Norma Hunt, wife of longtime Chiefs owner & only woman to attend every Super Bowl, dies at 85

Norma Knobel Hunt, the wife of longtime Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar, has died, the team announced Sunday. She was 85.

Norma, who is the only woman to attend all 57 Super Bowls, also is the mother of current Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt.

The Hunt family released a statement about Norma’s death Sunday night.

“She was a wonderful mother and an extraordinary woman who will be dearly missed by all who knew her,” the statement said, in part. “Kind, generous and unfailingly positive, Mom was one of a kind. Her joy and zeal for life were infectious.”

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he knew Norma for almost 40 years. He called her “a significant presence in the NFL for the last seven decades” and said he was “always struck by her warmth and grace.”

“Norma’s sense of family extended to the Chiefs’ organization which she greatly adored,” Goodell said in a statement. “Norma’s place in NFL history will forever be remembered by the Chiefs’ organization and the entire league.”

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes posted on social media Sunday night about Norma’s passing.

“Mrs. Norma was the best. Glad to be a part of this special organization she helped build,” Mahomes said. “She will be missed!”

According to Michael MacCambridge’s book, “Lamar Hunt: A Life in Sports,” Lamar and Norma were married on Jan. 22, 1964 at Norma’s parents’ house in Richardson, Texas. The two later honeymooned at the site of the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.

Clark joked before Super Bowl 57 in February that his mother had been bugging him about the Chiefs needing to make another Super Bowl following their previous appearance in 2021.

“She was really upset at us the last couple years,” Clark Hunt said with a laugh at the team’s Scottsdale hotel the week before the game. “So we’re back in her good graces.”

Norma was part of the Super Bowl 41 coin toss in 2007 shortly after Lamar’s passing. She was there after being invited by Goodell.

“Roger and Lamar were very close, and it was such a nice gesture that meant a lot to our family,” Norma said of the invitation in a 2020 interview with The Star. “It was special to be a part of it, and certainly I was honored to be there with Dan, but I’m sure all of those fans in Miami were thinking, ‘Who is that lady with Dan Marino?!’”

In the same interview, Norma spoke about the importance of continuing to attend every Super Bowl. The Hunt family said she attended this past season’s Chiefs win over the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.

“To be honest, the streak was never all that important to me, but it was always important to Lamar,” Norma said. “He loved statistics and streaks, and it was fun for him to tell people I had seen every Super Bowl.

“As the numbers started to get higher and higher, I told Lamar that if he insisted on telling people I had seen every Super Bowl, then he better tell them I started when I was 8 years old! Before he passed away, he made a point to ask (sons) Clark and Daniel to keep my streak going, and they’ve done a great job making sure I get to every game.”

Chiefs president Mark Donovan shared memories of Norma on his Instagram page Sunday night, saying she was “pure Grace.”

“She made an impression on everyone she met because she genuinely cared. She wanted to know you, and celebrate your gifts and lift you with her mighty enthusiasm,” Donovan said. “She was a lady whose exquisite notes we treasure, whose encouragement shaped our family and many decades of Chiefs families, whose beauty only paled next to her unwavering sincerity.”

Union Station announced Sunday that it would change its exterior lighting later that night to Chiefs red in honor of Norma.