Top 100 all-time Kansas City Chiefs moments: 50-26

NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 11, 1970: Linebacker Willie Lanier #63 of the Kansas City Chiefs runs with the ball during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl IV on January 11, 1960 against the Minnesota Vikings at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Lousiana. (Photo by Tony Tomsic/Getty Images)

32. Chiefs draft Willie Lanier (1967)

The Kansas City Chiefs had just been to the Super Bowl, but things had not worked out. The team had reached the first ever NFL-AFL World Championship Game as it was called at the time, but unfortunately fell 35-10 against Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers.

It was a loss that exposed some flaws for the Chiefs, namely a defense that had some great players in Buck Buchanan and Bobby Bell but holes in other areas. In the 1967 NFL Draft (the leagues had come to an understanding of a common draft for that year although the merger was still three years away), Kansas City selected a pair of linebackers in the second round; Jim Lynch and Willie Lanier.

The choices were two picks apart and put together one of the finest linebacking corps of all-time, with Lynch manning the inside spot while Lynch flanked him opposite Lanier. It was the backbone of a Chiefs team that eventually won its Super Bowl in 1969.

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