Jack Steadman

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This article is about the sports personality. For the English musician, see Mr Jukes.
Jack Steadman
Born(1928-09-14)September 14, 1928
Warrenville, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJuly 5, 2015(2015-07-05) (aged 86)
Alma materBaylor University
Southern Methodist University
Occupations
  • football executive
  • General manager, Kansas City Chiefs from 1960–1976
  • President of the Kansas City Chiefs, 1976–1989

Jack W. Steadman (September 14, 1928 – July 5, 2015) was an American football executive who served as

chairman, vice president, president and general manager for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League
.

Steadman retired as vice chairman of the Chiefs on January 31, 2007, after being in the organization for over four decades, dating to their days as the American Football League's Dallas Texans.[1]

Steadman – the franchise's first general manager – also served as executive vice president, president, vice chairman and chairman in his 47 years with the Chiefs. He won four championships as general manager including the team's Super Bowl IV title.[1] Steadman and Lamar Hunt were at the forefront of the move to merge the AFL into the NFL.

Background

Steadman grew up in

Dallas, Texas. He attended Baylor University and received his B.A. in Business Administration from Southern Methodist University. Steadman died at the age of 86 in 2015.[2] He had Alzheimer's disease in his later years.[3]
He had 2 sons, Thomas and Donald. Also, a daughter, Barbara. He lived in Kansas City for over 30 years.

Hunt and Steadman bring football to Kansas City

In the early 1960s, Steadman worked with businessman

H. Roe Bartle
to move the Texans to Kansas City as the Chiefs.

Truman Sports Complex

In 1967, Kansas City was considering replacing its aging

Royals Stadium
(now known as Kauffman Stadium), which opened in 1973.

The rolling roof was not to be built but the concept established Kivett and its successors in Kansas City as the dominant architects for almost all single-purpose

major league baseball and football stadiums that have been built since. In 2005, the rolling roof plan re-emerged as part of Kansas City's bid to host Super Bowl XLIX
, but the measure failed in the polls.

Chiefs organization

Steadman was named general manager to executive vice president and general manager in 1966; in August 1976 he was named president of the Chiefs; and in 1989 was named chairman of the board. During Steadman's term as president (1976–1989), the Chiefs entered a period of decline in which they never entered the playoffs for 15 years and only had four winning seasons.

In 2005, Steadman was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame, the only executive other than Lamar Hunt to be honored with induction.[1] Also in 2005, Steadman was appointed as the club's vice chairman of the board where he served through the end of the 2006 season until his retirement.

Steadman has joined Hunt in other ventures including

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company
.

Community work

Steadman was active in local charities including chairman, president and campaign chairman of the Heart of America

Midwest Research Institute and is a past member of the Civic Council Board of Directors. In 1988, Steadman was honored by the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City
as the "Kansas Citian of the Year."

References

  1. ^ a b c Chiefs Vice Chairman Jack Steadman to Retire Archived 2007-02-13 at the Wayback Machine KCChiefs.com, 30 January 2007.
  2. ^ The Kansas City Star (subscription required)
  3. ^ "Chiefs' title architect Jack Steadman dies at 86". Sfgate. 6 July 2015.
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