Five former Kansas City Chiefs players named to NFL’s 100 All-Time Team
The NFL celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2019, marking the occasion throughout the year with numerous events to highlight key moments over the past century.
One of the more anticipated occasions surrounded the naming of the league’s top 100 All-Time Team, which was revealed on NFL Network over a six-week span to close out the calendar year. Members of the team were selected by a 26-person panel comprised of coaches, team executives, former players and media members.
Of those 100 elite players, five once wore the Kansas City Chiefs’ uniform and are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The NFL named linebackers Bobby Bell and Willie Lanier, tight end Tony Gonzalez, defensive lineman Junious “Buck” Buchanan and kicker Jan Stenerud to its exclusive 100 All-Time Team.
Bell, a seventh-round pick by the Chiefs in the 1963 NFL Draft out of Minnesota, enjoyed an accomplished career as a member of KC’s Super Bowl IV-winning team.
He started off as a linebacker before moving to defensive end and played his entire 12-year entire career with the Chiefs, totaling a remarkable 26 interceptions and scoring nine touchdowns. Bell, a six-time AFL All-Star and three-time Pro Bowler, was previously recognized as a member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1970s.
Lanier, a second-round pick with the Chiefs in the 1967 NFL Draft, earned the nickname “Contact” for his fierce tackling during his 11 seasons in a Chiefs uniform. A durable player who missed just one game in his final 10 seasons in a Chiefs uniform, Lanier was a feared hitter and a member of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl-championship team.
The linebacker was named the NFL Man of the Year in 1972, and was a Pro Bowler in eight consecutive seasons (1968-75).
Gonzalez, who played for the Chiefs from 1997 to 2008 before finishing his career with the Atlanta Falcons (2009-13), helped usher in a new, athletic era for tight ends.
The former college basketball player flourished as a pass-catcher in the NFL and holds the league’s all-time tight end records for receptions (1,325) and yards receiving (15,127). Gonzalez, a member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2000s, ranks second among tight ends with 111 receiving touchdowns and finished his career as a six-time All-Pro and a 14-time Pro Bowl selection.
Buchanan entered the league as the No. 1 overall pick of the 1963 NFL Draft and went on to play 13 seasons for the Chiefs (1963-1975). He helped the Chiefs make two Super Bowls and was also highly durable, missing just one game in his career. A feared pass-rusher, Buchanan was known for his quickness and became a four-time All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowler.
Stenerud, one of five kicking specialists in the Hall of Fame, spent the first 13 years of his 19-season career in a Chiefs uniform and was the NFL’s first pure placekicker to be enshrined in Canton, Ohio. He helped the Chiefs secure victory in Super Bowl IV by scoring 11 points, three coming on field goals, in a 23-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Stenerud was an All-Pro selection in 1970 and was selected to six Pro Bowls, five as a member of the Chiefs. The NFL previously recognized him as a member of the 75th Anniversary Team.
This story was originally published January 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
