1965 Kansas City Chiefs season

1965 Kansas City Chiefs season
1965 Kansas City Chiefs season
Owner	Lamar Hunt
General manager	Jack Steadman
Head coach	Hank Stram
Home field	Municipal Stadium
Results
Record	7–5–2
Division place	3rd AFL Western
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
AFL All-Stars	QB Len Dawson; WR Frank Jackson; OT Jim Tyrer; FB Curtis McClinton; DE Jerry Mays; DE Buck Buchanan; LB Sherrill Headrick; LB E. J. Holub; LB Bobby Bell; S Johnny Robinson
	← 1964; Chiefs seasons; 1966 →;

The 1965 Kansas City Chiefs season was the sixth season for the Kansas City Chiefs as a professional AFL franchise and the third in Kansas City; they finished with a 7–5–2 record (their first winning season in Kansas City), third in the Western division.

For the 1965 season, the Chiefs were caught in the middle of the AFL and NFL's bidding wars for college talent. Kansas City made running back Gale Sayers from the University of Kansas their first-round draft pick (sixth overall),^[1] but Sayers signed with the Chicago Bears, who had selected him fourth overall in the NFL's draft.^[2]

The Chiefs lost running back Mack Lee Hill late in the year when he suffered torn ligaments in his right knee in the next-to-last regular-season game at Buffalo on December 12. Following what was expected to be a routine surgery two days later at Menorah Hospital in Kansas City, Hill died from what was termed "a sudden and massive embolism."^[3] Hunt called Hill's death "the worst shock possible." Five days after Hill's unexpected death, the mourning Chiefs defeated the Denver Broncos to finish with a 7–5–2 record.^[2]^[4]

Roster

1965 Kansas City Chiefs roster

Quarterbacks

16 Len Dawson QB
10 Pete Beathard

Running Backs

Wide Receivers / Flankers

89 Otis Taylor WR / PR / KR
26 Frank Pitts WR / FL / HB
28 Abner Haynes WR / RB / KR
80 Reggie Carolan WR / FL
42 Johnny Robinson HB / WR / DB

Tight Ends

84 Fred Arbanas TE
88 Chris Burford WR / E

Offensive Linemen

77 Jim Tyrer LG
79 Jerry Cornelison T/G
71 Ed Budde LG
60 Al Reynolds RG
61 Dennis Biodrowski G
65 Jon Gilliam C
64 Curt Merz RG
73 Dave Hill RT

Defensive Linemen

85 Chuck Hurston DE
76 Hatch Rosdahl DE
82 Ed Lothamer DE
75 Jerry Mays DE
86 Buck Buchanan LDT
79 Al Dotson DT
70 Curt Farrier DT
87 Mel Branch RDE

Linebackers

78 Bobby Bell OLB / DE
56 Walt Corey RLB
69 Sherrill Headrick MLB
35 Smokey Stover LLB
55 E.J. Holub LLB
69 Sherrill Headrick MLB
50 Ronnie Caveness LB

Defensive Backs

24 Fred Williamson LCB
38 Solomon Brannan CB
20 Bobby Hunt SS
45 Dave Grayson RCB
22 Willie Mitchell DB
14 Bobby Ply LB / DB

Special Teams

51 Tommy Brooker K / LB
44 Jerrel Wilson P

Rookies in italics

^[5]

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	August 7	at Denver Broncos	W 30–24	1–0	Bears Stadium	17,707	Recap
2	August 15	San Diego Chargers	L 10–31	1–1	Municipal Stadium	13,132	Recap
3	August 22	at Oakland Raiders	L 6–23	1–2	Frank Youell Field	13,592	Recap
4	August 28	vs. Buffalo Bills	W 18–16	2–2	Veterans Field (Wichita, KS)	15,157	Recap
5	September 4	Boston Patriots	W 34–7	3–2	Municipal Stadium	15,157	Recap

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 12	at Oakland Raiders	L 10–37	0–1	Frank Youell Field	18,659	Recap
2	September 18	at New York Jets	W 14–10	1–1	Shea Stadium	53,658	Recap
3	September 26	at San Diego Chargers	T 10–10	1–1–1	Balboa Stadium	28,126	Recap
4	October 3	Boston Patriots	W 27–17	2–1–1	Municipal Stadium	26,773	Recap
5	October 10	at Denver Broncos	W 31–23	3–1–1	Bears Stadium	31,001	Recap
6	October 17	Buffalo Bills	L 7–23	3–2–1	Municipal Stadium	26,941	Recap
7	October 24	at Houston Oilers	L 36–38	3–3–1	Rice Stadium	34,670	Recap
8	October 31	Oakland Raiders	W 14–7	4–3–1	Municipal Stadium	18,354	Recap
9	November 7	New York Jets	L 10–13	4–4–1	Municipal Stadium	25,523	Recap
10	November 14	San Diego Chargers	W 31–7	5–4–1	Municipal Stadium	21,968	Recap
11	November 21	at Boston Patriots	T 10–10	5–4–2	Fenway Park	13,056	Recap
12	November 28	Houston Oilers	W 52–21	6–4–2	Municipal Stadium	16,459	Recap
13	Bye
14	December 12	at Buffalo Bills	L 25–34	6–5–2	War Memorial Stadium	40,298	Recap
15	December 19	Denver Broncos	W 45–35	7–5–2	Municipal Stadium	14,421	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Source: Pro Football Reference^[6]

Standings

AFL Western Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
San Diego Chargers	9	2	3	.818	4–1–1	340	227	W3
Oakland Raiders	8	5	1	.615	3–3	298	239	L1
Kansas City Chiefs	7	5	2	.583	4–1–1	322	285	W1
Denver Broncos	4	10	0	.286	0–6	303	392	L4

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.

References

^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 395
^ ^a ^b "Kansas City Chiefs History 1960's". Archived from the original on October 18, 2004. Retrieved July 30, 2007.
^ "Mack Lee Hill is dead at 25 after surgery". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. December 15, 1965. p. 26.
^ "3 ex-KU stars in victories while Sayers' club beaten". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). December 20, 1965. p. 22.
^ "1965 Kansas City Chiefs Roster & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
^ "Kansas City Chiefs 1965 Games and Schedule". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

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[1] NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 395

[Chiefs_History_1960's-2] "Kansas City Chiefs History 1960's". Archived from the original on October 18, 2004. Retrieved July 30, 2007.

[dasurg-3] "Mack Lee Hill is dead at 25 after surgery". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). Associated Press. December 15, 1965. p. 26.

[exkustr-4] "3 ex-KU stars in victories while Sayers' club beaten". Lawrence Daily Journal-World. (Kansas). December 20, 1965. p. 22.

[5] "1965 Kansas City Chiefs Roster & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

[6] "Kansas City Chiefs 1965 Games and Schedule". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

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