Houston Oilers founder and former Tennessee Titans owner, the late Bud Adams, was undoubtedly an integral piece of what the league has become over its history.
It was Kansas City’s Lamar Hunt and Adams that co-founded the AFL to rival the NFL before the two leagues eventually merged into one.
Knowing that, even the most casual fan can see why it’s a shocking reality that Adams has yet to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Clark Hunt, son of Lamar Hunt and current owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, certainly agrees that it’s time to give Bud his long overdue flowers. Clark also added that he believes that his father would agree with this obvious stance.
“Dad 100 percent would want Bud in,” Hunt said while down at the Super Bowl this week, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online. “I think [Bud] is very deserving. I am probably a little biased because I come from an AFL perspective. But next to my dad, there was really no one else in the early days of the AFL who was more influential than Bud in getting that league off the ground and sustaining it through the tough years so that it was successful.”
Adams, who died in October of 2013, has consistently been up for Hall of Fame consideration in the past. Unfortunately, he did not make last year’s cut from semifinalist to finalist for the coach/contributor category.
Only time will tell how all this plays out over the coming years, but we can all probably agree that Adams deserves much stronger consideration going forward.