This Week in Chiefs History

May 09, 2008, 10:36:24 AM by Brad Kuhbander

MAY 3 – 9

While DE Neil Smith and LB Derrick Thomas developed into Pro Bowl performers for Kansas City in the early ‘90s, one of the club’s leaders hung up his spikes for the final time. After an 11-year NFL career patrolling the defensive backfield, S Lloyd Burruss announced his retirement on May 3, 1992. He joined S Deron Cherry to form one of the top safety tandems in the NFL during the ‘80s.

Burruss originally joined the Chiefs as the club’s third selection of the third-round (79th overall) of the ‘81 NFL Draft. He produced 69 tackles (52 solo), four interceptions for 75 yards with a TD and one fumble recovery as a rookie to win the club’s Mack Lee Hill Award as the top rookie or first-year player. The ‘85 season brought more honors as he was named the club’s MVP after compiling 70 tackles (49 solo) and an INT.

The Charlottesville, Virginia native earned league-wide recognition for his spectacular season in ‘86. Burruss totaled 76 tackles (49 solo) and one fumble recovery to earn his first Pro Bowl invite. He tied a career high with five interceptions for 193 yards with three touchdowns. His biggest day came in a game vs. San Diego (10/19/86) when he victimized QB Dan Fouts for three interceptions, returning two of those INTs for scores.

Burruss concluded his distinguished career with 628 tackles (429 solo), 22 interceptions for 509 yards with four TDs, 3.5 sacks (-21.0 yards) and seven fumble recoveries. Only LB Bobby Bell (six), CB Emmitt Thomas (five) and CB Jim Kearney (five) returned more interceptions for scores in Kansas City history. He was elected into the Chiefs Hall of Fame in ‘99 to become the first player in Kansas City history to be the Mack Lee Hill Award winner, the team’s MVP and a member of the Chiefs Hall of Fame.

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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A eight-year veteran of the Chiefs, Kuhbander is Kansas City's Manager of Football Information. As the club's in-house "stats guru," he coordinates statistical research for the club's coaching staff and executives, in addition to performing a variety of other functions for the Public Relations Department. Every week he contributes a "Stat of the Week" and a "This Week in Chiefs History" segment for kcchiefs.com.