Babb: Founder’s Plaza at Arrowhead honors legacy of Lamar Hunt

[Tribal Warfare]

Founder’s Plaza at Arrowhead honors legacy of Lamar Hunt
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star

As the Chiefs were completing a deal that could help solidify their future, the team spent part of Friday morning remembering its past.

The Chiefs’ top draft pick, safety Eric Berry, wrote on his Twitter page that his contract had been completed and that he was on his way to training camp in St. Joseph. About an hour earlier, 65 miles south of the team’s practice fields, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt and other family members of the team’s late founder, Lamar Hunt, gathered Friday morning outside Arrowhead Stadium to dedicate Founder’s Plaza and unveil a bronze statue of Hunt.

“My father never would’ve let us go to so much trouble on his behalf,” Clark Hunt told a crowd of visitors, former Chiefs players and reporters.

Goodell sidestepped questions after the ceremony about the NFL’s grim collective-bargaining situation, an impasse between team owners and the players’ association that could lead to a work stoppage during the 2011 season. Goodell also was vague with his response after being asked about Arrowhead’s viability as a future Super Bowl location. In May, the NFL awarded the 2014 Super Bowl to the new Meadowlands Stadium outside New York; that year’s championship game will be the first in an outdoor stadium in a cold-weather city.

“Let’s see what the experience is like, see how well that moves, and we go from there,” Goodell said. “This stadium is fantastic. I had the chance to tour it this morning. I think the fans’ reactions are going to be extraordinary. I can tell you I’ve seen a lot of stadiums, and this is a special place.”

The Chiefs recently completed a $375 million renovation to Arrowhead. Team officials unveiled most of the large-scale upgrades last week — a new club level, improved bar and concession areas and a horizon-level viewing area were among the improvements. Founder’s Plaza was completed this week with the installation of sculptor Bruce Wolfe’s 9-foot statue, which depicts Hunt with his arms crossed and shirtsleeves rolled up.

“Somewhat understated,” said Goodell, who once worked as Hunt’s assistant in the league office. “He’s observing. He was just a quiet man that took everything in and thought about it. That’s what he appears to be doing.

“One of the finest men and innovators in the history of sports. Lamar looms large among all hall of famers.”

Among the football-shaped plaza’s other features:

•Reflecting pools that represent the two divisions of the American Football League, the league Hunt was instrumental in creating in the 1960s to compete with the NFL.

•Several bronze plaques describing Hunt’s contributions to professional football.

•An engraved playbook sketch of legendary coach Hank Stram’s “65 Toss Power Trap” play, which the Chiefs used to win Super Bowl IV against the Minnesota Vikings.

•Nearly 5,400 customized bricks with inscribed messages from Chiefs fans.

Clark Hunt and Goodell visited Chiefs training camp Thursday evening. Hunt said he addressed players and reminded them that the AFC championship trophy is named for his father.

“He’s also the one who named the Super Bowl, and therefore a primary responsibility of any Chief is to bring those trophies back to Kansas City.”