Thoughts & reflections on Lamar Hunt

"I would like so much for the grandchildren to know what a truly kind and good man their grandfather was. He loved the Lord in his very quiet way and had such integrity and strength of character in all the things he has done. I hope that they will carry those memories of him with them because those qualities are what has made him such a beloved person.


"He wanted people to love the sports like he did. He loved sports so much, he was so passionate about them and he wanted others to share the joy."
- Norma Hunt, Wife


"He saw things and understood things that would be good for the game many, many years ahead of other people."
- Clark Hunt, Son


"He was a visionary, he was clever, he was creative, he was stubborn, he was optimistic, he was stubbornly optimistic, he looked at things for the long haul."
- Sharron Hunt Munson, Daughter


"It was more about providing people with opportunities, letting people display their talents and gifts and sports is really where that manifested itself."
- Lamar Hunt, Jr., Son


"He didn't miss anything. If it came to counting parking spots in parking lots, he was out there doing it all himself."
- Dan Hunt, Son


"I accused him of being in the entertainment business, but to him it was sports and it was a game. His high school friends that named him 'games' correctly named him."
- Herbert Hunt, Brother


"To know him you loved him. Even if you were on the opposite side, you loved him."

- Caroline Hunt, Sister


"Lamar Hunt represented integrity, humility, professionalism, trying to do everything first class and in the finest way and in a people business treating people the way that any of us would like to be treated."
- Carl Peterson, President, Kansas City Chiefs


"When you talk about humility, Lamar Hunt's name should be in the dictionary under that term because of how he carried himself and how he always put others and thought about others before himself."
- Herm Edwards, Head Coach, Kansas City Chiefs


"All the times that Lamar and I were together in 47 years there was never one day that I felt that I was working for Lamar. He always made me feel I was working with him."
- Jack Steadman, Vice Chairman of the Board, Kansas City Chiefs


"He was one of the most considerate, one of the most thoughtful and one of the most visionary people you could ever deal with."
- Paul Tagliabue, NFL Commissioner, 1989-2006


"When you walked in a room and you saw him and saw he was a part of something, you knew it was something that was branded with integrity and solid and something you could stand behind."
- Robert Kraft, Owner, New England Patriots and New England Revolution


"He was not one to flaunt it, he just did it."
- K.S. "Bud" Adams, Jr., Founder and Owner, Tennessee Titans


"Lamar Hunt had a dream and, the thing is, we had dreams, too. Just imagine the number of people that he has touched because he said, 'I'm going after this dream.'"
- Hall of Fame QB Len Dawson


"Lamar Hunt went to the NFL and he said, 'I want to buy a NFL team,' or 'I want to put up money to create a team,' and they said, 'no.' That just tickles me to death. (Lamar) said, 'well, if you don't want to give me a team, I'll just go start my own league.'"
- Hall of Fame WR Don Maynard


"He was someone that you were just attracted to, you wanted to be part of his circle. People just gravitated to him. He had this ability to influence and to turn a room and to communicate his side so effectively with a quiet, confidence that was unnerving.


"He was the man who invented the American Football League and coined the term Super Bowl, but when Lamar was talking about soccer there was that glint in his eye. It's just something very special and when the books are written, the book on American soccer is going to have chapters on Lamar Hunt and what he did both in the past and the present for the game here."
- Don Garber, Major League Soccer Commissioner


"He was so instrumental in making tennis what it is today. He just knew the game hadn't been tapped in bringing sponsors in and creating it as a business and not just a game."
- Rod Laver, tennis champion


"If Lamar had done for sports in Great Britain what he has done for them here he would have been knighted by the queen."
- Kenny Cooper, former Dallas Tornado goalie, North American Soccer League


"I think people need to be aware of what he brought to the sport of tennis: the passion he brought, the love of the game. He was someone who really gave these players an opportunity to go out and make a great living. He cared about the sport. I was lucky that I came at the time where it was just starting to explode and there were a lot of great personalities in the sport yet, at the same time, you had at least a sense of appreciation for what a man like Lamar Hunt was laying on the line. What he did was what he continued to do in soccer which was trying to raise the profile of the sport that is huge worldwide but not as big in the states."
- John McEnroe, tennis champion


"You sort of had this picture of this extremely wealthy Texan who was going to come on big and strong and be really overbearing, but Lamar was just exactly the opposite."
- John Newcombe, World Championship Tennis Player, 1968-78


"He had an undeniable to get things done the right way.


"There was nobody like him. There was nobody like him."
- Marty Schottenheimer, Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach, 1989-98
Current San Diego Chargers Head Coach