Rob Issa, FISM News
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The Kansas City Chiefs have been one of the winningest franchises in the NFL for more than a decade, and the foundation for their success begins with a Christ-centered culture within the organization.
Team owner Clark Hunt believes in helping employees develop spiritually. The Chiefs are the only NFL team to offer a chapel service for fans before games that start at 12 p.m. CST on Sundays.
Speaking at Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday, Hunt talked about the prayer being in the spotlight in the NFL after Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field last month and “Pray for Damar” became a social media trend.
“We’re all so glad that Damar is doing well,” Hunt said.
It was very comforting to see a huge outpouring of support for him and people turning to God in what was a very scary time for a lot of time. One of the things I’ve enjoyed about being associated with the NFL is all the locker rooms I’ve been in, God is always there. Players pray before the game, they pray after the game. So that wasn’t unusual in that regard but I think you saw more of the outside, more fans, more media recognizing the importance of prayer in a situation like that.
Hunt has given God the glory on a national platform after big wins and he’s said: “My identity is my faith in Christ.”
“The Lord has blessed our family in so many ways,” Hunt said.
The Chiefs are in the Super Bowl for the third time in four years. They beat San Francisco in 2020 and lost to Tampa Bay in 2021. Before that, their previous appearance was a victory over Minnesota after the 1969 season.
“I don’t know that it gets better but we do know not to take it for granted,” Hunt said.
One of the things about going 50 years between Super Bowls is it teaches you how much to appreciate it. You know certainly over the last five years we’ve been blessed playing in five straight AFC Championship games, and the three Super Bowls. It’s special but we’re not going to take it for granted and yeah hopefully we’ll get out there and try to claim another Lombardi (trophy).
Under Hunt’s leadership, coach Andy Reid in charge and Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, the Chiefs are setting a new standard for winning in the NFL.
After losing to the Bengals in last year’s AFC title game, the Chiefs entered this season with less hype than Buffalo and Cincinnati. But they’ve made it to this point once again.
“Internally we had high expectations, understanding the challenge of playing with a bunch of young players,” Hunt said.
If you listen to much of the national media, you know you would’ve thought that we had no chance. I remember Andy commenting in response to a question that we’re not going to be too bad ourselves because people were talking about the other teams in the AFC West. Obviously, really the credit goes to Andy and the coaching staff for getting those young players ready to play and of course tonight we had numerous young players step up, some who haven’t played very much over the course of the season.
Hunt’s father, Lamar Hunt, founded the Chiefs in 1960 as the Dallas Texans, a charter member of the American Football League. He moved them to Kansas City two years before Clark was born in 1965. The trophy given to the team that wins the AFC championship is named after Lamar Hunt.
After Lamar Hunt died in 2006, Clark Hunt, his mother, and his siblings inherited legal ownership of the Chiefs. Under Clark Hunt’s leadership, the Chiefs have made the playoffs nine times, won the AFC West seven consecutive times, and reached three Super Bowls.