2023-09-04 13:33:28
Arturo Salgado Gudino
Sports Writing, Sep 4 (EFE).- The champions Kansas City Chiefs will seek in the 2023 NFL season to record their name along with that of the Patriots, Cowboys, 49ers, Steelers, Packers, Bears, Browns and Bulldogs, dynasties that have dominated the league throughout its more than 100-year history.
The common denominator that defines a dynasty team in the NFL, called the American Professional Football Association (APFA) until 1920, is, in addition to dominance over its rivals, obtaining at least three titles in a period of 10 years.
The Kansas City Chiefs have ruled the league since 2020. They have played three of the four most recent Super Bowls, of which they won two, and this season 104 in the league are favorites to reach one more and lift the third Lombardi trophy , fourth in its history, which would open the door to the hall of dynasties.
The Canton Bulldogs, one of the 14 founders of the APFA, were the first team recognized as a dynasty in the 1920s. They won the 1922 and 1923 championships over the Chicago Bears, and the 1924 one under the name Cleveland Bulldogs.
Although the franchise disappeared by 1927, its legacy lives on at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
The Green Bay Packers, another of the APFA founders, are one of two teams to hold the double dynasty title.
They won three titles in a row from 1929 to 1931, and two more in 1936 and 1939. Five in 11 years, four in the 1930s.
They also dominated the 1960s under the tutelage of coach Vince Lombardi, a name that today bears the NFL champion’s trophy.
With Lombardi, the Packers were crowned in 1961 and 1962, and three more times in 1965, along with the first two Super Bowls, 1966 and 1967; since then no team has won three titles in a row.
The decade of the 40s was for the Chicago Bears, staunch rivals of the Packers. They wove their leadership under the leadership of George Halas, ‘Papa Bear’ with titles in 1940, 1941, 1943 and 1946.
Hallas, who was a player, coach and owner of the team, was absent from the Bears between 1943 and 1945 to be in World War II, a situation that did not diminish Chicago’s winning trail.
The 1950s were for the champion Cleveland Browns in 1950, 1954 and 1955 under coach Paul Brown, one of the forerunners in the integration of African-American players into the league.
After the aforementioned dominance of the Packers in the 1960s, it was time for the so-called ‘Steel Curtain’ that allowed the Pittsburgh Steelers to take over the 1970s.
The powerful defensive line assembled by coach Chuck Noll was complemented by offensive stars such as Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, among others, who from 1974 to 1979, had a record of 80-22-1; it was the first team to win four Super Bowls.
Quarterback Joe Montana’s San Francisco 49ers dominated the ’80s under the guidance of coach Bill Walsh. They triumphed in Super Bowls XVI, XIX and XXIII, and in the XXIV already with George Seifert in command.
The 1990s followed the star of the Dallas Cowboys. Three Super Bowls in four years with Troy Aikman at quarterback, running back Emmith Smith and Michael Irvin at receiver.
The 21st century has had only one owner in its first two decades. The New England Patriots of Tom Brady, the best player in history, and coach Bill Belichick; three Super Bowls between 2001 and 2010, three more from 2011 to 2019; six Lombardi trophies.
The 2023 NFL season will test the Chiefs of quarterback Patrick Mahomes and coach Andy Reid to see if they have the means to claim a place among these dynasties.EFE
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