Frank Buncom, A Career Cut Short and Better Than We Remember

By John Turney

After graduating from Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, Frank Buncom played junior college ball at East Los Angeles College before moving on to USC, where he lettered in 1960 and 1961. He was All-Conference and second-team All-Pacific Coast and honorable mention All-America as a senior playing both ways (weak-side tackle on offense) but was really a star on defense playing defensive tackle. 

As a junior at USC, Buncom played end, both on offense and defense, but his switch to tackle as a senior proved fruitful for the Trojans. After his collegiate career, he played in the East-West Shrine game and in the College All-Star game

Selected by the San Diego Chargers in the sixth round of the 1962 AFL draft as a "sleeper," the 6-foot-2, 224-pound end arrived in camp as a highly regarded rookie. Head coach Sid Gillman was enthusiastic about the 22-year-old’s potential, saying, "We’ve got all the reason in the world to be enthusiastic about Buncom’s chances of making our team. He showed tremendous improvement throughout last season and will continue to do so with us. He has the physical equipment and a fine, aggressive attitude."

Back then, all teams didn't use forty-yard dash times; that came later. Teams did their own thing. The Chargers would time their players in a fifty-yard dash. For example, Raiders executive Al Locasalle said that All-AFL defensive end Earl Faison timed 5.8 seconds in a 50-yard dash, which might roughly translate to a 4.8 40, depending on some factors; maybe call it 4.7 to 4.9. Locasalle didn't mention a time for Buncom but told us that Buncom was faster than Faison. So, whatever the time, for his era, he was considered pretty fast, rounding it out at maybe 4.6 to 4.8-ish in a forty. The bottom line is he ran well and according to his teammates, he was a great hitter. Vicious, even.

As a rookie, he was worked into the lineup slowly, but he kept making plays when he got snaps, so Gillman started him the final four games, where he picked off two passes to go with the two he made while he was filling in or playing in sub defenses during the first four games.

It wouldn't be a stretch to say He helped the Chargers capture the 1963 AFL title, but he did play all 14 games, though he didn't start much. He spent most of his time backing up Paul Maguire, whom he split time with as a rookie, but he'd play on most third downs as a kind of "coverage" backer when the Chargers often went with a four-linebacker defense. His speed was an upgrade to Maguire's and he did it with a nagging injury.

He became a full-time starter in 1964 and stayed one through his final five seasons with the Chargers. He was a right linebacker in their base defense, but as with many AFL teams, the defense was not just one thing. A team may be a 4-3 team but might stand up one of their defensive ends to give a 3-4 look. Or, in the case of Buncom, sometimes he might put his down and play defensive end. 

Buncom and furture Hall-of-Fame tackle Ron Mix briefly walked out of the Chargers’ Escondido training camp in 1966 over a contract dispute. But as Mix told the papers in 1969, " ... But we felt we had done what we had to (in terms of negotiations) but were rebuffed. So we retired," Mix said. Both were back four days later. 

And he got some All-AFL recognition, albeit not first-team but nonetheless he was second-team All-AFL in 1964 (AP, UPI, NEA), 1965 (AP, NEA), 1966 (AFL Official), 1967 (UPI) and in 1968 (UPI) after he'd gone to the Cincinnati Bengals as part of the AFL allocation draft. He also went to the AFL All-Star game three times (1964, 1965, 1967).

Buncom was expected to start again in 1969; why wouldn't he? He'd been among the top five outside linebackers in the AFL for a while, but on the morning of the Bengals’ season opener, September 14, he died in his hotel room at 7:20 a.m. His roommate, Ernie Wright, said Buncom awakened him during the night complaining of breathing difficulties. Wright summoned a team trainer and an emergency squad, who administered oxygen, but they could not save him. He was just short of his 30th birthday.

The coroner who performed the autopsy determined the cause of death was a blood clot that had formed in Buncom’s knee—the result of a football injury suffered the previous week—then traveled to the lung and caused instantaneous death (a pulmonary embolism).

Mix, who learned of the death while sitting at a pregame meal table with other San Diego players, later reflected on both the shock and the man. "My first thought was the injustice of it all," Mix said. Of Buncom's character, he added: "He, perhaps more than anyone I have ever known, was possessed with that purity of character ... He had an honesty that was unimpeachable." He added, "Moreover, he wore it well ... Frank had a warmth and an interest, and that interest lay in young people. I don’t care where it was, you’d always find Frank talking to some youngsters."

His defensive coach Tom Bass wrote a poem about Buncom that, many years later, was included in a book written by Bass, the NFL's poet laureate, that included some of his verse.

When Lions receiver Chuck Hughes died on the field in 1971, the AP ran a story listing Buncom as one of a half-dozen "game-related" deaths in the history of the NFL/AFL. Their definition included deaths on the field (and even Hughes was not pronounced dead until about an hour later) but also deaths in proximity to a game or as a result of an injury. It is noteworthy that Chiefs running back Mack Lee Hill died of an embolism after knee surgery meant to repair an injured knee.

It is hard to say if he'd have finally gotten first-team All-AFL honors in 1969 or been relegated to a runner-up, or even if his career might have leveled off. All we know is he was a fine player and one of the few (if any) who had as many as five second-team All-League honors without even getting the votes to be first team. During his "all" run, he just couldn't quite outpoll guys like Bobby Bell, Mike Stratton, Larry Grantham and some others. So it was kind of a crowded field so being second in terrific is a nice accomplishment.

With his ability to run and hit, he'd be an ideal player in today's NFL. As his body matured to a solid 235-245 pounds, he could play in a multiple-front scheme, an off-ball linebacker who could play some edge and who would stay on the field in nickel and even be a sole linebacker in a dime defense. But of course that's just speculation or a projection.

His legacy will be that of a Very Good linebacker, who arguably was among the top ten outside linebackers in pro football for a period of five years or so. Perhaps that may someday be enough for him to be included in the Pro Football Researchers Association's Hall of the Very Good. When the San Diego Chargers named their inaugural Hall of Fame class in 1976, Buncom was one of the initial four inductees. 

All told, he still had game in him and life tragically cut short. He was probably better than even most football fans remember, outside of San Diego, that is.