Chris Burford

Receptions:	391
Receiving yards:	5,505
Receiving touchdowns:	55

Chris Burford
	Burford c. 1960
No. 88
Position:	Wide receiver
Personal information
Born:	January 31, 1938 (age 86); Oakland, California, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:	220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school:	Oakland (CA)
College:	Stanford (1957–1959)
NFL draft:	1960 / Round: 9 / Pick: 105
AFL draft:	1960 / Round: First selections
Career history
	Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs (1960–1967);
Career highlights and awards
	2× AFL champion (1962, 1966); First-team All-AFL (1962); AFL All-Star (1961); AFL receiving touchdowns leader (1962); Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame; First-team All-American (1959); Third-team All-American (1958); Pop Warner Trophy (1959); 2× First-team All-PCC (1958, 1959);
Career AFL statistics
Receptions:
Receptions:	391
Receiving yards:	5,505
Receiving touchdowns:	55
	Player stats at PFR
	College Football Hall of Fame

Christopher William Burford III (born January 31, 1938) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for the Stanford Indians where he served as the team captain, leading the NCAA in receptions with 61 in 1959. The following year, he was a first round draft pick of the Dallas Texans in the American Football League (AFL).^[1]

Professional career

Burford caught 46 passes in his rookie season for the Texans, which went for 789 yards and five touchdowns. One of his touchdowns, which occurred in the Texans' first game, holds the distinction of being not only the touchdown in franchise history, but the first points scored of any kind in franchise history. It was a 21-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cotton Davidson. In 1961, he improved, catching 51 passes for 850 yards with five touchdowns to garner All-Star honors. In the 1962 season, he played in just 11 games and missed out on the AFL title run when he suffered a severe knee injury, but he caught 45 passes for 645 yards for a league-high 12 touchdowns to garner All-AFL honors.^[2] In 1963, he caught a career-high 68 passes for 824 yards for nine touchdowns. In each of those seasons, he led the team in receptions. He followed it up with 51 catches for 675 yards and seven touchdowns in 1964, although he played in only 12 games. 1965 meant just 11 games played, but he caught 47 passes for 575 yards and six touchdowns. He led the team in receptions for the fourth and last time.

In his penultimate year, Burford played every game and caught 58 passes for 758 yards for eight touchdowns as the Chiefs broke through for the postseason run. He made his only appearances in the playoffs during the AFL Championship Game and the first Super Bowl, making four receptions in each game. Burford played in nine games to close out his career in 1967. He made 25 catches for 389 yards and three touchdowns. In his last game against the New York Jets, he closed it out with two catches for 17 yards with a touchdown catch from Len Dawson. At the age of 29, he retired.^[3] By the end of his career, he was the Chiefs all-time reception leader (391) with 5,505 yards and 55 touchdowns.

For most of his AFL career, Burford was in the top ten in receiving catches, yards, and touchdowns. He was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 1975 and in 2010 he was inducted into the African-American Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame.^[4] Burford, who is white, was nominated by his former black teammate Abner Haynes.^[1]

AFL career statistics

Legend
	Won the AFL championship
	Led the league
Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	Games		Receiving
Year	Team	GP	GS	Rec	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD
1960	DAL	14	14	46	789	17.2	50	5
1961	DAL	14	14	51	850	16.7	54	5
1962	DAL	11	10	45	645	14.3	49	12
1963	KC	14	13	68	824	12.1	69	9
1964	KC	12	12	51	675	13.2	55	7
1965	KC	11	11	47	575	12.2	57	6
1966	KC	14	14	58	758	13.1	38	8
1967	KC	13	12	25	389	15.6	55	3
Career		103	100	391	5,505	14.1	69	55

References

^ ^a ^b Paige Ricks. "The Rookies". Stanford Magazine. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
^ "Hall of Fame: Chris Burford – 1975". Kansas City Chiefs. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
^ "Kansas City Chiefs at New York Jets – December 10th, 1967". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 14, 2017. Retrieved July 16, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[Rookies-1] Paige Ricks. "The Rookies". Stanford Magazine. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2012.

[2] "Hall of Fame: Chris Burford – 1975". Kansas City Chiefs. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2012.

[3] "Kansas City Chiefs at New York Jets – December 10th, 1967". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

[4] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 14, 2017. Retrieved July 16, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]