Solo Super Bowl win came as underdogs against powerful Minnesota

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Sports

November 1, 2019 - 3:27 PM

The stage for Kansas City’s upset of Minnesota in the fourth edition of the Super Bowl was essentially set the year before, when the brash New York Jets toppled the Baltimore Colts and showed how an upstart AFL team could beat an opponent from the supposedly superior NFL.

There was no more ominous sign of trouble for the Vikings, though, than during the pregame pageantry on that blustery, gloomy afternoon on Jan. 11, 1970, in New Orleans. As a mascot for the Vikings climbed into the basket of a hot air balloon, the wind sent his ride careening out of control and crashing into the seats that sent fans in that area scrambling for safety.

Thanks to the Chiefs, well, the Vikings themselves never got off the ground that afternoon, either. The 23-7 victory by Kansas City was the perfect way for the AFL to wrap up a decade of existence in the last Super Bowl before the two leagues merged.

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