Former Chiefs lineman Tim Grunhard loves being a part of Kansas City
Tim Grunhard started 164 games for the Kansas City Chiefs, the third most in franchise history. He was the anchor of the offensive line for Chiefs teams that reached the playoffs in seven of his 11 seasons. Before that he was part of Notre Dame’s national championship team in 1988.
But that’s not his legacy. He says it’s “loyalty, toughness and being one of Kansas City’s people.”
Grunhard, the 1999 Pro Bowl center, moved to Kansas City after he was drafted in 1990 and he never left. He had opportunities to finish his career elsewhere, “and probably make another 5-6 million,” but he felt like that would have been “stealing.” Mostly, he didn’t want to take his family away from Kansas City.
So he settled down here, and he and his wife, Sarah, raised their four children, something he’s far more proud of than his NFL career. He says he spent as much times as possible in the back yard with his two sons “teaching them about football…and golf…and baseball…and basketball…and hockey…anything I could to help them be Division I athletes.” Then he jokes that he played dolls with his daughters and they were the ones to get athletic scholarships.
“The moral of the story is, ‘Don’t mess with your kids,’” he says, “because it doesn’t matter what you do. I never did one thing sports-wise with my daughters and they both got Division I scholarships. The two kids I worked with all the time didn’t.”
His self-deprecating humor has endeared him to fans, while he was playing and in the 20 years since.
One part of his legacy that he will claim is his involvement with First Downs For Down Syndrome, something he helped start early in his career with the Chiefs. Local television personality Gordon Docking reached out to Grunhard and the rest of the offensive line to lend their names to the cause. They gladly accepted, because the offensive line never got much attention.
“Everybody forgets about us,” Grunhard says. “Everybody tells us there’s a party, but nobody tells us what time it starts.”
But don’t be fooled. Grunhard and the O-line were the toast of the party for Martyball, the run-first offense of coach Marty Schottenheimer. Grunhard arrived the year after Schottenheimer and Carl Peterson, the duo who helped build the Chiefs behind a toughness that spoke to the attitude of the Midwest.
“Think about that coaching staff under Marty,” he said. “(Bill) Cowher, (Tony) Dungy, (Bruce) Arians, Howard Mudd, Al Saunders. They were all tough guys.”
He said that Peterson was a genius regarding getting the fans behind the team. He encouraged the players to host their own radio shows and to do so at spots around the city. He felt that if the fans got to know the players, they’d stick by them even when they weren’t quite as successful.
Peterson also encouraged fans to tailgate at the stadium, something that now seems like it’s always been there. Grunhard remembers driving into the stadium on game day about three hours before the game. “I knew it was time to get ready for the game,” he said. “I was like one of Pavlov’s dogs with the scent of barbecue in my nose.”
The fans became part of the experience under Peterson. They felt ownership of the team, “because they were part of us,” Grunhard says. “That was the foundation of The (Chiefs) Kingdom.”
The friendliness of the fans was what attracted free agents to the team — that and the approach of Schottenheimer. “The culture on the team changed quickly because the players bought into Marty’s ideas. He had a message and a plan. He trusted us and we trusted him. He installed discipline, but we knew the coaches were in our corner.
“Marty criticized the performance, not the performer. That was important to players.”
Grunhard grew up in a suburb of Chicago, but his first contact with the Chiefs didn’t go well. When the Chiefs won Super Bowl IV (when he was 20 months old), his aunt bought him a kid-sized Chiefs helmet. He wasn’t happy. He wanted a Notre Dame helmet, because he loved the “gold dome.” So his father painted it gold.
Later, after wearing it in the backyard for years, the gold paint started to peel, and the red came through. He thinks it’s ironic that the two teams he’s best-known for playing for were combined in that one helmet.
But if pressed, he won’t say that he’s a former Chief or a former golden domer. “I’m a former Viking, from St. Laurence High School,” he said. “If I had one more game to play, I’d go back and play on a Friday night for the Vikings.”
When it was time to retire, Grunhard was ready. He does a great Lou Holtz impression, and he quoted Holtz’s advice on retirement.
“If you don’t practice one day, you know it. If you don’t practice two days, the coaches know it. If you don’t practice three days, everybody knows it. You want to get out when you know it’s time.”
So today, Grunhard enjoys watching the young Chiefs carry the banner. He says they’re like little brothers to him and his former teammates.
“Some guys are bitter about not getting to win a Super Bowl,” he said. “It creeps into your mind, but that goes away quickly. My only regret is not being able to hand the Lamar Hunt Trophy to Lamar Hunt.”
A fixture on local sports radio, Grunhard still gets his fix on football, without the bumps and bruises that go with it. He admires Patrick Mahomes’ ability to do “anything he wants.”
“We love watching these guys compete,” Grunhard says. “We love watching them complete the Kingdom. This is a great organization with a lot of great people, and they deserve this success.”
David Smale is a freelance writer and author of 22 books on sports history. One of his recent books, The Keys to the Kingdom, is on the entire history of the Chiefs franchise. It is available at www.davidsmalebooks.com. He also is the host of “Sports Connections,” available wherever podcasts are found.
This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 5:00 AM.