Chiefs third round draft history reveals abundance of hidden gems

#4 – Jim Tyrer, Tackle

Many members of these lists were anchors on the 1960s teams that won three championships, including Super Bowl IV. The starting left tackle through that run was former third round pick, Jim Tyrer.

The Chiefs used the 22nd overall selection on the Ohio State lineman, and he would come to be known as one of the greatest offensive lineman in franchise history. We’ve conceded elsewhere that on some level, using third round picks from an era when there were eight teams drafting does skew the data a bit. But still, rules are rules, and Tyrer was a 3rd round pick.

Tyrer played 14 seasons for Kansas City, anchoring the left tackle position in every one of them. In fact Tyrer missed only two of 196 possible regular season games during his career. That sort of durability and longevity at any position, let alone the offensive line, is incredible.

In his career, the Ohio product was named to nine Pro Bowl rosters; and was named to the 1st Team All-Pro squads six times, including in both seasons in which the Chiefs played for the Super Bowl Championship.

By the time he retired, Jim Tyrer played in 203 games (nine playoff games), which ranks him the top 300 players of all time, despite playing exclusively in seasons which had only 14 games. If one could add the 28 games he could have played in a 16 game era, Tyrer would rank in the top 30 all time.

Tragically, Jim took his own life on September 15, 1980, just one day after watching his Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.