Vikings fans, look away … Chiefs will make you remember Hank Stram

January 31, 2020 at 6:18PM
Kansas City Chiefs Coach Hank Stram is carried from the field, Jan. 11, 1970, in New Orleans, after his team defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. Stram has been with Kansas City since the league started in 1960. (AP Photo) ORG XMIT: NUX31 ORG XMIT: MIN1801221951571805
Hank Stram was carried off the field after Kansas City beat the Vikings in Super Bowl IV. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Chiefs coach Andy Reid has named one of his plays "Hank." It's an ode to the late Hank Stram, Chiefs Hall of Fame coach and the sideline maestro of Kansas City's 23-7 Super Bowl IV upset of the Vikings 50 years ago.

"Listen, we meet in the Hank Stram auditorium or meeting room back at the facility," said Reid, whose Chiefs face the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. "Obviously, his legacy lives there, which is great. We have a tremendous amount of history."

No, "Hank" isn't 65 Toss Power Trap.

"That was a good play for Hank," Reid said.

Just ask the Vikings.

In the final AFL-NFL game before the merger, the Vikings were 12-point favorites. Even after Joe Namath's famous guarantee came true in Super Bowl III, the oddsmakers still doubted the AFL.

On Jan. 11, 1970, Stram became the first coach to be miked. And boy did he ever take advantage of that, creating cackling, euphoric sound bites that will live in infamy in the Twin Cities.

"Just keep matriculating the ball down the field, boys!"

"They can't cover that in a million years!"

And, of course …

"65 Toss Power Trap!"

It was a staple play the Vikings couldn't stop, much to Stram's delight as he called for it over and over.

At some point Sunday, Reid will call for "Hank."

"I can't tell you what it is, but we do use it," Reid said. "Whether we call it at the line of scrimmage or we call it in the huddle, we use that term."

Correction: A previous version misstated the year of the Super Bowl.
about the writer

about the writer

Mark Craig

Sports reporter

Mark Craig has covered the NFL nearly every year since Brett Favre was a rookie back in 1991. A sports writer since 1987, he is covering his 30th NFL season out of 37 years with the Canton (Ohio) Repository (1987-99) and the Star Tribune (1999-present).

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