Sherrill Headrick

Sherrill Headrick (March 13, 1937 – September 10, 2008) was an American college and Professional Football player from Texas Christian University.

In 1960, Headrick came to the American Football League's Dallas Texans as an undrafted linebacker. He went on to star for the Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs. In his first year with the Texans, Headrick set the standard for playing hurt, after fracturing a vertebra in his neck in a pre-game collision at Houston. Despite feeling pain in his neck, he played the entire game. He learned of the fracture five days later, but went on to play the following week, earning the nickname "Psycho". In his book "The American Football League - A Year-by-Year History, 1960-1969" Ed Gruver quotes Texans/Chiefs coach Hank Stram as saying that Headrick, who refused to wear hip pads, had the highest pain threshold [he'd] ever seen in an athlete. Headrick played with a broken neck, infected gums, and a fractured thumb. When an injury left the bone in his finger protruding from the skin, Headrick popped the bones in place without missing a play.

The results of these injuries included debilitating arthritis, and he used a wheelchair for the last ten years of his life. He was a Sporting News AFL All-League selection in 1960, 1961 and 1962, when the Texans won the longest game ever played and defeated the two-time defending champion Houston Oilers in the double-overtime AFL Championship game. He was an AFL Western Division All-Star in 1965 and in 1966, when the Chiefs won the franchise's second AFL title, and played in the first AFL-NFL World Championship game. He finished his career with the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968.

Headrick was also a nationally renowned tournament bridge player. He earned the rank of Diamond Life Master awarded by the American Contract Bridge League

Headrick died on September 10, 2008 after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 71.