Sherrill Headrick

American football player (1937–2008)

American football player

Sherrill Headrick

No. 69
Position:| Linebacker
Personal information
Born:| (1937-03-13)March 13, 1937
Waco, Texas, U.S.
Died:| September 10, 2008(2008-09-10) (aged 71)
Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Height:| 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:| 240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High school:| North Side (TX)
College:| TCU
NFL draft:| 1960: undrafted
Career history

* Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs (1960–1967)
* Cincinnati Bengals (1968)

Career highlights and awards

* 2× AFL champion (1962, 1966)
* 3× First-team All-AFL (1960–1962)
* 2× Second-team All-AFL (1964, 1966)
* 5× AFL All-Star (1960–1962, 1965, 1966)
* Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame
* Second-team All-SWC (1958)

Career NFL statistics
| Interceptions:| 15

|

Stats at Pro Football Reference

Sherrill Headrick (March 13, 1937 – September 10, 2008) was an American professional football player.

## Early life

[edit]

Headrick grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, where he was an All-District fullback at North Side High School. He played college football at Texas Christian University, playing offensive guard. However, he had to drop out due to poor grades after his junior season. He then spent one year playing in the Canadian Football League.[1][2]

## Professional career

[edit]

While working in the west Texas and New Mexico oil fields during the off-season, in 1960 he became one of the first players to sign with the Dallas Texans in 1960 as an undrafted free agent. He played linebacker and went on to star for the team while they were the Texans and when they became the Kansas City Chiefs.

In his first year with the Texans, Headrick set the standard for playing hurt, after fracturing a vertebra in his neck in a pre-game collision at Houston. Despite feeling pain in his neck, he played the entire game. He learned of the fracture five days later, but went on to play the following week, earning the nickname "Psycho".

In his book "The American Football League – A Year-by-Year History, 1960–1969", Ed Gruver quotes Texans/Chiefs coach Hank Stram as saying that Headrick, who refused to wear hip pads, had the highest pain threshold [he'd] ever seen in an athlete. Headrick played with a broken neck, infected gums, and a fractured thumb. When an injury left the bone in his finger protruding from the skin, Headrick popped the bones in place without missing a play.

"He was a fantastic football player", former Chiefs tight end Fred Arbanas told The Kansas City Star. "Sherrill was so quick, most of the offensive linemen couldn’t get to him. He was such a wild man, people didn’t realize he was such a student of the game. Teams would come out in different formations, and Sherrill knew exactly where the ball was going to go."

He was a Sporting News All-AFL first-team selection in 1960, 1961 and 1962, when the Texans won the longest game ever played and defeated the two-time defending champion Houston Oilers in the double-overtime AFL Championship game.

He was an AFL Western Division All-Star in 1965 and in 1966, when the Chiefs won the franchise's second AFL title, and played in the first AFL-NFL World Championship game (the predecessor of the Super Bowl.

In 1967, the Chiefs drafted linebackers Willie Lanier and Jim Lynch and let Headrick go to the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1968 expansion draft. He finished his AFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968, the expansion Bengals' first season.[3]

## After football

[edit]

In 1993, he was inducted into the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame.[3]

During the next 15 years, he worked at various jobs and businesses, including ownership in a fried chicken franchise in Texas. He was also a nationally renowned tournament bridge player. He earned the rank of Diamond Life Master awarded by the American Contract Bridge League.

But the aftereffects of football injuries, including debilitating arthritis, took their toll. Headrick began collecting disability from the NFL at age 45.[1] He used a wheelchair for the last 10 years of his life.[4]

Headrick died on September 10, 2008, after a long battle with cancer at the age of 71.[4]

## See also

[edit]

* Biography portal

* List of American Football League players

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Chiefs Covitz:Former Chiefs great Sherrill Headrick dies at 71 - ChiefsPlanet". www.chiefsplanet.com. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
2. ^ "Compound fractures and shattered ribs are small - 11.07.66 - SI Vault". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014.
3. ^ a b "Former TCU, Chiefs standout Sherrill Headrick, 71, dies". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. September 20, 2009. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
4. ^ a b The Kansas City Star [dead link]

## External links

[edit]

* Sherrill Headrick at Find a Grave

* v
* t
* e

Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame

John Alt
Kimble Anders
Fred Arbanas
Gary Barbaro
Bobby Bell
Buck Buchanan
Ed Budde
Chris Burford
Lloyd Burruss
Carlos Carson
Deron Cherry
Curley Culp
Len Dawson
Joe Delaney
Mike Garrett
Tony Gonzalez
Gary Green
Tim Grunhard
Tamba Hali
Dante Hall
Abner Haynes
Sherrill Headrick
Dave Hill
Priest Holmes
Lamar Hunt
E.J. Holub
Willie Lanier
Mack Lee Hill
Albert Lewis
Nick Lowery
Jim Lynch
Bill Maas
Jerry Mays
Curtis McClinton
Christian Okoye
Ed Podolak
Tony Richardson
Johnny Robinson
Kevin Ross
Jack Rudnay
Marty Schottenheimer
Will Shields
Neil Smith
Gary Spani
Jack Steadman
Jan Stenerud
Art Still
Hank Stram
Otis Taylor
Emmitt Thomas
Derrick Thomas
Jim Tyrer
Brian Waters
Jerrel Wilson

* v
* t
* e

Dallas Texans 1960 inaugural season roster

* 14 Hunter Enis
* 18 Don Flynn
* 19 Cotton Davidson
* 21 Dave Webster
* 22 Johnny Bookman
* 23 Jim Swink
* 28 Abner Haynes
* 30 Jack Spikes
* 32 Bo Dickinson
* 33 Curley Johnson
* 35 Smokey Stover
* 36 Clem Daniels
* 40 Charlie Jackson
* 42 Johnny Robinson
* 44 Jimmy Harris
* 46 Carroll Zaruba
* 48 Duane Wood
* 50 Jim Barton
* 54 Ted Greene
* 55 Tom Dimmick
* 56 Walt Corey
* 60 Al Reynolds
* 61 Bob Hudson
* 62 Sid Fournet
* 63 Marvin Terrell
* 64 Bill Krisher
* 66 Dick Frey
* 68 R. B. Nunnery
* 69 Sherrill Headrick
* 70 Jack Stone
* 71 Ray Collins
* 72 Paul Rochester
* 74 Jerry Cornelison
* 75 Rufus Granderson
* 76 Walter Napier
* 79 Charley Diamond
* 80 Max Boydston
* 85 Ed Bernet
* 86 Paul Miller
* 87 Mel Branch
* 88 Chris Burford
* 89 Bob Bryant

* Head coach: Hank Stram

* Assistant coaches: Ed Hughes
* Bill Walsh

* v
* t
* e

Dallas Texans 1962 AFL champions

* 1 Tom Pennington
* 10 Jimmy Saxton
* 12 Eddie Wilson
* 14 Bobby Ply
* 16 Len Dawson
* 19 Cotton Davidson
* 20 Bobby Hunt
* 26 Frank Jackson
* 28 Abner Haynes
* 30 Jack Spikes
* 32 Curtis McClinton
* 35 Smokey Stover
* 42 Johnny Robinson
* 44 Edward Kelley
* 45 Dave Grayson
* 48 Duane Wood
* 54 Ted Greene
* 55 E. J. Holub
* 56 Walt Corey
* 60 Al Reynolds
* 63 Marvin Terrell
* 64 Curt Merz
* 65 Jon Gilliam
* 66 Sonny Bishop
* 67 Carl Larpenter
* 69 Sherrill Headrick
* 72 Paul Rochester
* 74 Jerry Cornelison
* 75 Jerry Mays
* 77 Jim Tyrer
* 79 Charley Diamond
* 81 Tommy Brooker
* 82 Bill Miller
* 84 Fred Arbanas
* 85 Bill Hull
* 86 Dick Davis
* 87 Mel Branch
* 88 Chris Burford

* Head coach: Hank Stram

* Assistant coaches: Tom Catlin
* Bob Ghilotti
* Ed Hughes
* Bill Walsh

* v
* t
* e

Kansas City Chiefs 1966 AFL champions

* 52 Bud Abell
* 84 Fred Arbanas
* 10 Pete Beathard
* 78 Bobby Bell
* 61 Dennis Biodrowski
* 38 Solomon Brannan
* 81 Tommy Brooker
* 87 Aaron Brown
* 86 Buck Buchanan
* 71 Ed Budde
* 88 Chris Burford
* 80 Reggie Carolan
* 23 Bert Coan
* 56 Walt Corey
* 16 Len Dawson
* 72 Tony DiMidio
* 66 Wayne Frazier
* 21 Mike Garrett
* 65 Jon Gilliam
* 69 Sherrill Headrick
* 73 Dave Hill
* 12 Jimmy Hill
* 55 E. J. Holub
* 20 Bobby Hunt
* 85 Chuck Hurston
* 82 Ed Lothamer
* 75 Jerry Mays
* 32 Curtis McClinton
* 15 Mike Mercer
* 64 Curt Merz
* 22 Willie Mitchell
* 25 Frank Pitts
* 14 Bobby Ply
* 60 Al Reynolds
* 58 Andy Rice
* 42 Johnny Robinson
* 76 Hatch Rosdahl
* 17 Fletcher Smith
* 35 Smokey Stover
* 89 Otis Taylor
* 18 Emmitt Thomas
* 45 Gene Thomas
* 77 Jim Tyrer
* 24 Fred Williamson
* 44 Jerrel Wilson

* Head coach: Hank Stram

* Assistant coaches: Tom Bettis
* Darrel Brewster
* Tommy O'Boyle
* Tom Pratt
* Bill Walsh

* v
* t
* e

Cincinnati Bengals 1968 inaugural season roster

* Dan Archer
* Marty Baccaglio
* Estes Banks
* Al Beauchamp
* Danny Brabham
* Frank Buncom
* Steve Chomyszak
* Paul Elzey
* Bernie Erickson
* Howard Fest
* Curt Frazier
* White Graves
* Jim Griffin
* Harry Gunner
* Sherrill Headrick
* Ken Herock
* Mike Hibler
* Bobby Hunt
* Bob Johnson
* Essex Johnson
* Willie Jones
* Rex Keeling
* Bob Kelly
* Bill Kindricks
* Charlie King
* Ron Lamb
* Dale Livingston
* John Matlock
* Pat Matson
* Ed McCall
* Wayne McClure
* Warren McVea
* Dave Middendorf
* John Neidert
* Pete Perreault
* Bill Peterson
* Jess Phillips
* Dennis Randall
* Andy Rice
* Paul Robinson
* S. T. Saffold
* Bill Scott
* Rod Sherman
* Tom Smiley
* Fletcher Smith
* Philip Spiller
* Bill Staley
* John Stofa
* Bob Trumpy
* Dewey Warren
* Teddy Washington
* Andre White
* Monk Williams
* Ernie Wright
* Sam Wyche

Head Coach: Paul Brown

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