NFL Greatest Players

Willie Lanier: Willie Lanier leans his 6-1, 245-pound body forward, ready to pounce with cat-like quickness.

His steely glare locks into the concerned eyes of a quarterback who seems mesmerized by the 34-inch waist, 50-inch chest and 20-inch neck that soon will come crashing toward him like a heat-seeking missile.

The fear is overpowering, but nothing compared with the havoc that will unfold once the ball is snapped.

Such was the aura of Lanier, the powerful "Honey Bear" who patrolled the middle of Kansas City's defense as a run-stuffing force from 1967 to '77.

He was the premier defensive quarterback of the AFL and he gained Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke-like star status after the AFL-NFL merger.

The smiling, easy-to-like Lanier transformed himself into a fierce, never-give-an-inch, ballhawking demon when he pulled on his red-and-white No. 63 Chiefs jersey.

He was immovable on runs up the middle and obsessive when tracking down ballcarriers, who usually remembered the intense blows he delivered.

Lanier, who had been a small-college All-American from Morgan State, also was fast enough to make 27 career interceptions while covering tight ends and running backs.

With the quick-thinking Lanier centering an elite linebacking corps that included Bobby Bell and Jim Lynch, the Chiefs battled the Oakland Raiders for AFL dominance in the late 1960s and advanced to Super Bowl IV in 1970, when they defeated Minnesota.

Lanier's road to the Hall of Fame was paved with All-Pro, All-AFL and All-NFL citations and he was named to the first six AFC-NFC Pro Bowl games, winning defensive MVP honors in 1971.