Eight 1969 Chiefs riding in their first Super Bowl parade

Kansas City Chiefs fans waited 50 years for their team to win another championship. But eight of the best players on the 1969 team that won Super Bowl IV have been waiting just as long for their chance to ride in a championship parade.

This is because ten Chiefs — quarterback Mike Livingston, running back Robert Holmes, guard Ed Budde, tackle Jim Tyer, linebackers Bobby Bell and Willie Lanier, defensive tackles Buck Buchanan and Curley Culp, cornerback Jim Marsalis and placekicker Jan Stenerud — all went straight from the Super Bowl to prepare for the AFL’s final All-Star game the following Saturday at the Houston Astrodome.

Super Bowl MVP Len Dawson had been tapped for the All-Star game, but declined the invite because of his knee injury; Livingston took his place.

Unlike today, the AFL and NFL all-star games were played after the championship games. That continued after the AFL and NFL merged the next year; the Pro Bowl was held after the season concluded until 2010, when it was moved to the week before the Super Bowl.

So none of those Chiefs All-Star players were able to participate in the parade that was held the very next day after their Super Bowl win. It was a much simpler affair, too. Immediately upon their arrival at Municipal Airport, the team was taken on a motorcade through downtown Kansas City to a rally at the Liberty Memorial.

Buchanan died in 1992 and Tyrer passed away in 1980. But the Chiefs have invited all eight of the surviving AFL All-Stars from the 1969 team to be in Wednesday’s parade. Be on the lookout for them!