The Kansas City Chiefs used three field goals by Jan Stenerud, a sterling performance by quarterback Len Dawson and a rock-ribbed defense to down the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 before 80,562 fans at New Orleans, making a winner out of legendary Chiefs’ coach Hank Stram.

This scenario happened Jan. 11, 1970 in Super Bowl IV following the 1969 season before the full merger of the AFL and NFL, a year after Kansas City owner Lamar Hunt dubbed the big game the Super Bowl.

Many San Francisco fans swear that if 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman was born 50 years earlier and played for the Vikings, he would shoulder much of the blame for the loss to Kansas City back then.

That’s because in Sunday’s game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., Sherman allowed Kansas City’s speedy wide receiver Sammy Watkins to get behind him and catch a 38-yard pass that led to the touchdown which put the Chiefs ahead 24-20 just short of the two-minute warning in the fourth period.

Sherman sharpened his goat horns after the Chiefs’ defense put another three-and- out on the now-inept San Francisco offense when he missed an easy tackle on Chiefs’ running back Damien Williams who danced untouched into the end zone for a 38-yard Super Bowl victory-clinching touchdown for the final score of 31-20.

Sunday’s victory ended a half-century dry spell for the Kansas City Chiefs.

According to Monday’s edition of the Kansas City Star, “Sunday’s game against San Francisco marked Kansas City’s first appearance in pro football’s championship since then.

“Among NFL franchises, several teams have gone longer without a Super Bowl title.

The Cardinals (three cities), New York Jets, Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions have been around as long as the Chiefs, who played their first three years as the Dallas Texans.

“The Jets won Super Bowl III—the first NFL title game to be called the Super Bowl—the Browns won the last of their four NFL championships in 1964.

The Lions won the last of their three in 1957.

“Since the Texans/Chiefs were founded with the AFL in 1960, the Buffalo Bills, LA/San Diego Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals have denied their fans a championship longer than the Chiefs.

The Bills and Chargers won AFL championships in the 1960s,” the article pointed out.

The Chiefs’ playoff run was different than most Super Bowl championships because they fell behind in double figures in all three contests.

The Houston Texans had Kansas City on the ropes 24-0 in the first half but between Head Coach Andy Reid’s optimism and quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ talent to rally his troops, the results was a 51-31 win in the division playoffs.

Then came the red-hot Tennessee Titans who had won seven straight games and jumped out to a 10-point lead at the half.

Again, the Reid/Mahomes combo swung into action and ignited a second-half charge which resulted in a 35-24 Chiefs’ win for the AFC Conference Championship Game.

Just to show those two comebacks were no flukes, Reid told Mahomes to just keep firing those passes despite two straight interceptions in the third period Sunday.

And that’s exactly what Mahomes did, throwing to open receivers and running the ball when they were all covered, putting on the superman’s cape and winning the game.

Although Super Bowl LIV was far from Mahomes’ greatest game, he completed 26 of 42 passes for 286 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions and a very modest 78.1 rating.

However, at 24 years of age, Mahomes became the youngest player in NFL history to be named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

The 61-year-old Reid won a Super Bowl ring with the with the 1996 Green Bay Packers while he was in charge of the tight ends.

He just completed his 21 st NFL season with a record of 77-35 in seven seasons at Kansas City and 130-93 in 14 seasons at Philadelphia.

According to the Associated Press, “He’s been seeking one as a head coach since being hired by Philadelphia in 1999.

The Eagles lost in their only trip to the big game after the 2004 season.” Nice going Andy Reid!!! KWICKIES…All the football players and coaches from both the winning Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers were observed standing for the National Anthem like everybody else.

Only two patrons were seen sitting down during the Anthem—Jay-Z and Beyonce.

After leading the PGA Tour Waste Management Phoenix Open for much of the tournament and being two strokes ahead with two holes left, Tony Finau missed a short birdie putt on No. 18 after Webb Simpson made his birdie to tie the match and send the tournament into sudden death.

Simpson proceeded to birdie the first playoff hole while Finau missed his, giving Simpson his sixth PGA Tour title and the $1.314 million winner’s check.

Each Kansas City Chiefs player will receive a winner’s check of $124,000 while the San Francisco players received $62,000.

Payouts are in addition to bonuses for wild- card, divisional and conference championship victories JUST BETWEEN US…My grandson Logan Smith, a Lufkin Hudson graduate, is in his final year at West Point and will be counted on heavily this spring by the Army Black Knights’ baseball team, which opens its 2020 season in a three-game series at Duke beginning on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14).

Although he was Army’s most consistent relief pitcher for the last three seasons, Logan has been working as a starting pitcher this year.

The team is only able to hold intra-squad games on the West Point indoor football practice field.

Logan has been gradually adding the number of pitches and threw 91 pitches Saturday, giving up one run, three hits, seven strikeouts and one walk in 7 1/3 innings.

I will get to watch him the weekend of Feb. 21-23 when Army visits Texas A&M at College Station.