFL is to hearken back to the history of the early days of the AFL and the following merger to piece together in my mind the development of our present game, in all its sheer exciting action.

With the advent of the NFL in 1920, the establishment of the fledgling AFL forty years later and our present superb game carrying on just over 40 years later, Hunt's involvement in the somewhat historical symmetry (again, in my mind) of the development of the world's greatest sport, is intriguing. We football fanatics owe a huge debt of gratitude to Lamar Hunt. Not only did he shake the foundations of the new national pastime, but he also helped name the greatest sports spectacle, the Super Bowl, after his young daughter remarked that the ball she was bouncing off the roof of their house was a "super ball".

Lamar, we will miss you, but your legacy lives on and your outstanding contribution will be remembered by me every time I watch exciting AFC action. Thank you for helping make all of us football heads' lives even more enjoyable.