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SHERRILL HEADRICK

       An original Dallas Texan out of Texas Christian University, Sherrill Headrick was considered the Texans' and the early Chiefs' best linebacker, a hard-nosed, all-giving player.   He left TCU after three seasons and played one season at offensive guard, center and linebacker in the Canadian Football League (1959) before joining the Texans for the initial AFL season, signing as a free agent.
     His teammates called him "Psycho" for his rambunctious nature, a reputation he fueled by banging his head against his locker and working himself up to the point of nausea before games.   The nickname also befit his style of play: in his first year with the Texans, Headrick set the standard for playing hurt, after fracturing a vertebrae in his neck in a collision in warm-ups before a game with the Houston Oilers.   Despite feeling pain in his neck, he played the entire game.  He learned of the fracture five days later, but went on to play the following week.  Hank Stram said that Headrick, who refused to wear hip pads, had the highest pain threshold he'd ever seen in an athlete. Headrick payed with a broken neck, infected gums, and a fractured thumb. When an injury left the bone in his finger protrding from the skin, he popped the bones in place without missing a play.

       Headrick had fourteen interceptions during his eight-year Texans/Chiefs career, returning three for touchdowns.  He played in the franchise's 1962 and 1966 AFL title game wins and in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game. 
         He was All-AFL in 1960, and an American Football League All-Star  in 1961, 1962, 1965 and 1966.  
        Headrick was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1968 AFL expansion draft and played for them one season.   

A member of the
American Football League Hall of Fame

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BOBBY HUNT


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   Bobby Hunt played college football at Auburn University.  He was drafted by the Dallas Texans of the AFL in 1962 and went on to play in the AFL for the Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Cincinnati Bengals. He was first team All-AFL his rookie year with the Texans.

  Hunt had ten interceptions in 1966, tying teammate Johnny Robinson for the league lead.  During his nine year career Hunt  had forty-two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown. He was second team All-AFL in 1964 & 1966, and was selected to play in the AFL All-Star game in 1964.

   He was an AFL Champion with the Chiefs in 1962 and in  1967, when he played for them in the First AFL-NFL World Championship Game. 

   He was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1968 AFL Expansion Draft and played for them in 1968 and 1969.

   After his playing career he was an assistant coach with the Buffalo Bills.  Hunt is a member of the  Alabama Sports Hall of Fame  class of 2015.

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BOB JOHNSON

American Football League All-Star 1968

KEN RILEY

        Ken Riley, of Florida A&M, spent his entire career with the Bengals, first in the American Football League in 1969 and then in the nfl from 1970 through 1983. He had 65 career interceptions, which was the 4th most in Professional Football history at the time of his retirement. But despite that, he was never once selected to play in an AFL All-Star Game or a Pro Bowl. In 2023, after decades of waiting, he was posthumously inducted into the 'pro football' Hall of Fame.

A member of the 'pro football'
Hall of Fame

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