THE AFL 1960–69: A RETROSPECTIVE
1969 AFL Championship Game: Chiefs 17, Raiders 7
Kansas City closed the book on the history of the AFL with a defensive gem against high-flying Oakland
John Madden never put a muzzle on his players during his 10-year tenure as head coach in Oakland.
His crazy band of renegades said whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and because the Raiders were usually so good, Madden didn’t care because he knew his guys would back up their trash talk on the field.
But in the week leading up to the 1969 AFL Championship Game, Madden had been the Raiders coach for only one year and he wasn’t yet comfortable with pre-game hyperbole.
“I am disturbed with the growing reports that we expect an easy game against the Chiefs,” Madden said.
Those reports had emanated from a number of players, most notably quarterback Daryle Lamonica, the league MVP who had thrown 34 touchdown passes in the regular season and six more the week before during the Raiders’ 56–7 decimation of Houston in the first round of the AFL’s newly expanded playoff format.
“I know I can beat them, I know I can score on them, on the ground and in the air,” said Lamonica, who had just…
