Chiefs’ Jim Kearney, Super Bowl champ & ‘most underrated safety in the AFL’ dies at 81
Jim Kearney, a record-setting safety for the Chiefs who started in Super Bowl IV, has died, the team announced. He was 81.
Kearney’s 12-year NFL career started in Detroit and ended in New Orleans. But the bulk, nine seasons, was played in Kansas City from 1967-1975.
He never missed a start for the Chiefs, a span of 115 games. In a 1981 interview with The Star, Kearney said he fought for his position every week.
“Week in and week out you’ve got to prove yourself,” he said.
Kearney’s best season came in 1972, when he tied an NFL record with four interceptions returned for touchdowns. He also became the first Chiefs player to return two picks for scores in one game, in the fourth quarter at the Denver Broncos.
Kearney finished his career with 23 interceptions and had one in the 1969 AFL Championship Game victory over the Oakland Raiders.
In 1969, Chiefs coach Hank Stram called Kearney “the most underrated safety in the AFL.”
Kearney was an All-SWAC and NAIA All-America quarterback at Prairie View A&M and a college teammate of future Chiefs wide receiver Otis Taylor. Kearney and Taylor hooked up for 12 touchdowns in 1964.
Kearney became a science teacher and coach at Washington High. He told The Star in 1993 that he found great satisfaction in teaching.
“You work with a melting pot of different personalities,” Kearney said. “You’re more than a teacher. You’re a father, a counselor, a friend.”
Kearney made news in 2022 when he lost his Super Bowl IV ring while on the driving range at Shoal Creek Golf Course in Kansas City. It was found later in the golf course parking lot.