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

CIRCA 1968: Buck Buchanan #86 of the Kansas City Chiefs walking off the field after an NFL football game circa 1968. Buchanan played for the Chiefs from 1963-75. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

26. Chiefs draft Buck Buchanan first-overall, first black player with that distinction (1963)

When the Kansas City Chiefs drafted Buck Buchanan with the first-overall selection of the 1963 draft, they made him the first black player ever selected first overall in all of professional football.

Buchanan was a 6-foot-7, 269-pound defensive lineman and his famous college coach Eddie Robinson of Grambling said of him, “He’s the finest lineman I have seen.” Not only did Buck Buchanan excel in college but he was a six-time All-Star and a member of two championship teams in 1966 and 1969.

John Madden once said of Buck Buchanan, “He revolutionized the game. Guys that size usually played on the outside. Buck was the first tall guy to play the inside. When a tall guy with his type of speed is rushing, he takes a couple of steps and then – boom – he would be on the quarterback.”

Hank Stram felt the same way about Buchanan, “Buck had it all – big, strong, fast, and quick. Plus, he had a great attitude.” Rarely does a player in the NFL play for 15 years but Buchanan did, and played them all with the Chiefs. He was later inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.