Chiefs honor Super Bowl players at halftime of game vs. Broncos

They stood side by side in Chiefs jerseys. The players and the wives of players from Super Bowls I and IV and took their bows, honored for having played on the grandest stage.

The tributes are playing out throughout the NFL this season as the league celebrates Super Bowl 50, set for Feb. 7, 2016 in Santa Clara.

Teams that won or appeared in Super Bowls are honoring those squads, and Thursday was Kansas City’s night to remember as the players were honored during halftime of the Chiefs-Broncos game.

To Chiefs historian Bob Moore, defense distinguished the great Chiefs teams, with the Super Bowl IV champion standing as the best.

“It was one of the greatest defenses ever,” Moore said. “By the time we got to Super Bowl IV, it was as good as any defense that had ever existed in the NFL.”

Five members of the Super Bowl IV defense are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: tackles Buck Buchanan and Curley Culp, linebackers Bobby Bell and Willie Lanier and cornerback Emmitt Thomas.

Additionally, safety Johnny Robinson, linebacker Jim Lynch and defensive end Jerry Mays are members of the Chiefs’ Hall of Fame.

The group shut down the Vikings 23-7 in Super Bowl IV, the final contest between teams from the established NFL and the upstart AFL.

“For Super Bowl IV, I thought we had one of the greatest teams of all time,” said Mike Garrett, a running back for both Super Bowl teams. “We dominated that game, and the key to it was our defense. Nobody could match us.”

Lanier said the Chiefs had a sense they’d prevail over the Vikings when the matchup was established. The teams had played during the preseason the previous year.

“We beat them (13-10), so we knew the personnel, and I felt we had gotten better,” Lanier said. “One of the other benefits for us that season is we never had anyone out or injured in that season. What that did was create a stability.

“Many players, when they talked about our team, would talk about how they came out in pregame warmups, look across the field and see these human beings who were much larger, more physical looking.”

The next season, the leagues operated under the NFL banner, and after the Green Bay Packers had defeated the Chiefs and Oakland Raiders by a combined 68-24 score in the first two Super Bowls and the New York Jets defeated the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, the impression remained that the AFL produced an inferior product.

“The NFL thought they’d win this game by double digits,” Moore said.

The Vikings kicked off as a 13-point favorite but the Chiefs dominated, limiting Minnesota to 67 rushing yards and forcing five turnovers.

The Chiefs were a stronger group for the 1969 season than in 1966, when they represented the AFL in the first Super Bowl.

Buchanan and Bell led the defense, with the same stars on the offensive side who would play major roles four years later: Quarterback Len Dawson, flanker Otis Taylor and running back Garrett.

In the first Super Bowl — the game was officially the AFL-NFL World Championship Game and wouldn’t become the Super Bowl until the Jets-Colts game — the Chiefs got off to a solid start and trailed the Packers 14-10 at halftime. The Packers scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second half to win 35-10.

The Chiefs will be on hand of other tributes, on Sept. 28 at Green Bay, which is celebrating the first Super Bowl, and on Oct. 18 at Minnesota. The Vikings will welcome back the 11 players who participated in the organization’s four Super Bowls.

Later this season, the Chiefs will publicly congratulate its newest member of the Hall of Fame, guard Will Shields. His Hall of Fame ring ceremony will take place on Nov. 29 when the Chiefs meet Buffalo.

Another Super Bowl tribute: the 50s at midfield are painted in gold. The rest of the numbers indicating the yard lines remain white.

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 10:06 PM with the headline "Chiefs honor Super Bowl players at halftime of game vs. Broncos."