Hank Stram, at 82; Kansas City coach redefined the game of football

LOS ANGELES --Hank Stram, the most successful coach in American Football League history and one of the leading innovators of the game, died yesterday in a suburban New Orleans hospital. He was 82.
Mr. Stram had been in declining health for several years, and a family member attributed the death to complications from diabetes.
Mr. Stram, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was credited with developing the 3-4 defense, the two-tight-end formation, and the moving pocket for the quarterback. When his coaching career was over, he worked as an analyst for CBS, first on television and then in the radio booth, where he called ''Monday Night Football" alongside Jack Buck.
Mr. Stram did radio commentary for four Super Bowls, becoming the first person to participate in the NFL championship game both as a winning coach, with the Kansas City Chiefs, and a broadcaster.
''I've lived a charmed life," he once said. ''I married the only girl I ever loved, and being able to do a job I truly loved with the Chiefs. I'm a lucky fellow."
Mr. Stram was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003. Too weak to stand, he watched his prerecorded induction speech from a wheelchair.
''Look at all the red eyes," former Kansas City running back Ed Podolak said at the time. ''I cried like a baby, and so did everyone else."
During the AFL's 10-year history, Mr. Stram set league records by winning three championships and more games than any other AFL coach. He was coach of the Dallas Texans -- staying with them when they became the Kansas City Chiefs -- and later coached the New Orleans Saints.
''When it came to football, Hank knew everything about everything," said kicker Jan Stenerud, one of several Hall of Fame players coached by Mr. Stram.
Three years after losing the inaugural Super Bowl to the Green Bay Packers, 35-10, Mr. Stram's Kansas City team upset the Minnesota Vikings, 23-7, in Super Bowl IV in January 1970. It was the second consecutive Super Bowl victory by an AFL team and was further proof the NFL had met its match.
''That got the attention of everybody," said former Kansas City quarterback Len Dawson, who presented Mr. Stram at the Hall of Fame. ''People said, 'Hey, wait a minute, who are those people playing out there? And how did they dominate that Minnesota team?' "
''He was responsible for doing a lot of the things in the '60s that teams are still using now," said Dawson.
Mr. Stram designed the moving pocket and the two-tight-end formation to buy extra time for Dawson, and he devised the 3-4 defense -- referring to three down linemen and four linebackers -- in an era when other coaches were using a 4-3

Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times