Former Kansas City Chiefs scout-turned-executive Bobby Beathard is now an official member in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after Saturday’s ceremony.
Fifty-five years after he first joined the Kansas City Chiefs as a scout, Bobby Beathard found himself as the latest member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Beathard is the architect behind seven different teams that went to the Super Bowl, and he’s largely heralded with his work with the San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins much more than his tenure with Kansas City.
Beathard is the man who hired Joe Gibbs as a first-time head coach. He drafted multiple Hall of Famers like Russ Grimm and Junior Seau and Darrell Green. He was savvy at finding talent anywhere and everywhere and proved his acumen time and again in four different markets.
Specifically with the Chiefs, Beathard served as a scout in 1963 and again for the team in 1966-67, leaving for a short stint to scout for the AFL. From there, he went on to scout for the Atlanta Falcons and then climbed the food chain with the aforementioned teams. On Saturday, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with seven others. From part of his speech:
“To the Hall of Fame, not only for this great honor that you’ve given me but also for all the wonderful things you do for the retired players. There’s so many people I want to thank, but my memory is so bad now that I can’t remember everybody. So for all those I’ve named and those I haven’t named, I’m really grateful for this honor. Thank you.”