Arrowhead during the 1980s

[Zap Rowsdower]

I have been going down the youtube rabbit hole and watching random Chiefs games from the 1980s. From the television shots, Arrowhead seemed like such a different place than it is now. Sure, the team sucked, but it looked different than even the down years of the late 2000s. Very few people wore red. Hardly anyone sat in the upper deck. My first game at Arrowhead wasn’t until 1995 so I missed that era. For those that attended in the late 70’s and the 1980s, what was it like? Did people tailgate? Did more families attend than they do now? What stories do you have from that era?

[GabyKeepsMeWarm]

Only went to one game in the 80's. Pretty sure my dad "shielded" us from the experience for a few reasons.

A. The Chiefs weren't very good, at all, most seasons.

B. Bigger crowds gave my dad the willies, not to mention woefully slow parking lot traffic. He was pretty good with Royals games, but amusement parks and other super high human traffic events would tighten the old man up.

C. The type of fan also is a lot different than your average baseball fan, or at least my dad thought so.

But anyway, we went to see the Chiefs/Raiders in 1988. About the only memorable thing about it was the fact Bo Jackson was playing. And the fans were on him relentlessly. It was actually pretty gross. Everyone was just drunk as hell, to the point of belligerence. Lots of "n bombs" getting thrown around casually, with no regard to our little humble family and young ears. Chiefs got whipped, the fans were all very negative and it just a pretty crummy experience, truth be told.

[gblowfish]

I was there for the whole thing.

Mackovic.
Gansz.
Levy.

The Strike.

Fuller.
Sackledge.
Bill Pussy.

Great Defenses.
Delaney dies.
Putrid offense.

Nick the kick.
Settling for three over and over and over and over and over.
Losing to Stabler. Losing to Fouts. Losing to Ken Anderson.
Losing.

Lots and lots of losing.

[Gary Cooper]

How hot were the cheerleaders back then?

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by Gary Cooper

How hot were the cheerleaders back then?

Bad.

They had some guy cheerleaders we called "The Broken Arrows."

They didn't get T&A until King Carl.

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by GabyKeepsMeWarm

Only went to one game in the 80's. Pretty sure my dad "shielded" us from the experience for a few reasons.

A. The Chiefs weren't very good, at all, most seasons.

B. Bigger crowds gave my dad the willies, not to mention woefully slow parking lot traffic. He was pretty good with Royals games, but amusement parks and other super high human traffic events would tighten the old man up.

C. The type of fan also is a lot different than your average baseball fan, or at least my dad thought so.

But anyway, we went to see the Chiefs/Raiders in 1988. About the only memorable thing about it was the fact Bo Jackson was playing. And the fans were on him relentlessly. It was actually pretty gross. Everyone was just drunk as hell, to the point of belligerence. Lots of "n bombs" getting thrown around casually, with no regard to our little humble family and young ears. Chiefs got whipped, the fans were all very negative and it just a pretty crummy experience, truth be told.

Not the game I remember. Chiefs faced Bo when he was a Royal and a Raider and we beat him in Arrowhead. Deron Cherry had just come back from an eventual career ending neck injury and forced a Bo fumble which helped turn the game.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archi...-c1700b3401b9/

[scho63]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

I was there for the whole thing.

Settling for three over and over and over and over and over.
Losing to Stabler. Losing to Fouts. Losing to Ken Anderson.
Losing.

Lots and lots of losing.

Christ, those were GOOD QBs we lost to.

We lost to so many shit bum QBs it wasn't funny.

[crayzkirk]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

I was there for the whole thing.

Mackovic.
Gansz.
Levy.

The Strike.

Fuller.
Sackledge.
Bill Pussy.

Great Defenses.
Delaney dies.
Putrid offense.

Nick the kick.
Settling for three over and over and over and over and over.
Losing to Stabler. Losing to Fouts. Losing to Ken Anderson.
Losing.

Lots and lots of losing.

Friends from work had tickets in the club level. They had a van with a mini-fridge in it with a keg of Coors. We would drink beer before/after the games and throw a football around. It was pretty fun. The Chiefs had been pretty bad in the 70s and expectations were low. The Royals were the hot team in KC at the time.

Best memory was the game against the Broncos where their coach whined about the Chiefs running up the score.

Never was a problem getting in or out of the stadium.

[GabyKeepsMeWarm]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Not the game I remember. Chiefs faced Bo when he was a Royal and a Raider and we beat him in Arrowhead. Deron Cherry had just come back from an eventual career ending neck injury and forced a Bo fumble which helped turn the game.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archi...-c1700b3401b9/

This is the game I was at. All in all, not an awful game on paper... But still a loser.

https://www.pro-football-reference.c...8810160kan.htm

[scho63]

Tyler Thigpen
Ingle Martin
Quinn Gray

That was the three QBs we carried to replace Damon Huard and Brodie Croyle.

5 of the biggest shit bums that ever rook a snap in the NFL.