Best Kansas City Chiefs Draft of All-Time: 1963

Sep 29, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs fans show their support by doing the chop during the game against the New York Giants at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs won 31-7. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

What’s scary is the talent didn’t stop with the 5 Chiefs Hall-of-Famers. Five other players from the 1963 Kansas City draft class went on to earn starting positions in the NFL.

The best was 6th round pick George Saimes, who was named All-Time AFL 1st-team safety. Saimes never played a down in Kansas City. Instead, he moved on to Buffalo where he played in 5 pro-bowls and made 3 1st-team All-pro teams. Perhaps the reason Saimes could not stick with the Chiefs was the presence of fellow All-Time AFL 1st-team safety Johnny Robinson and 1962 All-AFL first team safety Bobby Hunt.

2nd round pick T Walt Rock earned one pro-bowl nod and started for 9 seasons of his 11-year NFL career. He played for San Francisco after the 49ers took him in the 2nd round, and finished his career in Washington, including a start in Super Bowl VII against the Miami Dolphins—the only undefeated champion of the Super Bowl era.

3rd round pick DE Don Brumm also played in one pro-bowl. He was drafted in the 1st round by the St. Louis Cardinals and started for 7 of his 10 NFL seasons. He also played 2 years for the Eagles before retiring after the 1972 season.

4th round pick T Daryl Sanders was selected in the 1st round by the Lions and started for four seasons in Detroit.

5th round pick LB John Campbell played for the Vikings, Steelers, and Colts. He started for 3 seasons in Pittsburgh and retired after the 1969 season.

To measure the greatness of the 1963 draft in another way, the Chiefs hit 8 straight future NFL starters in their first 8 picks. That’s hard to do, no matter how rich the talent pool and how small the league.

Also notable was 11th round HB Lindy Infante. Though he never played in the NFL, Infante was a long-time NFL offensive coordinator and head coach in the league. Infante led the doomed Cleveland Browns offense that lost both the 1986 and 1987 AFC Championship games against the John Elway-led Denver Broncos. Those championship game losses began ex-Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer‘s reputation as being unable to win “the big one”.

Infante also won NFL Coach of the Year as head man of the Green Bay Packers in 1989.

While expansion and  the end of the AFL/NFL rivalry make it impossible for any current NFL team to replicate the 1963 draft, Chiefs GM John Dorsey‘s personnel staff has to hope they can at least produce a dim echo of this success in 2014.

However, former coach Hank Stram and super-scout Don Klosterman have set an almost impossible bar.