Throughout the late 1960s, middle linebacker Willie Lanier anchored one of the most ferocious defensive units in NFL history. Nicknamed “Contact,” Lanier was a heavy hitter who often punished ball carriers with earth-shattering hits. From 1967 to 1977, under head coach Hank Stram, Lanier was the quarterback on defense and was the first black middle linebacker to play at the pro level.
Willie Lanier was born in Clover, Virginia, on August 21, 1945. After graduating from Maggie L. Walker High School, Lanier played college football at Morgan State University, where he was a two-time selection to the small college All-American Team.
After getting blown out by the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl I, Chiefs head coach Hank Stram sought talent to bolster the team’s defense. In the 1967 AFL Draft, Kansas City used their 50th overall selection on Lanier, who would quickly establish himself as the club’s starting middle linebacker. He and Houston Oilers middle linebacker Garland Boyette would bridge the gap between white and black players as the first African Americans to play at the position in Pro Football history.
In the 1969 AFL Playoffs, Lanier rallied his team on a historic goal-line stand in the divisional round that held the defending Super Bowl champion New York Jets on the one-yard line. Kansas City won the game, and Lanier would be a key contributor on the road to Super Bowl IV, where the Chiefs upset the Minnesota Vikings, 23-7, in New Orleans.
From 1970 to ’74, Lanier made the Pro Bowl at the end of every season but struggled to make the postseason following a disappointing end to the ’71 campaign, losing to Miami in double-overtime in the longest game ever played. The talent began to deplete after that, and Lanier decided to hang it up after the team finished 5-9 in the 1974 season, leading to the firing of head coach Hank Stram.
Over the offseason, new Chiefs coach Paul Wiggins persuaded Lanier to return to the team and unretired to play for the 1975 campaign and finished with another stellar season, making another Pro Bowl. Lanier played two more seasons before officially leaving football for good at the end of the 1977 season.
In 1985, Lanier was enshrined by the Chiefs in the team’s Hall of Honor. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame a year later.
For 11 NFL seasons, Lanier established himself as a Kansas City legend and is one of the greatest players in the Chiefs franchise history. He is a Super Bowl champion, an AFL champion, a two-time AFL All-Star, a six-time Pro Bowler, and a three-time First Team All-Pro.
In 1992, the Chiefs officially retired Lanier’s number 62 jersey.
