KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Almost 60 years after it was first used on the field at old Municipal Stadium, a special design will once again adorn the end zones for a Chiefs game this weekend.
George Toma first painted the design, which features a field of gold paint and "CHIEFS" in red lettering, in 1963.
“It was for the first game of the AFL era,” he said. “I was just the nitty-gritty dirt man, and I had to do everything by myself.”
Toma brought out old pictures of the stadium with the end zone design Friday during a visit at his home.
He helped oversee the recreation of that design for the end zones at Arrowhead Stadium this week ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs' 2019 home opener against the Baltimore Ravens, which kicks off at noon Sunday.
Toma told 41 Action News that putting the arrangement together more than a half-century ago required substantial team effort.
“My crew was high school boys from Lincoln High School and Central,” Toma, who has worked every Super Bowl, said. “In those days, we didn’t have the equipment to put those letters in and everything. We used a two-gallon sprayer you can buy in a hardware store.”
Wilford Bruce, now in his 70s, can remember the long days spent working on the design with his brothers at the stadium.
“We used to come down there after school and work until the evenings,” he said. “It was just a thing for a teenager to do at the time.”
Nearly six decades later, the return of the design provided a special surprise for Toma and his former grounds crew.
The design is intended to commemorate the franchise’s 60th anniversary.
“When I saw it on TV, I had a double take,” Bruce said. “I looked at it and looked back. I said, ‘That looks like old times.’”
Toma, who has been recognized by the Pro Football and Major League Baseball halls of fame and is a member of the Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame, helped with the field preparations this week and gave his approval of the current grounds crew.
“Being 90 years old and 78 years in this game, I’ve never seen better grass than what they have over there now,” he said. “Going over there now, everything is modern equipment and the crew is outstanding.”
Toma and Bruce said it will be special Sunday seeing the design in use once again.
“It just brings back memories,” Bruce said, "memories from 50 to 60 years ago.”
Toma added, “It really makes me feel good, because it’s something I started. I’ll be thrilled more than anybody in the nation that looks at it.”
