KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former Kansas City Chiefs executive Carl Peterson will receive the President’s Award for the 2023 Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, leading a class of 18 total inductees.
Peterson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005, oversaw the Chiefs from 1989 to 2008. Peterson served as president, general manager and chief executive officer for the team.
Under Peterson's tenure, the Chiefs sold out 149 consecutive games from 1990 to 2008 and led the AFC in paid attendance during that time frame.
Peterson also drafted many Chiefs legends such as Derrick Thomas, Tony Gonzalez and Will Shields.
After stepping down from Kansas City, the team totaled 15 winning seasons, nine playoff berths and an overall record of 176-141-1.
The 2023 class also includes former Kansas City Royals center fielder and 2014 ALCS MVP Lorenzo Cain, former Sporting Kansas City and USMNT defender Matt Besler and two-time Olympian and Central High School graduate Muna Lee.
The rest of the class is as follows:
- Rockhurst High School football program
- Vic Bonuchi - Excelsior Springs High School football coach
- Charlie Burri - Missouri Western State University
- Don Edwards - Jefferson (Conception) High School basketball coach
- Blair Kerkhoff - The Kansas City Star sportswriter
- Claude English - Park University Athletic Director
- Archbishop O'Hara High School (2002-2010)
- Tom O’Brien - high school tennis coach
- 2003 William Jewell College women’s soccer team
- Karen Schull MacGee - golf
- Larry Lady - Commissioner of Heart of America Athletic Conference
- Michael Watson - UMKC men’s basketball player
- Karen Kornacki - sports broadcaster
- 2007 Benton High School girls basketball state championship team
- 1973-1979 and 1980 Northeast Nodaway High School girls basketball teams
Missouri Sports Hall of Fame CEO and Executive Director Byron Shive announced the entire class during a press conference Thursday.
“We want to have an even larger presence here in Kansas City, and we plan to make this an annual event,” Shive said. “We host a golf tournament annually, and have held two ceremonies in the area since 2017. We want to be even more of a statewide hall of fame that celebrates the state’s great sports history. We know those stories are out there.”
The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame’s Kansas City Enshrinement is set for 1 p.m. on April 23 at the Lower Exhibition Hall inside Municipal Auditorium.
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