Kansas City Chiefs: Top Ten UFA Finds In Franchise History
By John Viril
Oct 20, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; KC Wolf entertains the crowd before the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs won 17-16. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Number 5 UFA
Sherrill Headrick joined the fledgling Dallas Texans in the first year of the AFL’s existence in 1960.
He became known for playing hurt in his rookie year after he fractured a vertebra in pre-game workouts and still played the entire game. Doctors only discovered the injury five days later and he still played the next game.
His teammates dubbed him “Psycho”.
Sherrill Headrick quickly won the starting middle linebacker job, and played on the Texans 1962 Championship squad, that included a double-overtime victory over the Houston Oilers.
Wikipedia wrote about Headrick:
"In his book “The American Football League – A Year-by-Year History, 1960-1969”, Ed Gruver quotes Texans/Chiefs coach Hank Stram as saying that Headrick, who refused to wear hip pads, had the highest pain threshold [he’d] ever seen in an athlete. Headrick played with a broken neck, infected gums, and a fractured thumb. When an injury left the bone in his finger protruding from the skin, Headrick popped the bones in place without missing a play."
Headrick remained with the team when they moved to Kansas City in 1963 and played through the 1967 season. After the KC Chiefs drafted Willie Lanier and Jim Lynch, Headrick became expendable. The team allowed him to leave in the expansion draft to the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968, which turned out to be Headrick’s final season.
Sherrill Headrick made four pro-bowls, and was named All-AFL three times.
Headrick also started at middle linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I against the Green Bay Packers. Headrick is a member of the Kansas City Chiefs Hall-Of-Fame.
Next: Number 4 UFA: Brian Waters