Matriculated his way down the field

The NY Times reports here and NFL.com reports here that Hank Stram has died. I listened to him broadcasting football with Jack Buck many times, and I've seen the NFL Films version of Super Bowl IV many times. He was delightful, in his dress and commentary, whether he meant to be or not. Here is an excellent column from the time of Stram's admission to the NFL Hall of Fame. Hank Stram quotations can be found here, here, and here. Billy Bob Thornton, the recent movie football coach, said this: "My favorite thing to watch on television sports is when they do the NFL films, when they do those and they mic’d the coaches from the 60s and 70s. Hank Stram was my boy. I had to get at least one line in there, in this movie, that was kind of a Hank Stram-like line."

Also, my dad's company used to have a salesman who looked like Hank Stram, or so I thought. We have talked about the guy who looked like Hank Stram for at least 30 years.

I imagine my handful of friends, near and far, who were in Kansas City around 1970 will be flying the flag low tomorrow. So would I, if I had a Chiefs flag.