Ranking the Top 50 most influential people in Kansas City sports history. Yes, all-time
Lists like this have been put together before, but a list exactly like this has never been attempted.
And now I know why.
The challenge: rank the people most influential in making Kansas City sports what it is today.
We are, of course, in a strange time. Sports are paused in an unprecedented way. That stinks for a lot of us, but it’s also a chance to take inventory of what we have in a way that’s not possible when games are happening.
This is not a ranking of the most powerful people in the moment, or the most powerful of all-time.
It is an attempt at combining the two, essentially answering this question: Who is most responsible for creating Kansas City’s sports scene?
A few guidelines followed on the curation and order:
- Your influence must be clearly felt or touched today
- The moment is important, but so too are all the moments that led to this point
- Influence is often counted in lives touched, so bonus points for those whose work is grassroots.
To give you an idea, I started thinking about this list right after the shutdown of sports began. Versions of it have been shared and debated and changed based on feedback from various people around town, including a few on this list. It is an absurd process and turned out to be around 100 times more work than I anticipated. A labor of love, made possible by the lack of real games. I hope we never have an opportunity like this again, and I would not recommend anyone else attempt to re-create it.
OK, with the process outlined, I’m sure you will all completely agree with all of this. Thanks in advance!
1. Lamar Hunt
Role: founder of AFL, Chiefs, MLS and franchise now known as Sporting KC.
The case: The easiest decision on this list. Hunt moved his AFL team north from Dallas in 1963, changing Kansas City forever. Eight markets larger than Kansas City do not have an NFL team, including two that recently lost franchises. Hunt’s faith and promotion of Kansas City made us major-league. On his watch, the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV, put 11 players into the Hall of Fame and annually finished near the top of the league in attendance.
Influence today: The Chiefs built Arrowhead Stadium and became the city’s favorite institution other than barbecue on Hunt’s watch. He also insisted that America should have professional soccer despite knowing it was a money pit at the time, and then sold the Wizards to a dedicated and smart local group that could make the franchise thrive.
2. Ewing Kauffman
Role: Founder and 24-year owner of the Royals.
The case: The last easy decision on this list. Kansas City had been insulted and eventually ditched by A’s owner Charlie Finley, and Kauffman’s willingness to fund and land an MLB expansion team was critical not just for our sports history but our civic self-esteem. Kauffman didn’t just found the Royals, either. He invested and innovated to turn them into the most successful expansion franchise in baseball history, with seven division championships in 10 years and the 1985 World Series title.
Influence today: The Royals have drawn 88,083,670 fans since their inception. Kauffman is likely the most civically committed person in Kansas City history, so if this was a broader list about influence outside of sports he would likely be No. 1. John Sherman, the Royals’ new owner, was handpicked by David Glass because he reminded the man handpicked by Kauffman of, you guessed it, Kauffman..
3. Patrick Mahomes
Role: Chiefs quarterback, 2017-present.
The case: The Chiefs’ first league MVP owns the best two-year start to any playing career in NFL history — is his worst season as a starting quarterback the time he threw more than 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns? Or is it the time he led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl LIV victory? He is arguably the franchise’s greatest all-time change agent, rewriting a history of boring, retread quarterbacks and gut-punch playoff losses.
Influence today: His jersey is the league’s top seller, and like Brett and Dawson before him, Mahomes is boosting a franchise and inspiring a generation of kids to love the game he plays. He’s also the biggest star in America’s biggest sport. Is this too high for a guy who’s played just two years? Maybe. But this is Len Dawson in 1970, Tom Watson in 1983, George Brett in 1985. The difference is Mahomes may just be getting started.
4. George Brett
Role: Royals star, 1973-93, and a Baseball Hall of Famer
The case: One of the best baseball players of all-time, a first-ballot Hall of Famer with 98.2 percent of the vote, 3,154 hits, batting titles in three decades, a .305 lifetime average, the 1980 MVP and 13 All-Star nods. He was the undisputed star of the Royals’ rise from expansion to contender to beating the Yankees and finally winning the 1985 World Series. Has remained in Kansas City, working as a Royals vice president and serving a critical role in fighting ALS.
Influence today: The single most successful athlete in city history, his swing and competitiveness inspired a love of baseball in a generation of kids, and then in that generation’s children. During the Royals’ lost years from the 1994 strike to Dayton Moore’s Process, the franchise’s only credibility came from the success driven by Brett.
5. Len Dawson
Role: Chiefs quarterback 1963-75; Pro Football Hall of Famer; broadcaster from 1966-2017.
The case: It’s possible that no athlete has ever been more visible and a more important ambassador for a team than Dawson was as the Chiefs’ star quarterback and sports director at KMBC for most of his playing career. Named MVP of Super Bowl IV, he was our city’s first national sports star.
Influence today: One of just three men inducted into Pro Football’s Hall of Fame as both a player and broadcaster, Dawson has been among the Chiefs’ most recognizable figures for more than 50 years.
6. Andy Reid
Role: Chiefs coach, 2013-present.
The case: The single most influential person in the Chiefs’ slog from the tragic embarrassment of 2012 to one of the NFL’s most consistently successful franchises. In Reid’s seven years in Kansas City, only the New England Patriots have won more games or appeared in more postseasons.
Influence today: Watch a replay of Super Bowl LIV. Other than Mahomes, Reid is the most important guy in the rewriting of the franchise’s history, and he was a major force in bringing Mahomes to Kansas City. His constant innovation kept the Chiefs interesting even before Mahomes’ emergence, and his work here will put him the Hall of Fame one day.
7. Clark Hunt
Role: Chiefs chairman and CEO, 2006-present.
The case: He brought a proud but outdated franchise into the 21st century, modernizing everything from the organization’s operations to the actual stadium (he was heavily involved in its renovations even before his father’s death). His influence extends throughout the country’s biggest sports league. He’s been key in the league’s CBA negotiations, franchise relocations and international games, among other projects.
Influence today: He is the top decision-maker in the region’s greatest sports asset. His move to change the franchise’s internal reporting structure was a departure from his father’s way of doing business and has been critical in its evolution from its worst season to arguably the most successful seven-year run in team history. He’ll always be known as Lamar’s son, but the Chiefs are very much Clark’s franchise now.
8. Peter Vermes
Role: Sporting Kansas City coach and technical director, 2009-present.
The case: The brain and sweat behind one of MLS’s most successful franchises of the last decade. Vermes has found a way to navigate a suboptimal financial structure, building a bankable winner that once sold out 125 consecutive MLS matches and drastically raising soccer’s profile in Kansas City.
Influence today: Vermes gets extra credit on our list for driving Sporting’s grassroots reach in Kansas City and beyond, creating and enhancing opportunities for countless kids, many of whom are now adults. Between 11 years coaching the MLS team and all the work with Sporting’s youth endeavors, it’s possible that nobody has done more to spread and teach a sport here than Vermes.
9. Neal Patterson and Cliff Illig
Roles: Cerner co-founders and Sporting KC owners, 2006-present.
The case: The list’s only shared entry, but it’s impossible to separate the two. Patterson died of cancer in 2017 and Illig has given up day-to-day operations of Sporting KC, but their influence hangs around the franchise and city. The team was something of a lost cause when Hunt convinced them to buy it, and in the years since it’s gone from playing in an empty Arrowhead to a small baseball park to one of MLS’s best stadiums.
Influence today: Sporting’s ascent rearranged Kansas City’s sports landscape, creating space for a team and a sport that had previously been mostly ignored. Without their investment and leadership, Sporting would almost certainly be playing somewhere else, or nowhere.
10. Dayton Moore
Role: Royals general manager, 2006-present.
The case: He built the game’s best farm system out of its worst, and turned a franchise that had lost all shame into a world champion. His tenure has been far from perfect, with consecutive 100-loss seasons, but from 2013 through 2017 the Royals reminded Kansas City of baseball’s charm and changed a region’s relationship with the sport along the way.
Influence today: Like Vermes, Moore gets extra credit for spreading his sport in the community. He sees the Urban Youth Academy as something like a calling, putting so much effort and innovation into it that MLB views it as the new community standard for development and outreach. His view of players as ambassadors more than commodities is increasingly rare among his peers but has also given Kansas Citians a relatively steady stream of star personalities through which to enjoy the game.
11. David Glass
Role: Royals chairman and owner, 2000-19.
The case: The first six or so years of his sole ownership of the franchise were ugly, but even in those days he worked to keep the team in Kansas City. His decision to rethink the club’s baseball operations by hiring Moore in 2006 opened the door to one of the most successful stretches in franchise history.
Influence today: Glass was among the most passionate voices in baseball increasing its revenue-sharing and led to the creation of MLB’s hugely successful Baseball Advanced Media. He resisted relocation before and after officially purchasing the team, and when it came time to sell, he targeted and only talked to Sherman, creating a clear through-line from Kauffman, the organization’s founder.
12. Hank Stram
Role: Chiefs coach, 1963-74.
The case: Stram’s Dallas Texans won the AFL championship the year before becoming the Kansas City Chiefs, and no single person was more critical in maintaining a consistent winner through that first decade in town than Stram. His willingness to be mic’d up during Super Bowl IV created some of Kansas City’s (and the NFL’s) most enduring sports moments.
Influence today: Stram’s Chiefs popularized football and created a generation of fans here. Think about this: A college student who fell for the Super Bowl IV champs could’ve taken his kids to see the Martyball Chiefs in the 1990s, and his grandkids to see Patrick Mahomes.
13. Bill Snyder
Role: K-State football coach, 1989-2005; 2009-18.
The case: Kansas State was widely regarded as the country’s worst college football program when he was hired, and Snyder turned it into one of the best. K-State’s football success may have preserved the school’s status in the Big 8 and even Division I.
Influence today: It would be hard to create a list with more than a few names of people with a bigger presence at a major university. The success of his program changed the economics of K-State and Manhattan, a transformation that will remain for the foreseeable future.
14. Derrick Thomas
Role: Chiefs linebacker, 1989-99; Pro Football Hall of Famer.
The case: Arguably the best and inarguably the most famous pass-rusher to play for a franchise that was long built on pass-rushers. He was the Chiefs’ most popular player as they won more games than any other team in the NFL during the 1990s.
Influence today: The same way Stram and others created consistent success and personality in the 1960s, Thomas was the alpha dog in the Chiefs doing the same thing in the 1990s. His seven-sack game against the Seattle Seahawks in 1990 is still one of Kansas City’s all-time best performances.
15. Carol Marinovich
Role: Mayor and CEO of Unified Government of Wyandotte County, 1995-2005.
The case: The single strongest force in transforming western Wyandotte County from empty fields to a regional sports and entertainment hub, first with Kansas Speedway and more recently with Children’s Mercy Park.
Influence today: Wyandotte County went from ignored to a major player in local sports because of the changes Marinovich led. The western intersection of interstates 435 and 70 is now an economic force and sports focus. Millions have attended events in what used to be open fields.
16. Brett Veach
Role: Chiefs executive 2013-present, including the last three years as GM.
The case: Played an important role in turning the Chiefs from disaster to contender as a scout and co-director of player personnel, and then from very good to Super Bowl champions as GM. Reid is the point man on personnel, but guidance and execution from Veach and his assistants set up a championship run with one of the best offseasons in franchise history. The acquisitions of Tyrann Mathieu, Frank Clark, Bashaud Breeland, Mecole Hardman, Juan Thornhill and others were pivotal.
Influence today: The primary driver in the Chiefs trading up to select Mahomes in 2017, which means without his eye and conviction maybe some other city would’ve had that parade in February. These things are fluid, obviously, but Veach is just 41, which means he could be guiding the Chiefs when current kindergartners are graduating from high school.
17. Matt Besler
Role: Sporting Kansas City defender, 2009-present.
The case: The first Kansas Citian to play in the World Cup and among the most successful and recognized players in the history of his hometown team. Besler has been a constant figure in the franchise’s rise, including being named the 2012 MLS defender of the year.
Influence today: For the thousands of Kansas City kids playing soccer Besler, is the most tangible proof possible that they can achieve their dreams. Besler is intelligent and thoughtful and keeps Kansas City close to his heart, and in his actions.
18. Tom Watson
Role: PGA pro and eight-time majors winner, 1972-2014.
The case: Known as Kansas City’s third franchise (ahead of the Scouts and Kings) for much of the 1970s and 1980s, Watson helped popularize golf in town and beyond. He also quit the Kansas City Country Club in 1990, believing civic leader Henry Bloch had been denied membership because he was Jewish. Bloch received an invitation days later.
Influence today: He has remained in Kansas City and active in our community, most prominently with his work in fighting ALS. Watson was an international star for more than a decade, promoting golf in a city with some 74 courses.
19. Bobby Bell
Role: Chiefs defensive lineman, 1963-74; Pro Football Hall of Famer.
The case: Inducted into both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, Bell made the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time team, the 1970s All-Decade Team and AFL All-Time Team. And he may have been the best player on a dominant defense that won Super Bowl IV.
Influence today: He’s a standard-bearer, same as Brett and Dawson and others who played at the top of their respective sports. He also remains in Kansas City, where he’s active in various charities.
20. Carl Peterson
Role: Chiefs president, CEO and GM, 1989-2008.
The case: The Chiefs had made just one postseason in the 17 years before Peterson and Marty Schottenheimer were hired. The franchise had become so irrelevant they often closed Arrowhead’s top deck during home games. Peterson and Schottenheimer revitalized the franchise and Kansas City’s football passion, with the Chiefs becoming the NFL’s winningest team of the 1990s and Arrowhead gaining a reputation as one of the league’s best game-day experiences.
Influence today: The Chiefs’ success in the 1990s did not save the franchise, but it did create a wave of new fans who are now raising another wave of fans. Peterson’s emphasis on tailgating was innovative in the NFL and remains a signature of the franchise and league today.
21. John Sherman
Role: Royals chairman and owner, 2019-present.
The case: He’s only owned the team since November, and the team hasn’t played a game under his watch yet because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so our perception of his leadership is all projection at the moment. But he’s long been one of our city’s leading philanthropists, with a strong reputation for honesty and good character.
Influence today: Sherman’s entry into the job could be remembered as one of the most important stretches in franchise history. The team will almost certainly lose a fortune this year, and that’s the least of his concerns. He and his club need to find a way to keep the Royals and baseball relevant while a pandemic wrecks games and the Chiefs are among the country’s hottest brands.
22. Marty Schottenheimer
Role: Chiefs head coach, 1989-98.
The case: He orchestrated the on-field transformation that gave energy and credibility to Peterson’s work. Schottenheimer created an identity for the 1990s Chiefs, one built around defense and running the ball. That became known as “Martyball,” and is still referenced today.
Influence today: The Chiefs’ success in those years created untold thousands of new fans and pushed the team to the brink of the Super Bowl. Even last season, as the Chiefs marched to their first championship in 50 years, Arrowhead filled with fans wearing replicas of jerseys worn by players who were active during Schottenheimer’s years.
23. Alex Gordon
Role: Royals third baseman and left fielder, 2007-present.
The case: Nobody more fully personified the Royals’ climb from irrelevance to world champions than Gordon. He was a phenom, then a bust, then promised to dominate and became a star. His homer off New York Mets closer Jeurys Familia in the 2015 World Series is among Kansas City’s most iconic moments and should be memorialized someday with a statue. He has a case as the Royals’ greatest player since George Brett.
Influence today: Gordon has remained a lifetime Royal in an era when many believed that was impossible. His leadership has been a core part of the Royals’ identity for years, and his play helped build not only the Royals’ on-field success, but also their popularity.
24. Bill Self
Role: Kansas men’s basketball coach, 2003-present.
The case: He claimed at least a share of 14 consecutive Big 12 championships, made three Final Fours and won the 2008 national championship at KU, earning a place in basketball’s Hall of Fame. Self took over a powerhouse program from Roy Williams and made it even better.
Influence today: An NCAA investigation is ongoing, threatening not just Self’s power but reputation. Still, at least for now, he remains the single most influential person on the campus of the university, with more Kansas City-area graduates than any other.
25. Gary Pinkel
Role: Missouri football coach, 2001-15.
The case: Pinkel built a program that had been to just two bowls across its last three coaches into a regular Big 12 threat and one eventually worthy of playing in two SEC championship games. He recruited more and better talent to Mizzou than anyone before or since.
Influence today: Leaving the Big 12 in 2012 was undoubtedly the correct financial move for Mizzou, but Pinkel’s success during those first two years in the SEC proved the Tigers football team could remain competitive in college football’s best conference. That’s a standard Barry Odom, and now Eli Drinkwitz, have chased every day since Pinkel’s retirement.
26. Kay Barnes
Role: Kansas City mayor, 1999-2007.
The case: Barnes spearheaded development projects for the Sprint Center and Power & Light District, reversing decades of decay in Kansas City’s downtown. Sprint Center is now downtown’s events anchor, replacing the outdated Kemper Arena and maintaining Kansas City’s place as the Big 12 basketball tournament’s host and serious player for national sporting events.
Influence today: Others were also important in building the Sprint Center and filling it with events, but none more so than Barnes. Our city’s identity would be fundamentally different without her contrbutions. If you’ve ever attended an event at Sprint Center, you’ve felt her influence.
27. Travis Kelce
Role: Chiefs tight end, 2013-present.
The case: He was the Chiefs’ most recognizable star before Mahomes showed up and remains among the NFL’s best players. He just completed his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard season, which combined with the Super Bowl championship will bolster his eventual Hall of Fame case. He’s made Kansas City his home and is heavily involved in the community, including with Operation Breakthrough.
28. Salvador Perez
Role: Royals catcher, 2011-present.
The case: Perhaps the Royals’ most popular player, and a certain future team Hall of Famer. His single — somehow pulled down the third-base line, on a slider a mile off the plate — past Oakland’s Josh Donaldson in the 2014 American League Wild Card Game set off one of the city’s great sports celebrations.
29. Evelyn Gates
Role: Sports official and advocate for KC-area girls sports for 45 years.
The case: She officiated and promoted multiple sports, including the first women’s NAIA basketball tournament game in Kansas City. The area’s annual award for its top high school volleyball player is named for Gates, whose work in sports touched the lives of tens of thousands of people in the region.
30. Tony Severino
Role: High school football coach, primarily at Rockhurst, 1987-2019.
The case: He’s a member of five Halls of Fame and a winner of nine state championships (including one in baseball). Likely the most successful high school football coach in Kansas City history, he coached more than a thousand kids and served as a mentor to countless coaches around the city.
31. Bud Lathrop
Role: Raytown South basketball coach, 1961-2006.
The case: Sort of the basketball equivalent of Severino. He won four state championships and 35 conference titles, coaching some of the best teams in city history, including the undefeated state champions in 1990.
32. Jack Bush
Role: KC high school basketball coach, primarily at Central, 1952-2001.
The case: Bush won 799 games, made 12 state final fours and won the 1979 state championship. He was (and remains) an outsized influence on generations of coaches, particularly in the urban core.
33. Norm Stewart
Role: Missouri men’s basketball coach, 1967-99; college basketball Hall of Famer.
The case: “Norm” is the most successful coach in MU history, and for a generation of Missourians and Mizzou fans, he personifies the school’s identity. He won 731 games and eight conference championships and made 16 NCAA Tournaments, and was inducted to the Hall of Fame. Mizzou’s court is named for him.
34. Buck O’Neil
Role: Monarchs player 1938-49; Negro Leagues Baseball Museum founder; baseball and KC ambassador always.
The case: Buck’s relentlessly joyous spirit spread an important American story to millions who’d never heard it. The museum’s mere existence depended on his personality, and he stole the show in Ken Burns’ definitive documentary, “Baseball.”
35. Bob Kendrick
Role: Negro Leagues Museum president, 2011-present.
The case: We couldn’t help but put Kendrick right behind O’Neil. That’s where he was for much of O’Neil’s later years, and it’s where he’s remained as the driving force behind the museum since O’Neil’s death. Kendrick left the museum briefly after the board passed him over as president but has since led a resurrection of the business.
36. Tony Gonzalez
Role: Chiefs tight end, 1997-2008; Pro Football Hall of Famer.
The case: Kansas City’s biggest star in the years between Thomas and Mahomes, Gonzalez was the sport’s best tight end and one of its greatest playmakers. He played on a lot of bad or mediocre teams, which kept his national profile down and eventually led him to demand a trade.
37. Ron Labinski
Role: Co-founder of Populous (formerly HOK Sport).
The case: The lead architect on the design of Arrowhead Stadium, which helped change how people viewed stadiums across the country — and eventually the world. Considered by many to be the forefather of sports architecture, he helped establish Kansas City as the industry’s global hub.
38. Kathy Nelson
Role: President and CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission, 2011-present.
The case: She’s been a force in Kansas City landing regional and national events like the Big 12 and NCAA basketball tournaments, U.S. Figure Skating Championships and U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Nelson was also a central figure in KC’s winning bid for the 2023 NFL Draft, and she’s organized championship parades for the Royals and Chiefs.
39. Frank White
Role: Royals second baseman 1973-90; broadcaster 2008-11; Jackson County Executive, 2016-present.
The case: A native Kansas Citian, Lincoln High graduate and eight-time Gold Glove winner, his is one of just three numbers retired by the Royals. White’s oversight now includes the Truman Sports Complex that houses both Kauffman and Arrowhead Stadiums.
40. Joe McGuff
Role: Kansas City Star journalist, 1948-92.
The case: A driving force in Kansas City positioning itself for the expansion Royals after the A’s left town, his columns influenced several generations of fans and regional decision-makers.
41. Phog Allen
Role: Kansas men’s basketball coach, 1907-09, 1919-56.
The case: He built KU basketball into a national power, was critical in getting basketball added to the Berlin Olympics in 1936 and was a driving force in the creation of the NCAA Tournament.
42. Don Motley
Role: Longtime amateur baseball coach; Negro Leagues Baseball Museum executive director, 1991-2008.
The case: Motley was the first black coach in the American Legion and Ban Johnson leagues, coaching the Milgram Mustangs for 41 years. Motley’s work here and beyond spread baseball to untold thousands.
43. Tyrann Mathieu
Role: Chiefs safety, 2019-present.
The case: He was perhaps the second-best player on the Chiefs’ Super Bowl team, with an outsized role in transforming a sorry defense into one worthy of winning a championship. Mathieu was recently named to the NFL’s All-Decade team and, like Kelce, now has a potentially convincing Hall of Fame case. He has also already prioritized various community undertakings in his short time in Kansas City.
44. Whit Merrifield
Role: Royals infielder and outfielder, 2016-present.
The case: He’s the Royals’ most productive and visible player, with a growing reputation as one of the game’s most consistent performers and a strengthening voice in labor negotiations.
45. Eric Bieniemy
Role: Chiefs assistant coach 2013-present.
The case: Bieniemy, currently the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, will drop off this list soon when he becomes a head coach somewhere else. But for now he is Reid’s widely respected top assistant and the last voice in Mahomes’ ear before a play.
46. Ned Yost
Role: Royals manager, 2010-19.
The case: The Royals’ winningest manager and the dugout leader on the path from rebuilding to world champions.
47. Will Shields
Role: Chiefs offensive lineman, 1993-2006; Pro Football Hall of Famer.
The case: The franchise leader in games played until last season, Shields is a Pro Football Hall of Famer and the 2003 NFL Man of the Year. He owns and operates a Lenexa gym and charity that serves thousands of area athletes.
48. Kevin Gray
Role: Kansas City Sports Commission president, 1989-2011.
The case: Gray led the charge in building the local sports commission from a one-person office to a privately funded force in growing Kansas City’s sports profile.
49. Mark Donovan
Role: Chiefs president, 2011-present.
The case: He has helped spread the Chiefs’ business interests and profile throughout Kansas City and beyond, and has played a key role in expanding Arrowhead Stadium’s events schedule.
50. James Naismith
Role: Inventor of basketball.
The case: Well, he literally invented basketball. Also, he started the Kansas Jayhawks’ hoops program, and the court at Allen Fieldhouse is named in his honor.
This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 5:00 AM.