Chris Burford

Who is Chris Burford?

Christopher William Burford, III is a former American football wide receiver. Burford was a master of sideline receptions for the Dallas Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs. What he lacked in great speed or physical presence, he made up for by running perfectly choreographed pass routes that outsmarted most American Football League defensive backs.

He was a football captain at Stanford, leading the NCAA in receptions with 61 in 1959. The following year, he was a first round draft pick of the Dallas Texans. He led the Texans/Chiefs in pass receptions in four seasons. An AFL All-Star in 1961, he followed that performance with a team-record 12 receptions for touchdowns in 1962. By the end of his career he was the Chiefs all-time reception leader with 5,505 yards and 55 touchdowns.

Teaming with Hall of Famer Len Dawson, Burford was a clutch receiver when the game was on the line and the ball had to be moved forward for a needed first down or for field goal position. For most of his AFL career, Burford was in the top ten in receiving catches, yards, and touchdowns. Burford is a 1975 inductee of the Chiefs' Hall of Fame. In 2010 he was inducted into the African-American Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame. Burford, who is white, was nominated by former black teammate Abner Hayes.