Ed Budde—RIP

By John Turney 

Hall-of-Fame defensive tackle Buck Buchanon once said there were only two players he didn't want to tangle with -- and, lucky for him, both were his teammates on the Kansas City Chiefs.

"I figure I could handle just about anyone one-on-one," Buchanon said, "except Ed Budde and Willie Lanier when they're mad."

Given that Buchanan was 6-foot-7 and weighed 275 pounds that's quite a statement. But there are plenty of NFL defensive linemen who could've echoed Buchanon's remark about Budde, one of the AFL's standout guards.

Simply put, he was as good a football player as he was tough.

Sadly, Ed Budde passed away Tuesday at the age of 83, leaving behind a 14-year career with the Chiefs where he was one of the most decorated interior linemen in the history of the AFL.

He was named to two Pro Bowls and five-time AFL All-Star Games -- the AFL's version of the Pro Bowl -- and chosen All-AFL in 1966 and 1968 and second-team in 1967-68. Plus, when the all-time AFL team was announced, Ed Budde was one of two guards on the first team.

Nicknamed "Bluto" after the Popeye villain, Budde chose the AFL  in 1963 after he was a Top-Ten draft pick by the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles and the AFL's Chiefs. The Eagles suggested they might want him to play defense, which he had tried before, but he had other thoughts. He felt he was better suited for the offensive line, and, so, joined the Chiefs who, it just so happened, offered more money.

As it turned out, Budde was right about playing the offensive line. He won a starting job as a rookie guard and held that job through the first game of 1975 when he was sidelined by a knee injury.

"He was a cornerstone of those early Chiefs' teams that brought pro football to Kansas City," said Chiefs' chairman and CEO Clark Hunt in a prepared statement. "He never missed a game in the first nine seasons of his career, and he rightfully earned recognition as an all-star, a Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion."

Budde was big for a guard in that era. Most weighed in the 250-pound range, but Budde was anywhere between 260 and 265 and had good mobility. He was part of the great Chiefs' team that went to Super Bowls in 1966 and 1969, winning the latter in a 23-7 defeat of heavily favored Minnesota.

That was the game when Chiefs' coach Hank Stram was wired for sound and kept repeating a certain play he wanted to be called -- "65 toss power trap."

"It might pop wide open, 'Rats' ", said Stram on the NFL Films wire.

It did, thanks in part to Budde. 

The Vikings had inserted an extra defensive lineman, Paul Dickson, who lined up just inside of Budde. At the snap, Budde down-blocked him while pulling guard Mo Moorman trapped Alan Page, and, just like that, running back Mike Garrett waltzed into the endzone to give Stram's "Rats" their first touchdown of the game.

The previous year, Budde had a game of games when he was named the AP AFL Offensive Player of the Week, making him the first of only two guards to win that award during its existence.

"Budde's blocking at the point of attack was devastating," Stram told reporters afterward.

That Budde had a meaningful pro career, however, was no small miracle. After his rookie season, he was involved in an off-season barfight with two men, one of whom hit Budde in the head with an 18-inch lead pipe that caused a skull fracture. Medical procedures followed, a plastic plate was inserted into his skull and he was fitted with a helmet with extra foam padding to ensure a tighter fit. After rigorous testing in training camp, Budde decided he not only could continue to play ... but would.

"I made up my mind to play football", he said then. "The organization was a little skeptical. They put me up against Buck Buchanan that first day ... I didn't have any concerns about it, but I think maybe they thought that at first contact that disc in my head would go spinning around."

His line coach at the time, Bill Walsh (not that Bill Walsh), recalled the incident, saying it was so important that the entire team had gathered around to watch.

"Everyone knew what was going on," Walsh said. "By God, the first time (Budde) just blew into the guy like nothing had happened."

"Bluto" proved he could play. And he didn't stop, serving the Chiefs for 13 more years with the surgically implanted "disc".

"I loved him," said Walsh. "He'd run through a wall for you."

Yet the Michigan State All-American and All-Time AFL guard never has been given a push for the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a modern-era or senior candidate. He was chosen to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame and the Chiefs' Hall of Honor ... but nothing from Canton. 

Maybe that changes. Maybe it doesn't. If nothing else, the career of Ed Budde merits a debate by the Hall's voters because he was more than one of the AFL's best guards. He was one of the NFL's, too.