Tales from the Kansas City Chiefs Sideline by Bob Gretz

Author:Bob Gretz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2015-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

THE MENTOR WEARS OUT HIS WELCOME

He was a singular character in the history of the Kansas City Chiefs, maybe in all of pro football. Unique does not begin to accurately describe Hank Stram. When it came to pro football, the mold was not only broken after Stram got into the game, it was shattered into shards so tiny it was impossible for anyone else to create themselves in a similar manner.

Stram was cunning at times, oblivious at other moments. He was a smart man and possessed a great football mind that never really shut down; he was always looking for an edge in dealing with opponents, his own players, officials, fans and those that worked around him. He said the Texans/Chiefs franchise was built on a foundation of innovative schemes: “offense and defense camouflage and variety are what we’ve sold since the beginning of our football team.”

As the coach explained in the 1974 book, Great Teams Great Years—Kansas City Chiefs, there was nothing quite as exciting as surprising an opponent with a new scheme that would leave them confused.

“This is the real excitement of professional football,” Stram said. “The game plan, the camouflage and other things that go on trying to win a game hold great appeal.”

Whether on the practice field or at the stadium during a game, Stram strutted around like a bantam rooster in the barnyard, the cock of the walk. In the world of pro football in the 1960s and 1970s he was considered the best-dressed coach in the game. He was always wearing tailored jackets and pants, frequently with his bright red vest. As he lost his hair, he began wearing hairpieces that grew considerably over the course of several years.

As he worked the sidelines during games and the practice field, meetings rooms and film sessions during the week of preparation, Stram often spoke in his own language. His assistant coaches were known as rats. Youngsters around him, whether secretaries or rookies on the roster, were addressed as punks. People that he was not happy with and always the media were called hump heads. When he was scheduling speaking engagements or appearances around the country, Stram always wanted to know where’s the smush boys, the smush which could mean anything from payment in dollars or merchandise. On offense he wanted his team to keep matriculatin’ the ball down the field. He called the coaching department secretaries the Sorry Sisters and he had nicknames for everyone, including the team’s general manager Jack Steadman (The Boy Scout) and his assistant Jim Schaaf (Shaky). When he wanted to know what the gossip was around the NFL he asked for the bird seed.

Part of his chatter was always repeating the final words of his statements: got to get a touchdown here boys, a touchdown here. Boys and lads were thrown into almost every statement made to the players; at times the Polish kid from Gary, Indiana, sounded like a son of the old sod of Ireland.

Stram dubbed himself “The Mentor”

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