Timothy Gerard Grunhard (born May 17, 1968) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

coach and former

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. A second-round draft choice in the

1990 NFL Draft The 1990 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1990, at the Marriott ...

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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

, Grunhard went on to play 169 games with Kansas City, the fourth most ever by a Chiefs

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, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

Collegiate career

Grunhard grew up in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and attended St. Laurence High School in Burbank. He later moved to

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

where he later played on some of

Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...

's most successful teams. He

started "Started" is a song recorded by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea for her second studio album ''In My Defense''. The song was written by Azalea alongside Ronny Wright and produced by American record producer J. White Did It. It was released by Ba ...

every game in 1988 when the Irish went undefeated and won the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

. That season included victories over 3 otherwise undefeated teams:

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

, USC in a #1 vs. #2 showdown on the final weekend of the regular season, and the 31–30 win over

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, the home field of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. It was built in 1930 under the guidance of Knute Rockne, regarded as one of the greatest c ...

that is considered one of the greatest college football games ever played.

Professional career

Grunhard was a second round draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in 1990 and was an anchor for the Chiefs' teams of the 1990s, alongside Dave Szott. During that time, he started 164 games for the Chiefs, which ranks third in franchise history. Grunhard made his first and only appearance in the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

following the

1999 NFL season The 1999 NFL season was the 80th regular season of the National Football League. The Cleveland Browns returned to the field for the first time since the 1995 season, while the Tennessee Oilers changed their name to "Tennessee Titans," with t ...

after

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

center Tom Nalen was forced to miss the game due to injury.

Coaching career

Bishop Miege

Grunhard became the head coach of the

Bishop Miege High School Bishop Miege High School is a Catholic high school, located in Roeland Park, Kansas, United States. The school colors are royal blue and scarlet red and the school mascot is the Stag. The school is a member of the Kansas State High School Activ ...

football team, a

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private

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Roeland Park, Kansas Roeland Park is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and located within the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,871. History The community was named after John Roe, an immigrant fr ...

, in 2006. He taught theology. In his first season as coach in 2006, the varsity team finished with a record of 3–6. The team won five straight district titles and the 2009 4A state title in Grunhard's six years of coaching.

Kansas

In 2012, Grunhard was hired as the offensive line coach at Kansas. In December 2013, he left his position at the University of Kansas in order to be closer to his family in Kansas City.

Second stint with Bishop Miege

Grunhard returned to Bishop Miege high school as the offensive line coach in 2014.

Broadcasting

Grunhard had a radio show that was on from 9:00 to 11:00 on weekday mornings on KCSP

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comedy ...

from October 2003 till he was let go in December 2007. He first did the show with Holden Kushner, and later Doug Franz, but was hosting by himself when released from his contract. His broadcasting career began in 2001 on WHB's "Crunch Time," with co-hosts Bill Maas and Frank Boal.

Personal life

Grunhard's son, Colin, plays center for

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

. His wife is the sister of Grunhard's former Chiefs teammate, Dan Saleaumua.

References

External links

Tim Grunhard
at DatabaseFootball.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Grunhard, Tim 1968 births Living people American football centers American sports radio personalities Kansas City Chiefs players Kansas Jayhawks football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players High school football coaches in Kansas American Conference Pro Bowl players Sportspeople from Chicago Players of American football from Chicago Ed Block Courage Award recipients