The Greatest Kansas City Chiefs, By the Numbers: #18
by Chris Thorman on Jul 14, 2009 7:09 AM CDT
in 2009 Kansas City Chiefs Offseason
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No Kansas City Chief will ever wear #18 again, thanks to Emmitt Thomas' induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year. Samie Parker was the last Chief to wear #18, following in the footsteps of other great Chief wideouts like Sean LaChapelle.
Elvis Grbac makes his second appearance on this list. Grbac was #11 in the '97 and '98 seasons and then took #18 for his final two seasons in KC. I wasn't even going to include him but he did play half his career with one number and half with the other. If it leaned more heavily towards #11, I would have just left him out.
- DB Don Flynn (1960-1961)
- QB Elvis Grbac (1997-2000)
- WR Sean LaChapelle (1996)
- WR Samie Parker (2004-2007)
- CB Emmitt Thomas (1966-1978)
Check out the history of #18 after the jump...
DB Don Flynn (1960-1961)
Data is pretty limited on Mr. Flynn's career. Pro Football Reference tells us that Flynn played in 14 games for the Dallas Texans in 1960 and six more the next season before leaving to play for New York Titans. This is all AFL stuff of course.
In Flynn's twenty games with the Chiefs, he had five INTs and he took one of those back to the house in November 1960. In that game, the Texans (Chiefs) routed the Bills 45 to 28.
QB Elvis Grbac (1997-2000)
Compiling a 26-21 record as a starter for the Chiefs, Grbac was a backup 49ers QB at the right time. The Chiefs were handing out starting jobs to 49er QBs left and right when Grbac came to KC in '97. Elvis completed a respectable 57.9% of his passes, with his best statistical season in KC in 1999, which is also the only year he started all 16 games for the Chiefs.
Elvis Grbac will probably be remembered most by KC fans for not being Rich Gannon, who Grbac "beat out" for the starting QB job after being injured in 1998. Also, he may be remembered for this.
WR Sean LaChapelle (1996)
Greatest Claymore receiver ever? I think so. (via touchdownclaymores.com)
If you search the AP comments for "LaChapelle", you'll see we have four mentions of his name on this site. And three of them belong to the PARADE. The PARADE makes him out to be a Chief HOFer but it turns out he only played...wait I'm checking...one season for the Chiefs.
It was a pretty decent season though. 27 catches for 422 yards and 2 TDs (By the way, for you grammar snobs out there, we are fully aware of our inconsistency in spelling out numbers versus putting down their numerical value).
LaChapelle was working for a California construction company when the Chiefs called him to try out for the team in 1996. He had also just played a season for the Scottish Claymores in the World League in 1996.
Now here is a sentence that will blow your mind this morning. That is, if you've been reading our Greatest Chiefs by the Numbers posts or you just know your Chiefs players. From a 1996 article on the World League:
Scotland then lost their most productive player, Sean LaChapelle, who limped out of the game with a groin strain, but Yo Murphy filled the void with a game-winning contribution.
Woh man. Strange things man....strange things....And because that is now reminding me of "Bad Things," here is that Dennis Hopper Nike commercial from back in the day:
WR Samie Parker (2004-2007)
Parker gets a lot of flak thrown his way for annoying first down dances but the guy doesn't deserve nearly the ire that most Chiefs fans give him. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2004 draft and went on to have seasons of 9, 36, 41 and 24 receptions respectively. You'd probably expect a bit more production from a fourth rounder but remember the Chiefs were still throwing it to Tony Gonzalez all they could while Parker was a Chief.
Samie Parker won't win this poll by any means but he also wasn't a terrible player. Just an underachiever and even that label is a bit of a stretch. What did we seriously expect out of this guy? To be the next Jerry Rice?
CB Emmitt Thomas (1966-1978)
Wikipedia has a nice little list of some of Emmitt Thomas' accomplishments and they sure do look impressive all in a row:
- 5× Pro Bowl selection (1968, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975)
- 2× First-team All-Pro selection (1974, 1975)
- 2× Second-team All-Pro selection (1969, 1971)
- 3× Super Bowl champion (IV, XXII, XXVI)
- Chiefs Hall of Fame
- Chiefs #18 retired
- Kansas City Chiefs Career Interception Leader with 58
Emmitt Thomas was an undrafted free agent who the Chiefs signed in 1966. He was instrumental in the Chiefs' Super Bowl run in 1969. Thomas was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year.
Hmm...you think Emmitt Thomas is going to win our poll today? I think so.
Read more...
#1 - QB Warren Moon
#2 - K *** ******
#3 - K Jan Stenerud
#4 - P Nick Murphy
#5 - P Louie Aguiar
#6 - RB Warren McVea
#7 - QB Ron Jaworski
#8 - K Nick Lowery
#9 - QB Bill Kenney
#10 - QB Trent Green
#11 - QB Elvis Grbac
#12 - QB Rich Gannon
#13 - QB Steve Bono
#14 - RB Ed Podolak
#16 - QB Len Dawson
#17 - QB Steve Deberg
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Who voted for Samie Parker???
Shame on you!
D-Bowe, Mark Bradley, Bobby Engram and Turtle. Four Chiefs WRers. 4 Pro Bowlers.
ummm #13
Steve Bono may be the winner now…but when you do this poll next off season there will be another name there. Turtle.
Everyone knows Turtle will wear #13 this year.
I read an article yesterday that Turtle is training really hard to keep in shape for trainign camp. Apparently he is swimming laps areound Lake Erie.
D-Bowe, Mark Bradley, Bobby Engram and Turtle. Four Chiefs WRers. 4 Pro Bowlers.
I heard Turtle
Flew down to train with Cromartie the other day…From the reports I guess Turtle kicked his A$$ on tire resistance training and then in one-on-ones Turtle said “I really didn’t have a problem with Antonio all day, I just flew right by him.”
Inifinite Diversity In Infinite Combinations
by carthagechief on Jul 14, 2009 8:21 AM CDT up reply actions
i cant believe someone actually posted sammie parkers name on this list
FOUR F'S FIND UM FEEL UM FUGUM FORGET UM.
by sexassassin on Jul 14, 2009 10:42 AM CDT up reply actions
I heard that too!
Apparently they get along because they both have a significant amount of children. Cromartie has 7 from 5 different women, all under the age of 5. (The children, not the women) and Turtle has some odd 78 children from 6 or 7 different Female Turtles.
D-Bowe, Mark Bradley, Bobby Engram and Turtle. Four Chiefs WRers. 4 Pro Bowlers.
by Patrick Allen on Jul 14, 2009 11:17 AM CDT up reply actions
Turtle's 17th born
Turtle’s son Leonardo, hatching.
D-Bowe, Mark Bradley, Bobby Engram and Turtle. Four Chiefs WRers. 4 Pro Bowlers.
by Patrick Allen on Jul 14, 2009 11:23 AM CDT up reply actions
Rumor has it
Turtle is after #88, there are some discussions on going.
is it me? or isn't about time the Lamar Hunt trophy belonged to His team?
What sick individuals voted for Elvis?
They should be banned from the site..
Elvis?
Obviously it was somebody who remembers the “sexiest athletes” story but hasn’t heard that it was supposed to have been Rich instead or it was someone(s, 35 at this point) just going by name recognition (a relative youngster). Elvis doesn’t compare at all to Emmitt!
Marty thought he was sexier than Rich, too.
OUCH! Those memories are painful!
I liked Grbac as a Wolverine, and that was about it.
9 people actually voted for Sammy??
Mr. Stone hands. Really?
not a single name on this list deserves mentioning in the same post as Emmitt Thomas
Simply the Best
His number should have been retired long before these clowns had an opportunity to wear #18.
Emmit!
One of my most treasured possessions is my Chiefs championship yearbook from 1970 (the one with the number 1 cut out of the cover.) The reason it is among my favorites is that after a charity basketball game in Memorial Hall, Emmit Thomas autographed it for the 12 year old boy that I was. I have never checked out the memorabilia value of it, and now that he is in the HOF it probably has some real value. I wouldn’t ever part with it – for any amount of money. My son, young Frahnkensteen is also a huge Chiefs fan it will be his some day.
Votes for any other #18 were made by…
a.) Wide receivers on the Chargers, Raiders, or Broncos of the ’70’s.
b.) Meth users
c.) The dyslexics who were attempting to vote for Thomas.
d.) Eight year olds who idolized Samie Parker
There are only 10 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and those that don't.
Yeah
They probably got his jersey from a garage sale for 50 cents, or maybe he made them feel better because they could catch a pass as well as a pro player.
There are only 10 types of people in this world. Those that understand binary, and those that don't.
by Frahnkensteen on Jul 14, 2009 11:32 AM CDT up reply actions
Argh matey!
Maybe we’re seeing an influx of Raiders fans here at AP hwo are voting for Samie, since he will likely be the number two WR in oakland, possibly number one.
Love LaChappele, the greatest Great White Hope ever
Remember him body slamming an opposing player during an on field altercation, was a fan of his ever since. GO SLOW WHITE GUYS.
by Your_Moms_Boyfriend on Jul 14, 2009 11:38 AM CDT reply actions
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