Top 5 Kansas City Chiefs Players By The Decade: The 1960’s

Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame defensive tackle Buck Buchanan (86) (Photo by James Flores/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***

NUMBER 4: Buck Buchanan

Kansas City drafted Buchanan in the 1963 AFL draft as the number one overall pick, making “Big Buck” the first african american number one draft choice in professional football history.

He was originally drafted in the 19th round of the NFL draft by the Packers and the NFL had gained a reputation of not scouting all black schools in the south, because of the civil rights movements and segregation periods of that era.

Feeling like he was undervalued, Buchanan decided to test his waters with the AFL and the Chiefs had become notorious for finding great players from the smaller black schools. The Chiefs struck gold when they drafted Buck, as he turned out to be an all time great.

Big Buck was a beastly defensive tackle at 6’7″, and he was extremely difficult for opposing offensive lineman to block as opponents often used double teams to try and stop him each game.

Unfortunately, their tactics did not work very well as Buchanan was often able to rush right through them to the tune of eight Pro Bowl selections and a spot in the NFL Hall of Fame in 1990.

He unfortunately passed away in July of 1992, after fighting lung cancer for almost two years. Since, Kansas City has retired his jersey number 86, and the city has created the Buck Buchanan award, which is given to the most outstanding high school defensive lineman in the Kansas City area.

He’s an all time legend, and the 4th best player for the Chiefs during the 1960’s.

Next: Number 3