A Date to Remember

There are two meaningful events that happened on this date, February 8th, in Chiefs history. The first is that of tragedy. The second, that of a joyous occasion.

On February 8th, 2000, now Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Thomas died. 

According to police reports, Thomas was speeding on icy roads during a snowstorm on the way to KC International Airport. The vehicle went off the road and Thomas, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from the vehicle and paralyzed from the neck down. Another passenger was killed immediately.

On his way to therapy in the hospital on February 8th, Thomas went into cardio-respiratory arrest and died soon  after. 

In his career with the Chiefs, Thomas was selected to 9 Pro Bowls, 3 first-team All Pros, 3 second-team All Pros, 7 time first-team All AFC, NFL 1990s All-Decade team, 1989 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, 1993 Walter Payton Man of the Year winner, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. He also has the NFL record of sacks in a game (7), and six Chiefs franchise records.

We should all take a moment of silence to commemorate this great player.

Now, that everyone is depressed, let me get to the good part.

On February 8th, 1963, Lamar Hunt announced that he was moving the Dallas Texans to Kansas City. This, of course, was the creation of the Kansas City Chiefs. Hunt chose KC because of its potential market and fan base, being located around states that didn't have professional football teams.

But I don't care about the economic reasons he made this move, I'm just glad he made it.