Chiefs Name Thum President
From the Truman Sports Complex
Just one week short of 35 years after he was hired by the Chiefs, Denny Thum was named the club’s president on Friday.
Thum had been serving in the role of interim president since Carl Peterson resigned back in late December. Thum and Chiefs Chairman Clark Hunt wrapped up discussions Thursday night on taking away the interim title. He will be in charge of all non-football elements of the organization on the business side, departments like sales, marketing, ticketing, stadium operations, stadium construction, legal, etc.
He will report to Hunt, as will GM Scott Pioli, who is in charge of the football operations.
“I will spend the majority of my time working on the business side of the operation,” said Thum.
He began his career with the Chiefs on May 16, 1974 as a staff accountant in the ticket office.
“Denny has been an outstanding member of the Chiefs organization for almost four decades, and we are very fortunate to have a person with his level of experience and expertise running the business,” Clark Hunt said in a statement released by the team. “I know he will continue to do a tremendous job in his new role as president.”
Thum began his job a week before his graduation from Rockhurst College. Along the way, he was named the club’s chief accountant in 1982, director of accounting in 1983 and assistant to the GM Jim Schaaf in 1984.
When Carl Peterson took over as President-GM of the team in 1989, he named Thum assistant general manager. He added the title of executive vice-president in 1996, and was named chief operating officer last year. For the last 20 seasons, his work has been in football operations, with a lot of time spent negotiating contracts and working with the salary cap.
Those duties will now belong to Pioli.
Thum is the fourth person to hold the title of President in 49 years that the franchise has been in operation. Team founder Lamar Hunt held the title for 17 years, Jack Steadman for 12 years and Peterson for 20 years.
More on Thum’s hiring coming on Saturday.
Good job Denny, you deserved it!
I was hoping Denny Thum was going to be untouchable except by Hunt. I feel he is one of the few assets left in the Chiefs organization. I hope we are now getting to the point of having assembled one of the top organizations in the NFL. Which I hope results in plenty of rewards for the fans.
good move