The 1970 Kansas City Chiefs season began with the Chiefs attempting to defend their championship but ended with a 7–5–2 record and no playoff berth.
Following their championship success, the Chiefs traded running back Mike Garrett, who was the club’s all-time leading rusher at the time, to San Diego and replaced him in the lineup with Ed Podolak. Despite a 44–24 win against Baltimore on September 28 in just the second-ever telecast of ABC's Monday Night Football package, the Chiefs owned a 3–3–1 record at the season's midpoint. One of the season's pivotal junctures came in a 17–17 tie against Oakland on November 1. The Chiefs were ahead 17–14 when Len Dawson apparently sealed the win, running for a first down which would have allowed Kansas City to run out the clock. While on the ground, Dawson was speared by Raiders defensive end Ben Davidson in an infamous incident that cost the Chiefs a victory and further inflamed the already heated Chiefs-Raiders rivalry. Wide receiver Otis Taylor retaliated and a bench-clearing brawl ensued. Offsetting penalties were called, nullifying Dawson’s first down. The Chiefs were forced to punt and Raiders kicker George Blanda eventually booted a game-tying field with eight seconds remaining. That tie ultimately cost the Chiefs the opportunity to split the AFC West division title with Oakland as Kansas City finished the year with a 7–5–2 record, while the Raiders went 8–4–2. The rules were changed several years later to assess such penalties as the Davidson-Taylor incident as dead-ball fouls after the play counted.
Famous quotes containing the words kansas, city, chiefs and/or season:
“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.... Now I know we’re not in Kansas.”
—Noel Langley (1898–1981)
“New York has never learnt the art of growing old by playing on all its pasts. Its present invents itself, from hour to hour, in the act of throwing away its previous accomplishments and challenging the future. A city composed of paroxysmal places in monumental reliefs.”
—Michel de Certeau (1925–1986)
“If you tie a horse to a stake, do you expect he will grow fat? If you pen an Indian up on a small spot of earth, and compel him to stay there, he will not be contented, nor will he grow and prosper. I have asked some of the great white chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They can not tell me.”
—Chief Joseph (c. 1840–1904)
“I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending.”
—Fred Rogers (20th century)