Culp, Curley,
1946-2021, American football Hall-of-Famer, b. Yuma, Az., Arizona State
Univ. (B.Bus., 1970), Univ. of Houston (M.A., 1990). Considered the greatest
noseguard in football history, Culp attended Arizona State Univ. on a
wrestling and football scholarship; as a wrestler, he won three Western
Athletic Conference championships and was the NCAA heavyweight champion
(1967). He won All-America honors in both sports. After college, he was
drafted by the Denver Broncos, but then traded to the Kansas City Chiefs
(1968-74), playing a key role in their victory in Super Bowl IV and
appearing in two Pro Bowls. He was traded to the Houston Oilers (1974-80),
earning 11½ sacks in 1975, his best year on the team. During this period, he
was selected to play in four more Pro Bowls. He spent a final year with the
Detroit Lions (1980-81) before retiring from football and entering private
business. Among his awards and honors was the Defensive Player of the Year
(1975) award from the Newspaper Enterprise Assoc., and he was inducted into
the Arizona State Univ. Sports Hall of Fame (1975), the Kansas City Chiefs
Hall of Fame (2008), and the Pro Football Hall of Fame (2013). He was named
Arizona's greatest athlete in 2006, its centennial year.
See his M. MacCambridge, '69 Chiefs: A Team, a Season, and the Birth of
Modern Kansas City (2019).
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