Chiefs Fred Arbanas: Give That Man A Gold Jacket! – The Kansas City Chiefs have been the beneficiaries of two amazing tight ends. With all due respect to the likes of Dave Casper, Mike Ditka, Jason Witten, Kellen Winslow, Antonio Gates, Shannon Sharpe, and even the upstart George Kittle… the Chiefs very own Tony Gonzalez and Travis Kelce are the best tight ends to ever take the field.
Before these two stellar TEs came along, there was one, and he, too, donned the Red and Gold. He entered the AFL as a Dallas Texan. Although drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2nd round (22nd overall) of the 1961 NFL draft, he opted to go with the Chiefs in the 7th round (54th overall). I speak, of course, of TE Fred Arbanas, the Detroit, MI native who made the K.C. metropolitan area his home.
Before I wax on — hopefully, eloquently — about the greatness of Mr. Arbanas, I must first acknowledge Morris Stroud, who played tight end for the Chiefs from 1969-1974. Stroud, who, arguably, was single-handedly responsible for the change in the NFL rulebook (Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, informally known as the “Stroud Rule”) which stated: “Goaltending by any player leaping up to deflect a kick as it passes above the crossbar of a goal post is prohibited. The referee could award 3 points for a palpably unfair act.”
The 6-foot-10 inch tall Stroud — believed to be the tallest tight end in professional football, and the second tallest player at any position, ever — would linger under the goal post on field goals and extra points, swatting any and all low kicks he could, headed through the uprights.
Sadly, our Mr. Stroud passed away in 2016 at age 70. While noteworthy for his special teams play, Stroud nabbed 54 passes for 977 yards and seven touchdowns. The imposing Chiefs tight end averaged 18.1 yards per reception in his five year career.
With props to Mr. Stroud, let’s amble on to the first Dallas Texan/Kansas City Chief in a line of great tight ends. Unfortunately, Arbanas did not play his first season as a Texan, due to ruptured discs in his back. He more than made up for it, however, by never missing a game in his next eight seasons as a Texan/Chief.
In and of themselves, Arbanas’ accomplishments, 5x AFL All-Star (1962-1965, 1967), 6x All-AFL (1962-1967), AFL All-Time Team, 3x AFL Champion (1962, 1966, 1969), Super Bowl (IV) Champion, Kansas City Chiefs, Hall of Fame, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, and Michigan Sports Hall of Fame), are enough to garner respect and admiration. However, when one considers his unbelievable resilience and fortitude after a tragic incident on a Kansas City sidewalk in December of 1964, it’s nothing short of legendary.
In December of 1964, the Chiefs tight end was set upon by two men. In the altercation, he lost all sight in one eye. His appearance in AFL All-Star game was denied, and, perhaps, so was his professional football career. However, where there is perseverance and friends, the end is never near. It was Lenny “the Cool” Dawson who worked with Arbanas during the offseason on routes that emphasized his strengths and his good eye. Arbanas would go on to play six more years as a Chief, thanks to his teammate Dawson’s belief in him, and his sheer force of will.
Years later, Arbanas would say of his quarterback and friend, “Lenny’s the guy who really kept my career going.” An interesting side note to this is the legend that, when, after the loss of his sight in one eye, Arbanas was asked what he would do if something were to happen to his good eye. Arbanas casually replied that he would become a referee.
The tenacious Arbanas greatest contribution to the Chiefs was neither a touchdown, nor a catch. Rather it was a block. It was one heckuva block. While not often recognized or discussed, it was Arbanas’ block on both Vikings middle linebacker Lonnie Warwick and safety Karl Kassulke as a part of the now-infamous 65 Toss Power Trap play that helped spring Chiefs RB, Mike Garrett, en route to the endzone, to put the Chiefs up 15-0 to help cement the Chiefs 23-7 victory during Super Bowl IV.
I can scarce watch that replay without chuckling to myself. While our determined Chiefs TE was the one who was blind in one eye, it was both Warwick and Kassulke who didn’t see it coming! In his nine-year career with the Chiefs, Arbanas would set the bar for Chiefs tight ends. He hauled in 198 receptions from Chiefs QB Lenny “The Cool” Dawson, for 3,101 yards and 34 touchdowns. Those are the records that Tony Gonzalez had to break (and did) to become the greatest tight end in both Chiefs and NFL history. Those are the records which Travis Kelce will soon surpass.
Arbanas retired from football in 1970, and became active in Kansas City metropolitan politics where, like, when he wore the Red and Gold, he is still a force to be reckoned with. While Arbanas’ numbers seem pedestrian compared to tight ends of this day, football fans must remember that it was a different time. A different league. Tight ends were not big wide receivers who could block. Rather, they were athletic lineman who could catch. Nobody, at least in the AFL, did it better than did Fred Arbanas.
While Arbanas is distinguished in the Chiefs Ring of Honor… enshrinement in the Hall of Fame has eluded him. He is but one of dozens of other original AFL players (Chiefs included), who have callously been overlooked, denied, and disregarded by an NFL who still seems stingy and salty against an upstart AFL who dared to challenge the stalwart league for the hearts of American football fans.
The sum of whom Arbanas is as a man and a player, is perhaps, summed up best by friend and teammate, Dawson, who called his buddy, “… an outstanding player and a tough, tough individual.” Enough! Give that man a gold blazer!
Michael Travis Rose — ArrowheadOne
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