‘Best football game I’ve ever seen live’: Readers share favorite memories of Arrowhead

Editor’s note: The following is part of a special KC Star commemorative special edition on the 50th anniversary of Arrowhead Stadium. This special section will publish in full in the Sunday, Oct. 30 print edition.

Steve Grimm said he had never been as cold as he was during his first visit to Arrowhead Stadium the year that it opened in 1972.

The Kansas City Chiefs were playing the Baltimore Colts, Lenny Dawson and Otis Taylor dominated the field and Grimm was just a 12-year-old boy living a dream come true.

“Arrowhead was everything I had dreamed it to be. It was awe-inspiring, powerful, overwhelming, invincible and dang cold!” Grimm said.

Originally from Great Bend, Kansas, Grimm won a trip to the new Arrowhead Stadium by being the Great Bend Tribune’s paperboy of the month. On the day of the game, Grimm said it was so cold, his free, nosebleed seats were covered in ice, but it didn’t stop him from enjoying the game.

“It all was more than worth it as I watched Lenny “The Cool” toss a perfect pass to Otis Taylor for the go-ahead touchdown that day,” he said. “I don’t recall ever being as cold as I was that day. But I would never trade that memory for anything.”

This year’s football season marks the 50th season at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, which has been a source of pride for many Kansas City residents and loyal Chiefs fans.

To commemorate Arrowhead’s anniversary, we asked The Star’s readers to share their favorite memories of Arrowhead from the past five decades. Dozens of fans shared amazing stories. These are just a few of our favorites that we hope help convey what makes Arrowhead special to so many of us.

ARROWHEAD’S FIRST QUARTERBACK

Arrowhead Stadium took more than four years to build. The very first game at the stadium was against the St. Louis Cardinals on August 12, 1972. The Chiefs ended up losing 24-14.

They’ve since played 407 games at Arrowhead over the years and are now the top seed in the AFC West Division. Tickets to their games at Arrowhead have become some of the priciest tickets in the entire league.

But before anyone stepped foot on the field, Craig S. O’Dear said he and his friends were the very first to christen the field at Arrowhead.

O’Dear was a “ball boy” and helped out on the sidelines. He remembers working to prepare the field and sidelines for the preseason by moving equipment into the stadium.

As he was wrapping up, a week before the first game against the St. Louis Cardinals, he said the equipment manager, Bobby Yarborough, tossed him a football.

“He said ‘You guys have done a great job. Go out there on the field and try it out,’” O’Dear said. “This resulted in a pick up game that I have used for years as the basis for telling the story of how I quarterbacked the first ‘game’ in Arrowhead Stadium.”

Since that first season in Arrowhead, the stadium has gone through many changes. The stadium’s biggest overhaul of changes started in 2007 and was completed for the 2010 NFL season. Those renovations included restaurants, concessions, a new press box and more.

The overall cost of the stadium came out to $254,070,000, which is more than $3,300 per seat.

CENTER OF THE SPORTS UNIVERSE

Today, the stadium can seat a total of 76,416. Although that’s less than the 79,000 seats it had when it opened in 1972, Arrowhead is still the sixth largest stadium in the league.

It was also named the loudest stadium in the country in 2014, with fans cheering at 142.2 decibels during a game, according to the NFL. For context, that’s louder than a jet plane taking off or the sound of fireworks.

Keith Edgerton was at Arrowhead Stadium the night the Kansas City Chiefs fan set that record. Edgerton took his sons out to see the Kansas City Chiefs play the Patriots and he said it was almost like the perfect fall day.

He said he knew that the Chiefs were going to bring the heat at that game and the energy in the stadium felt like he was in the “center of the sports universe.”

“It was a pure, undiluted life experience that played upon all of the senses,” Edgerton said. “Sight: the sea of Red, the amber sunset glow; smell: BBQ wood smoke that hung everywhere; the sound: 142 ear-splitting decibels punctuated by the tomahawk chop/chant.”

Edgerton said that night at the stadium was “a perfect harmonic convergence.” To top it off, the Chiefs beat the Patriots 41-14.

STADIUM-SHAKING LOUD

Years before Arrowhead set the record for loudest stadium, Chiefs fans were still known for their loud enthusiasm.

“It was so loud I couldn’t hear myself screaming,” Joel Walsh said of his first time at the stadium. It was October 2003 and the Chiefs were playing the Denver Broncos. Chiefs wide receiver Dante Hall, also known as the “human joystick,” was on the field.

“The question going into the game between two undefeated teams was, ‘Will they kick to Dante Hall?’ And the Broncos did,” Walsh said.

“Denver learned their lesson and didn’t kick to him the rest of the game, until…The Broncos punter sent a booming kick right down the gut. Hall snagged it at the 10, juked left, cut back right, headed left again, then backwards, before tearing down the sideline for a 90-yard touchdown return.”

Walsh said during the game he could feel the stadium shaking because fans were so loud and lively.

“I don’t make it out to Arrowhead very often, but that was hands down the best football game I’ve ever seen live,” Walsh said.

This story was originally published October 27, 2022 at 5:30 AM.

Kynala Phillips

The Kansas City Star

Kynala Phillips was a Service Journalism Reporter at The Kansas City Star, where she worked to answer readers questions about the resources and services in the community. She attended the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is originally from Madison, Wisconsin.