Edward Leon Budde ( ; November 2, 1940 – December 19, 2023) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

. He played his entire career for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL) and

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL).

Early life

Budde was born in

Highland Park, Michigan Highland Park is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An enclave of Detroit, Highland Park is located roughly north of Downtown Detroit, and is surrounded by Detroit on most sides. As of the 2020 United ...

, on November 2, 1940. After graduating from

Denby High School The Edwin C. Denby High School is a public secondary education school located at 12800 Kelly Road in northeastern Detroit, Michigan, United States. Denby High opened in 1930, and the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Plac ...

, he played for

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

in 1960 as an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

, receiving first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors two years later during his tenure there.

Professional career

Budde was drafted as the first-round pick for both the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

and the

in the 1963 NFL and AFL drafts, respectively, before ultimately signing with the Chiefs. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs for 14 years as the left offensive

, longer than any other Chief except for punter

Jerrel Wilson Jerrel Douglas Wilson (October 4, 1941 – April 9, 2005), nicknamed "Thunderfoot", was an American professional football punter who played for 16 seasons, 15 of them with the Kansas City Chiefs, in the American Football League (AFL) and the ...

. Through his first nine seasons, Budde did not miss a single start, playing in 177 games in his career. Budde was 6'5 and 265 pounds (196 cm; 120 kg) with an unusual stance, in that he put his left hand down instead of the usual right. Budde and the Chiefs won two American Football League Championships (1966 and 1969) and a world championship in

Super Bowl IV Super Bowl IV was an American football game played on January 11, 1970, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the fourth and final AFL–NFL World Championship Game in professional football prior to the AFL–NFL merger taking ...

after defeating the NFL's

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

23–7. Budde was selected to the American Football League All-Star team in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, and

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, and played in six

AFL All-Star The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the lea ...

games. He was selected for the ''

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'' AFL All-League team in

. In 1968, Budde became the first

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

to be selected by the

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as an Offensive Player of the Week. Budde was named a member of the

All-Time All-AFL Team The American Football League (AFL) All-Time Team was selected on January 14, 1970. The first and second teams were determined by a panel of members of the AFL's Hall of Fame Board of Selectors: Offense Defense Special teams Coach See also ...

First-team in 1970. He retired after the 1976 season and was inducted into the Chiefs' Hall of Honor in 1984.

Personal life and death

Budde was married to his wife for over 60 years; together they had three children. One of their children,

Brad Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

, was an

with

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

and also played in the NFL for the Chiefs, the only father-son combination to be first-round draft picks for the same NFL team. Budde died on December 19, 2023, at age 83.

References

Sources

* * History: The AFL - Pro Football Hall of Fam
link
*

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Budde, Ed 1940 births 2023 deaths American football offensive guards Kansas City Chiefs players Michigan State Spartans football players American Conference Pro Bowl players American Football League All-League players American Football League All-Star players American Football League All-Time Team Denby High School alumni Sportspeople from Highland Park, Michigan Players of American football from Wayne County, Michigan Players of American football from Detroit American Football League players