Since 1971, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future have hovered and haunted Chiefs fans all at once. The crushing 27-24 loss that Dec. 25 in the so-called longest game in NFL history (82:40 of game clock but a fairly ordinary overall time of 3 hours 21 minutes by today’s standards) has lingered virtually ever since — this time of year and beyond.
“A moment of horror” for Chiefs fans, the legendary John Facenda called it in the NFL Films summary of that Chiefs’ season, “A Year To Remember.”
The program was intended to glamorize the campaign, with Facenda declaring that the loss could not “tarnish the glory of a season of triumph.