1997 Kansas City Chiefs season

Kansas City Chiefs
1997 Kansas City Chiefs season
Head coach	Marty Schottenheimer
Home field	Arrowhead Stadium
Results
Record	13–3
Division place	1st AFC West
Playoff finish	Lost Divisional Playoffs (Broncos) 14–10
Pro Bowlers	WR Andre Rison; FB Kimble Anders; G Will Shields; LB Derrick Thomas; CB Dale Carter; CB James Hasty

The 1997 Kansas City Chiefs season was the franchise's 28th season in the National Football League, and the 38th overall.

The Chiefs improved on their 9–7 record from 1996, and finished with a 13–3 record and as AFC West division champions. Throughout the season, the Rich Gannon–Elvis Grbac quarterback controversy would be a focal point of the team's season,[1] which brewed throughout the entire season and arguably cost the Chiefs a victory in the playoffs. The Chiefs were defeated by division rival and eventual Super Bowl champion, Denver Broncos, in the 1998 playoffs. 1997 was the final season that the Chiefs would appear in the playoffs during the 1990s and for the next several seasons, they fell into futility. They would return to the playoffs in 2003, only to lose to the Colts.

This was the last season that head coach Marty Schottenheimer would coach the team into the playoffs, with the loss to Denver in the Divisional round 14–10 capping off many years of disappointing playoff struggles. This was also the final season for future Hall of Fame running back Marcus Allen.

Offseason

NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1997 Kansas City Chiefs draft
1	13	Tony Gonzalez *	Tight end	California
2	47	Kevin Lockett	Wide receiver	Kansas State
4	110	Pat Barnes	Quarterback	California
6	163	June Henley	Running back	Kansas
6	195	Isaac Byrd	Wide receiver	Kansas
7	214	Nathan Parks	Offensive tackle	Stanford
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

Staff

**1997 Kansas City Chiefs staff**

	Front office Founder – Lamar Hunt Chairman of the Board – Jack Steadman President/General Manager/Chief Executive Officer – Carl Peterson Executive Vice President/Assistant General Manager – Dennis Thum Administrative Assistant to the Head Coach – Russ Ball Head coaches Head Coach – Marty Schottenheimer Assistant Head Coach/Wide Receivers – Al Saunders Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Paul Hackett Quarterbacks – Mike McCarthy Running Backs – Jimmy Raye Tight Ends/Offensive Assistant – Jim Erkenbeck Offensive Line – Mike Solari			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Gunther Cunningham Defensive Line – Bob Karmelowicz Defensive Backs – Kurt Schottenheimer Defensive Assistant/Special Teams – Woodrow Lowe Defensive Assistant/Quality Control – Darvin Wallis Special teams coaches Special Teams – Mike Stock Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Dave Redding Strength and Conditioning – Matt Schiotz Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Roberto Parker

Roster

**1997 Kansas City Chiefs roster**

	Quarterbacks 12 Rich Gannon 11 Elvis Grbac 8 Billy Joe Tolliver Running backs 38 Kimble Anders FB 32 Marcus Allen 30 Donnell Bennett FB 27 Greg Hill 49 Tony Richardson FB Wide receivers 80 Lake Dawson 84 Joe Horn 83 Danan Hughes 81 Kevin Lockett 89 Andre Rison 87 Tamarick Vanover Tight ends 88 Tony Gonzalez 48 Ted Popson 82 Derrick Walker		Offensive linemen 69 Jeff Criswell T 61 Tim Grunhard C 62 Glenn Parker T 68 Will Shields G 65 Jeff Smith C 79 Dave Szott G 64 Ralph Tamm T Defensive linemen 71 Tom Barndt DT 99 Vaughn Booker DE 93 John Browning DE 95 Michael Dean Perry DT 91 Leslie O'Neal DE 92 Dan Williams DT		Linebackers 50 Anthony Davis 59 Donnie Edwards 51 Greg Manusky 77 Pellom McDaniels DE 54 Tracy Simien 56 Wayne Simmons 58 Derrick Thomas 90 Terry Wooden Defensive backs 44 Darren Anderson 34 Dale Carter CB 40 James Hasty CB 23 Clyde Johnson CB 29 Mark McMillian 25 Reggie Tongue SS 21 Jerome Woods FS Special teams 5 Louie Aguiar P 10 Pete Stoyanovich K		Reserve lists Practice squad 24 Vann Washington S 73 Pete Swanson T 14 Kotto Cotton WR Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Opponent	Result	Game site	TV	Time (CT)	TV Announcers	Attendance	Record
1	at Denver Broncos	L 3–19	Mile High Stadium	NBC	3:00pm	Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms	75,600	0-1
2	at Oakland Raiders	W 28–27	Network Associates Coliseum	ABC	8:00pm	Al Michaels, Frank Gifford & Dan Dierdorf	61,523	1-1
3	Buffalo Bills	W 22–16	Arrowhead Stadium	NBC	12:00pm	Mike Breen & James Lofton	78,169	2-1
4	at Carolina Panthers	W 35–14	Bank of America Stadium	NBC	12:00pm	Dan Hicks & Jim Mora	67,402	3-1
5	Seattle Seahawks	W 20–17 OT	Arrowhead Stadium	NBC	3:00pm	Don Criqui & Jim Mora	77,877	4-1
6	at Miami Dolphins	L 14–17	Pro Player Stadium	NBC	12:00pm	Charlie Jones, Randy Cross & Bob Trumpy	71,794	4-2
7	Bye
8	San Diego Chargers	W 31–3	Arrowhead Stadium	TNT	7:00pm	Verne Lundquist, Pat Haden & Mark May	77,195	5-2
9	at St. Louis Rams	W 28–20	Edward Jones Dome	NBC	12:00pm	Joel Meyers & Beasley Reece	64,864	6-2
10	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 13–10	Arrowhead Stadium	ABC	8:00pm	Al Michaels, Frank Gifford & Dan Dierdorf	78,301	7-2
11	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 14–24	Alltel Stadium	NBC	12:00pm	Dan Hicks & Jim Kelly	70,444	7-3
12	Denver Broncos	W 24–22	Arrowhead Stadium	NBC	12:00pm	Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms	77,963	8-3
13	at Seattle Seahawks	W 19–14	Kingdome	NBC	3:00pm	Mike Breen & James Lofton	66,264	9-3
14	San Francisco 49ers	W 44–9	Arrowhead Stadium	FOX	12:00pm	Pat Summerall & John Madden	77,535	10-3
15	Oakland Raiders	W 30–0	Arrowhead Stadium	NBC	12:00pm	Charlie Jones & Bob Trumpy	76,379	11-3
16	at San Diego Chargers	W 29–7	Qualcomm Stadium	NBC	3:00pm	Tom Hammond & Randy Cross	54,594	12-3
17	New Orleans Saints	W 25–13	Arrowhead Stadium	FOX	12:00pm	Joe Buck & Bill Maas	66,772	13-3

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
⁽¹⁾ Kansas City Chiefs	13	3	0	.813	375	232	W6
⁽⁴⁾ Denver Broncos	12	4	0	.750	472	287	W1
Seattle Seahawks	8	8	0	.500	365	362	W2
Oakland Raiders	4	12	0	.250	324	419	L5
San Diego Chargers	4	12	0	.250	266	425	L8

Playoffs

1997 playoffs
Divisional Playoff	Denver Broncos	L 10–14	Arrowhead Stadium	NBC	4:15pm	76,965

Game summary

AFC Divisional Playoff: Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	0	7	0	7	14
Chiefs	0	0	10	0	10

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Date: January 4, 1998
Game time: 2:00 p.m. PDT
Game weather: 30°F, relative humidity 91°F, round (wind) 11 MPH
TV: NBC
Boxscore

Game information

First quarter

No scoring plays

Second quarter

Den – Terrell Davis 1 yard run (Jason Elam kick) Broncos 7-0

Third quarter

KC – Pete Stoyanovich 20 yard field goal. Broncos 7-3
KC – Tony Gonzalez 12 yard pass from Elvis Grbac (Pete Stoyanovich kick) Chiefs 10-7

Fourth quarter

Den – Terrell Davis 1 yard run (Jason Elam kick) Broncos 14-10

Broncos

John Elway. 10-19, 170 yards, 0 TD, 0 Int
Terrell Davis. 25 att, 101 yards, 2 TD

Chiefs

Elvis Grbac. 24-37, 260 yards, 1 TD, 0 Int
Andre Rison. 8 rec, 110 yards

References

Gretz, Bob. Quarterbacks and controversy Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine KCChiefs.com, November 1, 2006
"1997 Kansas City Chiefs draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 5, 2014.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[Controversy-1] Gretz, Bob. Quarterbacks and controversy Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine KCChiefs.com, November 1, 2006

[2] "1997 Kansas City Chiefs draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 5, 2014.

Kansas City Chiefs
Founded in 1960 Formerly the Dallas Texans (1960–1962) Based and headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri
Franchise	Franchise History Seasons Players First-round picks Coaches Logos and uniforms Awards Records Starting quarterbacks (list)
Stadiums	Cotton Bowl Municipal Stadium Arrowhead Stadium
Personnel	Owner: Hunt family Chairman & CEO: Clark Hunt President: Mark Donovan General manager: Brett Veach Head coach: Andy Reid Offensive coordinator: Eric Bieniemy Defensive coordinator: Steve Spagnuolo Special teams coach: Dave Toub
Culture	Chiefs name controversy Lamar Hunt H. Roe Bartle George Toma Warpaint K. C. Wolf Cheerleaders Tomahawk chop Tube Tops 2000 (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)
Lore	2018 game vs. Los Angeles Rams Jet Chip Wasp
Rivalries	Denver Broncos Las Vegas Raiders Los Angeles Chargers St. Louis Cardinals/Rams
Wild card berths (10)	1968 1969 1986 1990 1991 1992 1994 2006 2013 2015
Division championships (13)	1962 1966 1971 1993 1995 1997 2003 2010 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Conference championships (2)	2019 2020 Super Bowl LV
League championships (4)	1962 1966 1969 (Super Bowl IV) 2019 (Super Bowl LIV)
Retired numbers	3 16 18 28 33 36 58 63 78 86
Media	Broadcasters Television: KCTV WDAF-TV KSHB-TV Radio: WDAF-FM Personalities: Dave Armstrong Len Dawson Kendall Gammon Bob Gretz Art Hains Bill Grigsby Kevin Harlan Mitch Holthus Roger Twibell
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1970–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: West Division
Former league affiliation	League: American Football League (1960–1969)
Seasons (60)	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Championship seasons in bold

Kansas City Chiefs seasons
Formerly the Dallas Texans (1960–1962)
1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s	2020 2021
Bold indicates AFL Championship (1960–69) or Super Bowl (1966–) victory Italics indicates Super Bowl appearance