"Inside the Stacks: Exploring important documents in Chiefs history" is a series of columns based on never-before-seen documents and correspondence from the Lamar Hunt archives, including many from the founding and early days of the American Football League, the merger with the National Football League, and other historic moments up until the time of Hunt's death.
Change is a part of the National Football League — and that includes the game's rules. Talk of rule changes usually come after the season and around the league's annual meeting.
Debate takes place, votes are taken and new rules are either tabled or put into play for the coming year. It doesn't happen every year, but seldom do the owners — on advice gained from a committee that has studied the game — not look to make a move that they believe will improve it.
But while the two-point option after a touchdown is now a fact of life for NFL teams, it was once a difficult sell for owners and coaches of that league. The American Football League offered its teams a chance to go for two points after touchdowns throughout its 10-year existence, but upon the merger, the NFL's rules prevailed and it was no longer available.
The nation's colleges had been giving its teams a chance for two-points since the 1950s, and the AFL adopted the two-point rule by a 5-2 vote among the league's owners when play began in 1960.
Interestingly — and although he's often been given credit for being an early proponent — Lamar Hunt originally voted against the rule as did his close friend, Ralph Wilson, owner of the Buffalo Bills.
The two leagues conducted an experiment on the viability of going for two points shortly after the merger of the NFL and AFL. Utilized only in the preseason games of 1967 and 1969, NFL teams used it five times and the AFL eight. The two leagues still operated as separate entities and would not become one until the start of the 1970 regular season. AFL teams obviously had some history with the rule, and its teams had gone for two points after touchdowns 20 times in 1968 and 1969 when trailing in the fourth quarter, three times while leading and once when tied. No team was so brazen to go for in the first quarter, rarely in the second.
What changed Hunt's mind on the play is unknown, but early on when he began following football there was, he admitted, some "suspense on extra-points." As late as the 1940s, Doak Walker, a three-time consensus All-American, only converted 78.1% of his college extra-point attempts, but that was good enough to immediately position him to be the regular kicker when he joined the Detroit Lions.
By 1984, major college kickers were converting 94.1% of their extra-points, and in the 10-year history of Hunt's AFL, the league's kickers averaged 97.6%
"It is a fluke to lose a game by a missed or blocked kick," Hunt argued in 1981. "The two-point play is not a fluke," he shot back at its critics. "The extra point as now constituted is little more than an automatic 'ritual.'"
The trial period to test the two-point rule was formally adopted in a vote among owners on May 26, 1970, with 14 voting for it and 10 against. All former AFL teams but Miami opted for it, Boston and New Orleans passing.
Still, Hunt believed as late as 1981 that the two-point option had "virtually no chance to pass because it was an AFL rule."
Most AFL coaches remained in favor as time passed. Sid Gillman, general manager/head coach of the Chargers, thought that "several Clubs no doubt voted against the two-point deal because of their unfamiliarity to it. Rest assured that we would definitely be in favor…"
But Weeb Ewbank, head coach and general manager of the New York Jets, although in favor of a new rule, did "not believe it a wise thing to do one thing in preseason and to do another during the regular season."
In the end, Hunt believed the two-points had value for a much more relevant reason: "Our game is played for the public. History cited shows that it gives the trailing team's means of closing the gap. It is used more frequently in the fourth period. In short, it is a climax play."
The two-point rule was officially adopted in 1994, 25 years after the AFL-NFL merger. In 2015, the NFL moved extra-point attempts back from the two-yard line to the 15-yard line.
SOURCES: "2-Point Option," Cabinet 16, Drawer E, "Case for the 2-Point Play," March 16, 1970, Pre-Season "two Point Play" Trial Program, May 26, 1970, Sid Gillman to Lamar Hunt, April 9, 1970, Week Ewbank to Lamar Hunt, April 20, 1970, "Lamar Hunt Correspondence, 1981," Cabinet 17, Drawer A, Lamar Hunt to Jack Steadman, Jim Schaaf, Marc Levy, November 23, 1981, "Hunt Correspondence - 1984", Cabinet 17, Drawer A, Evolution of Football Point Values and Statistical Study of Place Kicking.
