(December 14, 2006)--Family and colleagues were remembering Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt Thursday as a humble and inventive pro sports entrepreneur who became a founding father of modern pro football.

The 74-year-old NFL pioneer started the American Football League, shepherded the AFL's merger with the National Football League and came up with the term "Super Bowl."

Chiefs spokesman Bob Moore says Hunt died of complications from prostate cancer.

He had battled cancer for years and was hospitalized the day before Thanksgiving.

Hunt grew up in Dallas, the son of Texas oilman H. L. Hunt.

His love of sports led to his nickname, "Games."

He played football at SMU, but never rose above third string.

His modest playing accomplishments were dwarfed by his contribution as an owner and promoter of teams.

Along with football, he worked in pro soccer, basketball, baseball, tennis and bowling.

His wife Norma Hunt, says, quote, "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."

Lamar Hunt Bio
(Source: Associated Press)

NAME: Lamar Hunt.
AGE: 74, Born Aug. 2, 1932.
BIRTHPLACE: El Dorado, Ark.
LIFE: Son of oil tycoon H.L. Hunt and younger brother of tycoon Nelson Bunker Hunt; Graduated from Southern Methodist in 1956; founder of the American Football League (1960-1969); co-founder of the North American Soccer League (1967-84); co-founder of Major League Soccer; Founder and owner of the Dallas Texans, which moved and were called the Kansas City Chiefs; founder and owner of Columbus Crew; current owner of the FC Dallas; inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972; inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1992; credited with coming up the term "Super Bowl".
FAMILY: Wife, Norma; children Lamar Jr., Sharron Munson, Clark and Daniel; and 13 grandchildren.
OTHER SPORTS AND HONORS: Was one of the founding investors of the NBA's Chicago Bulls; co-founded World Championship Tennis and was made a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1993; the NFL's trophy for the champion of the American Football Conference is named in honor of Lamar Hunt.

Reaction To Hunt’s Death
(Source: Associated Press)

"His vision transformed pro football and helped turn a regional sport into a national passion. Lamar created a model franchise in the Kansas City Chiefs, but he was always equally devoted to the best interests of the league and the game." - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
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"He was one of the most considerate, one of the most thoughtful and one of the most visionary people you could ever deal with." - former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
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"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."' - former Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson.
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"He was a founder. He was the energy, really, that put together half of the league, and then he was the key person in merging the two leagues together. You'd be hard-pressed to find anybody that's made a bigger contribution (to the NFL) than Lamar Hunt." - Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
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"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." - brother William Herbert
Hunt.
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"I personally believe that Lamar Hunt was one of the finest men that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He was a man of deep moral conviction who accomplished great things during his life but never considered himself as being the unique and very special person he was." - half brother Ray Hunt.
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"Lamar Hunt's a pioneer and a pillar of the National Football League. He's been innovative and creative throughout all the years he's been involved. There aren't enough words to accurately
describe who Lamar Hunt was and what he has meant to the NFL and to Kansas City." - Chiefs president Carl Peterson.

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"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." -Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
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"He was not one to flaunt it. He just did it." - Titans owner Bud Adams.
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"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." - MLS commissioner Don Garber.
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"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." - former tennis star Rod Laver.

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