The following lists provide an overview of notable groupings of Kansas City Chiefs players.
Throughout the Chiefs' near five-decade existence, there have been twelve starting quarterbacks to lead the team. Among the most prolific include Hall of Famers Len Dawson and Joe Montana, as well as superb quarterbacks of their era like Trent Green.
In the past few decades, the Chiefs have relied on veteran quarterbacks to lead their team. [1] The last quarterback to be drafted by Kansas City that later went on to claim the starting position was Bill Kenney in 1980. Since Kenney's retirement in 1988. the Chiefs never drafted their own quarterback to develop until Brodie Croyle [1] was drafted in 2006. When head coach Herman Edwards arrived in 2006, he stated that he was looking towards implementing younger players into his gameplan, and he was arguably looking to start at the quarterback position. [1]
The Chiefs have also had a repeated history of backup quarterbacks that steal the spotlight. [1] [2] Mike Livingston led the Chiefs to the playoffs in their 1969 season after starting quarterback Len Dawson was injured for the majority of the year. Most recently, Rich Gannon took over for the injured Elvis Grbac in the 1997 season, but was revoked of the job in favor of Grbac's return for the playoffs. The Chiefs lost in the playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos. A similar incident occurred in the 2006 season and playoffs when Trent Green and the Chiefs' offense failed to get a first down in the first forty-two minutes of the game. Backup quarterback Damon Huard, whom led the Chiefs on a 5-2 record in Green's absence, never played a down in the playoff loss to—coincidentally—the eventual Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts. [1] [2] [3]
| Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame enshrinees | ||||
| Players | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted |
| 78 | Bobby Bell 12 | LB | 1963–1974 | 1983 |
| 63 | Willie Lanier 12 | LB | 1967–1977 | 1986 |
| 16 | Len Dawson 23 | QB | 1963–1975 | 1987 |
| 86 | Buck Buchanan 12 | DT | 1963–1975 | 1990 |
| 3 | Jan Stenerud 123 | K | 1967–1979 | 1991 |
| 53 | Mike Webster | C | 1989–1990 | 1997 |
| 19 | Joe Montana | QB | 1993–1994 | 2000 |
| 32 | Marcus Allen | RB | 1993–1997 | 2003 |
| 1 | Warren Moon | QB | 1999–2000 | 2006 |
| 18 | Emmitt Thomas 12 | CB | 1966–1978 | 2008 |
| 58 | Derrick Thomas | LB | 1989–1999 | 2009 |
| 77 | Willie Roaf | T | 2002–2005 | 2012 |
| 61 | Curley Culp 123 | DT | 1968–1974 | 2013 |
| 68 | Will Shields | G | 1993–2006 | 2015 |
| 8 | Morten Andersen | K | 2002–2003 | 2017 |
| 88 | Tony Gonzalez 3 | TE | 1997–2008 | 2019 |
| 24 | Ty Law | CB | 2006–2007 | 2019 |
| 42 | Johnny Robinson 12 | S | 1960–1971 | 2019 |
| 24 | Darrelle Revis | CB | 2017 | 2023 |
| 69 | Jared Allen | DE | 2004–2007 | 2025 |
| Coaches and contributors | ||||
| Name | Position | Tenure | Inducted | |
| Lamar Hunt | Founder of franchise and American Football League | 1960–2006 | 1972 | |
| Marv Levy | Head coach | 1978–1982 | 2001 | |
| Hank Stram 123 | Head coach | 1960–1974 | 2003 | |
| Bill Polian | Contributor | 1978–1982 | 2015 | |
| Bobby Beathard | Contributor | 1963, 1966–1967 | 2018 | |
| Dick Vermeil | Head coach | 2001–2005 | 2022 | |
| 1Began career in the American Football League. 2Member of 1969 Super Bowl championship team. 3Spent majority of their career with the Chiefs (names in bold). | ||||
The Kansas City Chiefs feature forty-four former players and franchise contributors in their team hall of fame. Several of the team's names are featured at Arrowhead Stadium in a "ring of honor." A new member has been inducted in an annual ceremony, with the exception of the 1983 season. [4]
1970s | 1980s |
1990s | 2000s |
2010s |
