Star Michigan State football, Detroit Denby OL Ed Budde dies at 83

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Ed Budde, who spent 14 years playing along the offensive line of the Kansas City Chiefs and helped the franchise win its first Super Bowl with a victory over Minnesota in 1970, died Tuesday. He was 83.

The family announced his death through a statement issued by the Chiefs. No cause of death was provided.

Budde was born on Nov. 2, 1940, in Highland Park. He was a standout at Denby High School in Detroit before heading to Michigan State, where he was an All-American in 1962 under Hall of Fame coach Duffy Daugherty.

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It was as a professional that Budde earned his reputation for being a reliable, hard-nosed lineman. He was the fourth overall pick of the Eagles in the 1963 NFL draft and the eighth overall pick by the Chiefs in the AFL draft, and ultimately chose to play for the upstart team coached by Hank Stram in the years before the two professional leagues would merge.

“He was a cornerstone of those early Chiefs teams that brought pro football to Kansas City,” Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement Tuesday. “He never missed a game in the first nine seasons of his career, and he rightfully earned recognition as an All-Star, a Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion.”

Indeed, Budde was one of the leaders of fearsome Chiefs teams that won AFL titles in 1966 and 1969, then beat the Vikings in Super Bowl IV. He was a five-time AFL All-Star and was chosen to two Pro Bowls once the league merged with the NFL, and he was chosen as a member of the All-AFL Team before his retirement following the 1976 season.