Lamar Hunt, the AFL, and the example for our community

I want to describe this metaphor that I was thinking about today. In relation to our local economy and what the group that I am part of represents. I believe there are many similarities between the economic culture of the Hickory area and what we saw in the evolution of American professional football over its history.

I especially look back to the days of the 1960s and the tug-of-war that took place between the National Football League and the American Football League. For 10 years during the decade of the 1960s. The American Football League operated in direct competition with the established National Football League. Over time, there have been many new leagues that have formed since the inception of the National Football League in 1920.

Many Americans who have watched the spectacle that professional football has become do not realize how we have gotten to where we are today. As far as the popularity of the sport, most younger Americans have no clue about the context of the development of the premier National Football League. I bet most assume that the way football is today is the way it has always been.

The 1960s was a turbulent decade that ran the gamut of emotions from depression to euphoria. During the decade, the country saw a President and a Presidential candidate(the former President's brother) along with an iconic spiritual and cultural leader assassinated; generations were separated by the feeling and emotions surrounding the Vietnam War; and to close out the decade, America was able to follow the vision of John F. Kennedy and place a man on the moon, eight years after the idea and goal were established and initiated.

In 1959, the National Football League (NFL) had become one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the United States. There were only 12 teams in the NFL at the time. The Chicago Cardinals were for sale during that year and many wealthy men became suitors to buy the franchise. Lamar Hunt, the progeny of the famous Hunt oil family was one of these people who wanted to buy the franchise and relocate it to Dallas, Texas -- his hometown.

Several multimillionaires wanted NFL franchises, but the Commissioner of the National Football League, Bert Bell, did not want to expand the league. When the NFL dismissed the idea of expansion, Lamar Hunt joined forces with some of the other men seeking NFL franchises and created the American Football League (AFL). The NFL initially wasn't against the formation of the AFL in public, but soon the NFL turned towards undermining the fledgling league. The NFL expanded into the Dallas and Minneapolis markets as initial salvos in the battle.

The AFL was downplayed by the NFL as an interior league, although the AFL signed half of the NFL's first round draft picks in 1960. This would soon be the established path of development for all of professional football until the two leagues officially merged in 1966. The AFL's owners were dubbed "the Foolish Club," because of the expensive venture that they had initiated in going up against the established NFL. A bitter battle ensued in the early 1960s over players and ideas of just what American professional football should be.

The AFL struggled to survive during its first few years of existence, and a couple of the franchises had to be relocated. One such team was Lamar Hunt’s franchise "the Dallas Texans," who would become the Kansas City Chiefs. Even with the struggles, the AFL's persistence paid off. No AFL teams ever went defunct. Although some of these franchises have relocated over the subsequent 52 years, each one of the franchises that came into existence in 1959 are still in existence today.

Over time, during the mid-1960s, the AFL became the cool league. The AFL signed a lucrative television contract and continued to seriously compete head-to-head with the National Football League for players. The AFL signed Joe Namath, and his flash and panache created a stir and brought the league the attention and legitimacy that it desired. The two leagues had seen a bidding war over players escalate out of control until it finally necessitated a merger, which took place in 1966.

In a period of less than seven years, a sports league was started from scratch, took on the established league, and came to par with that league. In 1959, there were only 12 top tiered American professional football franchises. By 1969, there were 26 franchises; which starting in 1970 would compete under the umbrella of one league, which would continue to carry on under the title of the National Football League. It is more than apparent that by all accounts these men were successful in their endeavor led by Lamar Hunt.

The NFL ended up adopting many of the ideas of the AFL. Many of the innovations initiated by the AFL, along with the exciting style of play , have made modern football closer to the Lamar Hunt vision of professional football, than what preceded his foray into the sport. The Super Bowl exists today because of Hunt and professional football is played in most parts of the nation and every time zone, because of Hunt’s impact on the game.

Thousands of players, including many of the all-time greats, would've never had the chance to play professional football had we not seen the visionary expansion created by Lamar Hunt and the Foolish Club. What would professional football be today without these pioneers, who decided to challenge the establishment and fight what most people presumed to be a losing battle. Mr. Hunt, and these other men, determined their own success, and all who know and love professional football have benefited from their efforts.

Why did I lay down this history for you. Well, this is more than the inane ramblings of a strange person. This provides the foreknowledge of what a group of people must do to challenge the status quo and an embedded system of the establishment. This is not the only example of significant and positive change in what is accepted. We have seen this many times throughout history, but this is not an every day occurrence. Significant positive changes take significant risks and significant efforts. These men were willing to lose a lot of money, but they weren’t looking towards possible losses. They were looking towards the possibilities of gains and they succeeded in the end.

The people who I am associated with in this community are like those pioneers of the American Football League. We don't want to change the rules. We want to enhance them. We recognize that there is much more untapped talent and ideas that are available in this community. Much of this talent is unrecognized, because it is unconventional. The ideas and the methods that we are utilizing to bring this talent to the fore are completely different from what has occurred in the past.

The establishment is comfortable and they are very resistant to change.The Powers that Be do not understand what we are doing and believe that if we are going to do anything it needs to be funneled through them. One of the reasons that I related the story of the American Football League above is because many of our local community leaders were in their teens or 20s in the 60s when transformative changes such as the American Football League took place. And many of the people in their late 50s to 70 years old were the people who helped popularize the trends that led to significant transformation of the American Society.

Naturally as people get older they become more risk averse , and that is understandable. No one wants to take wild risks. What we want to do is take educated, calculated risks. Truly Transformative changes cannot and will not come without risks and hard work. Today, one of the gentleman , who is a part of the Future Economy Council stated that he liked Hickory and he didn't want it to become like Charlotte. If we were talking about turning Hickory into Charlotte, then he was against any proposed changes. He liked the feel of Hickory and that is the reason why he is here.

I don't think any of us want to lose the charms that do make Hickory special, but Hickory is falling to pieces and is not and never will be what we remembered. I don't think in our lifetimes that Hickory will ever become Charlotte, and I don't think that is what most of the transformative leadership in our community are looking to do. But, I do believe that many of the older citizens in this community are fearful that we want to institute policies that would take us towards unfettered population growth. I can assure you that that isn't our goal. Neither are we trying to structure a managed economy. We are simply trying to find a way to enhance employment capacity and create a more resilient business culture in this community.

I am not speaking for the group, but conveying to you my thoughts about the direction that fellow Master Capacity Builders are looking to establish in our community. We want to create ingredients that allow Hickory to expand the individual success and prosperity of its citizenry. We cannot do that through overbearing control and intolerance towards those who are different than ourselves.

We need to cross pollinate our local cultures and be more accepting of those who are different than ourselves. I know that people become defensive when they are called out about intolerance, but honestly our local social structure needs to take a long hard look at itself. To me, this isn't about race or socioeconomic levels. This is about being a good neighbor and looking out for all of the interests in our community. It is my feeling that when we strengthen individuals in our community, that we strengthen the ecosystem that we live in, and thus we strengthen ourselves.

This community needs to take a long hard look at the cultural norms that have evolved and been instituted up until now. We're doing a lot of things that cause the younger generations to not want to be a part of our community. I can tell you from experience in talking to young people there is not much for them to do around here. This community forces young people into bad situations if they want to have a good time.

There is basically no public entertainment venues available to these young people, so they can go out and socialize at a public establishment. And so many of them, throw parties at their residence. And if they do this, many times their neighbors will call the police about the least little disturbance and the police will come in and then everyone becomes uncomfortable. I am not saying what is right or what is wrong and anyway my days of partying are basically over, but in all my years of life, I know that younger people like to have a good time. And if we are intolerant and overbearing towards that, then isn't it understandable why these young people don't want anything to do with this community and have a bad taste in their mouth about what they have experienced?

Then, I look to the Hispanic populace that has been brought into this community as a cheap source of labor. These people work hard and earn their money, but the "Powers That Be" in this community don't want them out socializing in public. There were two brothers of Hispanic descent that wanted to open a dance club at the entrance of downtown Hickory and our local government did everything to keep this from happening. These two brothers are not illegal immigrants. They are lawfully here and they should have just as much right as anyone to open an establishment.

What the goal should be in this community is to have a relationship with business owners. Up front, bar and restaurant establishment owners need to understand what police officers need from them to keep the community safe. No one should be allowed to serve minors. No one should be over serving someone who is intoxicated. There should be no violence and there should be no drug activity tolerated at any of these establishments. But, if you open an establishment, you should be given the liberty to operate your establishment under the assumption that you have done and are doing nothing wrong. If we look towards areas of business growth in this community, it is restaurants and bars. We cannot afford to run legitimate businesses out of business.

I look to the good works that are being done at the Hispanic and Hmong center at the old Grandview elementary school. These cultures are keeping to themselves. The larger community needs to embrace these ethnic groups and help them and trade with them. I know that the Hmong throw a festival annually at the Caldwell County Fairgrounds in November. I think this event needs to be promoted more. People from all over the country come to this event. Talk about a lost marketing opportunity. We need to understand one another's cultures more in this community, and I think a lot of positives can come from that open mindset.

The economy is not good and that is obvious to most of us in this community. The numbers show that our community is middle to lower middle class and income hasn't grown much at all over the last decade. We need to institute policies that can lift up the lower strata of our socio-economic environment. In order to strengthen our community, we need to cross pollinate and get to know one another and we can benefit from this process and these connections. We need to get out of our comfort zone and expand our horizons, because there's so much to gain from expanding ourselves, our community, and our ecosystem.

What I am getting at is that we are not shackled by the establishment. If we don't like the structure that has been established, then we can change things if we are willing to. If the Powers that Be resist change, then we must follow the path of least resistance and go around them. We only imprison ourselves by surrendering ourselves to those who are subservient to the status quo. Life is changing at a dramatic pace, and we can either sit back and observe as it shoots past us or we can participate in these historical times and create our own destiny.