Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Buck Buchanan

 
Actor: Buck Buchanan
  • Born: Sep 10, 1940 in Gainesville, Alabama
  • Died: Jul 16, 1992
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '60s-'70s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, War

Biography

A Hall of Fame professional football star with the Kansas City Chiefs, Buck Buchanan's best-known film performance was as a football player in Robert Altman's 1970 classic MASH. ~ All Movie Guide
Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Wikipedia: Buck Buchanan
Top
Buck Buchanan
Position(s)
Defensive tackle
Jersey #(s)
86
Born September 10, 1940(1940-09-10)
Gainesville, Alabama
Died July 16, 1992 (aged 51)
Kansas City, Missouri
Career information
Year(s) 19631975
NFL Draft 1963 / Round: 19 / Pick: 265
AFL Draft 1963 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1
College Grambling State
Professional teams
Career stats
Games 182
Interceptions 3
Safeties 1
Stats at NFL.com
Career highlights and awards

Junious "Buck" Buchanan (September 10, 1940 – July 16, 1992) was an American who played collegiate and Professional Football as a defensive tackle. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs in the American Football League (AFL) and in the National Football League (NFL).

Contents

High school years

Buchanan attended A. H. Parker High School in Birmingham, Alabama, and was a standout in football and basketball.

College years

Buchanan attended Grambling State University and was a letterman in football and an NAIA All-America selection. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996. He is one of four players coached by Eddie Robinson enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Professional career

In 1963, the 6'7" 287 pound Buchanan was the first player selected overall in the AFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. Eddie Robinson, his coach at Grambling State, where he had been an NAIA All-American in 1962, called him "the finest lineman I have seen." Buchanan was the first black number one draft choice in Professional Football. He came from a small historically black university, a source that the NFL ignored and the AFL cultivated. In fact, the New York Giants had drafted Buchanan in the nineteenth round of the 1963 NFL Draft, the 265th player chosen overall.

Others who had watched Buchanan in action were equally enthusiastic. Buchanan had the physical size plus the athletic instincts to be exceptionally successful at his job of foiling opposing offenses. He was particularly effective at intimidating the passer and in one season alone (1967 AFL season|1967) he batted down 16 passes at or behind the line of scrimmage. He was clocked at 4.9 in the 40-yard dash and 10.2 in the 100-yard dash at Grambling State and with that speed he could range from sideline to sideline to make tackles.

In spite of the weekly pounding he took on the line of scrimmage, Buchanan was extremely durable. He played in 182 career games that included a string of 166 straight. After dabbling briefly at defensive end as a rookie, Buchanan settled down to his permanent job as the Chiefs' defensive right tackle. He was named to his first AFL All-Star Game after his second season and played in six AFL All-Star games and two AFC-NFC Pro Bowls.

He teamed with Curley Culp, Aaron Brown and Jerry Mays to establish a dominant front four for the Chiefs, culminating in their victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV.

He was selected to the second team of the AFL All-Time Team, and was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990. Two years after he was inducted to the Pro Hall of Fame, he died from lung cancer at the age of 51.

In 1999, he was ranked number 67 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, right behind his former Chiefs teammate Bobby Bell at number 66. The Chiefs also retired his uniform number 86.

Buchanan once appeared on ABC's The American Sportsman hosted by Grits Gresham of Natchitoches, Louisiana. The program featured Gresham taking celebrities on big-game hunting trips, fishing tournaments, or shooting contests in exotic places around the world.

Death

He was diagnosed with lung cancer a week before his Hall of Fame induction and died in his Kansas City home on July 16, 1992 at the age of 51.

See also

External links


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Buck Buchanan" Read more