Tim McGraw wrote:
My Dad had access to the Lamar Hunt suite at Arrowhead Stadium in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Lamar Hunt founded and owned the Kansas City Chiefs NFL football team. Hunt was friends with Ewing Kauffman, the founder and owner of the Kansas Royals baseball team, which played in Royal Stadium next door to Arrowhead. They shared the same huge parking lot in the Missouri countryside. My Dad worked for Ewing Kauffman as the Chief Operating Officer of Marion Laboratories.
My Dad took me to a couple of Chiefs games back then. We always had the use of the Hunt suite, along with other people. The luxury suites were on the west side of the stadium. The field went north and south, and still does. It’s one of the older football stadiums now, but it’s been renovated a few times.
It was a beautiful fall day. The sun was out, and it was about 75°F, a perfect day for football.
The Houston Oilers were the visiting team. Dan Pastorini was the quarterback and punter for the Oilers. He was a helluva athlete. Ken Burrough, #00, was the Oilers’ speedy receiver.
The Chiefs were winning the game. The Oilers had the ball deep in their own territory with two and a half minutes left in the game. Pastorini took the snap and went back to pass. He dodged a couple of tacklers and then launched the football way up into the air down the eastern sideline. Pastorini was almost in the endzone at the south end of the stadium when he let the ball go.
The ball reached its apex about even with the second level of the stadium. The ball hung in the air for at least five seconds, probably more. Downfield, Ken Burrough outran the KC defenders. It looked to me like the Chiefs’ defensive backs figured no one could throw the ball that far.
But there was Burrough to catch the rainbow pass of 51 yards (it looked like more from the stands). Touchdown, Oilers, and they win the game.
All of us KC fans saw that pass and couldn’t believe it. How could Pastorini throw it that far, and Burrough run that far that fast? And the fans clapped.
I think that’s the only time I’ve ever seen the home fans clap for a play by the visiting team. Midwesterners are polite, and they acknowledge greatness when they see it, no matter who it is.
TJM
Pastorini Touchdown to Burrough
Dan Pastorini threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Ken Burrough
in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs. This key play occurred in the final 2½ minutes and turned the game around, giving the Houston Oilers the advantage. On this play, Burrough, a fleet wide receiver, beat Rich Sowells and Phil Wise with a deep post pattern, securing the ball and making a decisive impact on the game’s outcome.
