- Sherrill Headrick
Infobox Pro Football player
Color=Red
fontcolor=Yellow
Name=Sherrill Headrick
Jersey=69
Caption=
DateOfBirth=birth date|1937|3|13
Birthplace=Waco, Texas
DateOfDeath=death date and age|2008|9|10|1937|3|13
Deathplace=
Height_ft=
Height_in=
Weight_lbs=
Position=LB
College=Texas Christian
AFLDraftedYear=1960
AFLDraftedRound= : Free Agent
Jersey=69
Stats=Y
Career Highlights=Y
Honors=AFL Champion,
1962 and 1966
Chiefs WOF, 1993
DatabaseFootball=HEADRSHE01
PFR=HeadSh00
NFL =
ESPN =
SportsIllustrated=
years=1960-1962
1963-1967
1968
teams=AFL Dallas Texans
AFLKansas City Chiefs
AFLCincinnati Bengals
TSNAllAFL=1960, 1961, 1962
AFLAllStar=1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966
CollegeHOF=
HOF=Sherrill Headrick (
March 13 ,1937 –September 10 ,2008 ) was an American college and professional football player fromTexas Christian University .In 1960, Headrick came to the
American Football League 's Dallas Texans as an undraftedlinebacker . He went on to star for the Texans and theKansas City Chiefs . In his first year with the Texans, Headrick set the standard for playing hurt, after fracturing avertebra 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", a reputation he fueled by banging his head against his locker and working himself up to the point of nausea before games. In his book "The American Football League - A Year-by-Year History, 1960-1969"Ed Gruver quotes Texans/Chiefs coachHank 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.The results of these injuries included debilitating
arthritis , and he was confined to a wheelchair the last ten years of his life. [http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/791186.html] He was a "Sporting News " AFL All-League 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. He finished his career with theCincinnati Bengals in 1968.Headrick died on September 10, 2008 after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 71. [http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/791186.html]
ee also
*Other American Football League players
External links
* [http://www.remembertheafl.com/1960AFLUnheraldedAllStars.htm#SherrillHeadrick Headrick's 1961 Fleer football card]
* [http://www.remembertheafl.com/1965ToppsChiefs.htm#SherillHeadrick Headrick's 1965 Topps football card]
* [http://www.footballcardgallery.com/player/Sherrill+Headrick/ Gallery of Sherrill Headrick football cards]References
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