As Santa Claus, the Chiefs leave a lot to be desired.

I remember a Christmas long, long ago....

December 25, 1971, The Miami Dolphins came to Municipal Stadium. For all you youngsters, Municipal Stadium was where the Chiefs played before Arrowhead. The fans were just as loud though. And just as knowledgeable.

It was the playoffs. It was cold. Heck, it was Christmas, and little kids should be home playing with their toys not freezing at a football game. It was the end of the Chiefs glory years and it would be nearly 20 years before the Chiefs approached the glory of the ‘60s and early ‘70s.

The only season tickets available to us were in the endzone. And that’s where I sat for the longest game in NFL history. 82 minutes and 35 seconds of delight. Five seconds of misery.<BR>

Funny thing about this game is that I don’t remember much about the first 4 quarters. For that matter I don’t remember the overtime that well either. I basically remember four things.

Ed Podolac broke a long kick off return. He was running away from the endzone I was sitting in so I couldn’t tell if he was going to score or not. As it turned out, he didn’t. I believe it was a 73 yard return. But it didn’t matter that he didn’t score. We had the best field goal kicker on our team. Yan Stenerud. Surely there was no way he’d miss a field goal from that range.

And that’s the second thing I remember. Yan did miss (and that began a long period of having field goal kickers tear my heart out). He missed. No, it can’t be true. He missed.<BR>

And that brings me to the next thing I remember.

Garo “I keek touchdown” Yepremian. He didn’t miss. Game over. Go home. Dolphins 27, Chiefs 24. Merry Christmas.

And that brings me to the last thing I remember. The heartbreak. I think it was the first time I ever felt so bad about a Chiefs loss. Unfortunately, not the last.

But hey, it was Christmas and I had toys to play with so the heartbreak didn’t last too long. If only I knew what was in store for me when I grew up. I would have had a lobotomy

I remember that game all too well. Having gone through a divorce at about that time, I couldn't wait to get to the stadium. I went and told my mother to get ready that I wanted to leave about 8:30, she ask me where we were going. I told her that for her Christmas present that I was taking her to the Chiefs game. This was the first Chiefs game that she ever saw live. She lived to be 90 years old but she never forgot that game. I still have the program and ticket stub from that game. Also have the Chiefs historical document that they gave out as you left the stadium. I have an NFL high light tape of that game. Yes, Jan missed three field goals in that game but it was still a great game.