When the Kansas City Chiefs entertain the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in the American Football Conference championship game, it will not be the first time that the two franchises have met for a title.
Back in 1962, both teams were charter members of the three-year old American Football League.
The Chiefs were known as the Dallas Texans at that time, while the Titans began as the Houston Oilers.
Houston was playing for its third straight AFL championship and the Texans were in the title affair for the first time.
In the first half of the contest in Houston on Dec. 23, the Texans built a 17-0 advantage under future Hall of Fame coach Hank Stram.
Rookie kicker Tommy Brooker had a field goal for Dallas and Abner Haynes scored twice. Haynes caught a pass from Len Dawson and ran for the other touchdown.
The Oilers answered in the second half and eventually tied the game at 17-17.
Oilers quarterback George Blanda threw a TD pass for Willard Dewveall. During the final stanza, Blanda kicked a field and Charley Tolar ran for the game-tying score.
The Coin Toss
Prior to the overtime, Haynes made what could have been a huge mistake.
The Texans won the coin flip and to the surprise of everyone, Haynes said, “We’ll kick to the clock.”
The error gave the Oilers the first crack at winning in sudden death.
Fortunately for Dallas, the Texans were able to survive and win 20-17 in the second extra session on a field goal by Brooker.
The Moves
The 1962 championship contest was the final game for the Dallas Texans.
Owner Lamar Hunt would move the team to Kansas City the next season to begin play a refurbished stadium as the team would become the Chiefs.
The Chiefs went to win two more AFL titles.
Kansas City fell in Super Bowl I to the Green Bay Packers 35-10 after defeating the Buffalo Bills in the 1966 AFL title affair 31-7.
The Chiefs claimed the final AFL crown by beating the Oakland Raiders 17-7 and then won Super Bowl IV with a 23-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
Since winning the first two AFL titles, the Oilers/Titans have not won a league championship.
The franchise was moved to Tennessee prior to the 1997 season and the team became the Titans in 1999.
As the Titans, the team made it to Super Bowl XXXIV and lost to the St. Louis Rams 23-16 on the final play of the game.
Series History
Kansas City leads the all-time series with Tennessee at 29-24-0. The Titans won 35-32 in Nashville earlier this season.
In the post-season, the Chiefs have a 2-1 edge.
In addition to the 1962 contest, Kansas City beat the Oilers 28-20 in Houston in the AFC Divisional Playoffs in 1994. The last time the two teams met in the post-season was in 2018 when the Titans won 22-21 in Kansas City.