Kansas City broadcasting legend Bill Grigsby has received plenty of well-deserved remembrances over the last couple of days.  The best of them all, comes to us from Joe Posnanski who got to know Grigsby well while they both worked in Kansas City.

He used to say that he had a lot of stories, and some of them were even true.

One of those true stories was about the time he went up to St. Joseph to do a speaking engagement with former Chiefs coach Hank Stram.  There was a long version to this story, and an even longer version, but the short one is that they had decided to split the money.  While Stram was speaking, they handed Grigsby an envelope.  He sneaked off to the bathroom and saw there was $400 in there — way more than he had expected.  He skimmed $100 off the top, resealed the envelope, and came back.  When Stram was finished talking, Grigsby gave him the envelope and did his talk.

When Grigs was finished, he went over to Stram and said: “How’d we do Henry?”

And Stram said: “Great.  We’ve got $200 to split right down the middle.”

If I tell you that Bill Grigsby had literally an unlimited number of these kinds of stories, I would still not be doing him justice.  I used to say to him that he must sit at home and think them up.  He did not deny the charge.  I think that’s what struck me most about him.  Bill saw life through a prism of stories and one-liners and wonderful little memories.  “I will never forget … ” is how he began so many of his sentences, and he never did forget, and he sometimes remembered a bit too happily, which he saw as the greatest gift of all.

Not that it’s a surprise, but a really, really great tribute from Posnanski.  Head over to the Star and read the entire column.  They really don’t make ‘em like Bill Grigsby anymore.

Some people might think this is a creepy idea, but I really hope that Price Chopper still uses the Grigsby tag at the end of their commercials.  To me, hearing his voice every week on the game broadcasts became just as much of gameday as Mitch and Lenny.

“Like all Chiefs fans, our thoughts and prayers are with Fran and the entire Grigsby family at this difficult time,” Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said.  “Bill’s voice brought some of the most memorable action and exciting plays in Chiefs history to our fans.  He will be truly missed.”

Grigsby became a vibrant part of the Chiefs broadcast scene in ’63 after he and the first of his many partners, Merle Harmon, defected from the Kansas City A’s to join Lamar Hunt’s upstart American Football League team.  He owns the distinction of calling the play-by-play for both Super Bowl I and Super Bowl IV.

Back in September, it was reported that Grigsby suffered a setback in his battle with prostate cancer.  As a surprise to no one, Grigsby fought back and was strong enough to attend a ceremony in his honor at Arrowhead more than three weeks later.  There are few images better than the one of this legend being honored on the field by the Chiefs fans.

Thoughts and prayers are with the Grigsby family as they mourn their loss.

(Photo via Josh Looney)

Before today’s game at Arrowhead against the San Francisco 49ers, the Chiefs honored legendary broadcaster Bill Gribsby.

I can’t think of anyone more deserving of an Arrowhead thank you.

Thanks for everything, Mr. Grigsby!

Grigsby, 88, told me he is battling a form of prostate cancer.  Grigs has undergone treatment for the disease and, like everything in his life, he is optimistic about beating the illness.

Grigsby was part of the Chiefs’ radio team from the time the franchise moved to Kansas City from Dallas in 1963 before bowing out after the 2009 season.

His role had been reduced in recent years.  Grigsby’s fulltime presence in the booth was eliminated in 1999 and replaced with live, 30-second cut-ins to open the second and fourth quarters.

After only missing roughly 8 games since the Chiefs moved to Kansas City, Grigsby stepped away from the games completely this past December.  To me, Grigsby’s voice has been just as much of the radio broadcasts as Mitch and Lenny.

Get well soon!

He said he’s retiring after watching all but a handful of Chiefs games in the franchise’s history.

“Times change, you know?” Grigsby, 87, said before Kansas City’s home finale Sunday.

He has called Chiefs games since the team moved from Dallas in 1963, missing only eight, he estimated Sunday.

Grigsby also broadcast the first game at Allen Fieldhouse, the Chiefs’ only Super Bowl win and the first nationally broadcast Final Four.

Grigsby said he might spend his time writing or at The National, his home golf course where he also keeps an office.  But he said he’d never be too far away from the Chiefs.

“This is always going to be in my blood,” he said.  “This is like family.”

The Chiefs lost much more than a game Sunday.  It’s hard to imagine the Chiefs without Grigsby.  If you’ve ever heard any game on the Chiefs Radio Network than you know his work very well and it will be so odd him not being around next season.  I hope they keep his voice on the Price Chopper commercials so we can still hear his voice during games.

If you were at Arrowhead or watching the game on DirecTV outside of the Kansas City metro area, then you got to see Browns backup running Jerome Harrison run for a franchise record 286 yards.  The owner of the record he broke, Jim Brown, happened to be at Arrowhead Stadium to watch Harrison run wild.

“He was a man today,” said Brown.  “He made his cuts, his acceleration was tremendous.  He broke some tackles, he made some people miss.  When he got in space, there was no catching him.

“I’ve been talking to him as much as I can talk to and trying to help in every way I could.  To see him perform and see the offensive line open up those kinds of holes, it was just a great day.”

I don’t want to take anything away from Harrison because he was fantastic and definitely made things happen with some fantastic cuts.  With that being said, I think the Browns could have just lined up Derek Anderson at tailback and he could have averaged 4 yards a carry.  It seemed like all game long Cleveland was dealing with 2nd and 4.  Brady Quinn couldn’t do anything in the air and the Chiefs knew it, yet there was Harrison nearly setting a league record.  Ugly.

Next up for the Kansas City Chiefs are the grieving Cincinnati Bengals.  Before they start to prepare for Sunday’s game, they will travel as a team to the funeral of their teammate Chris Henry.

The funeral will be held on Tuesday at the Alario Center in Westwego, which is near downtown New Orleans.  The Alario Center is the practice facility for the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets.

There will be a two-hour public viewing at 11 a.m.-1 p.m. CST with the funeral beginning immediately after.  The Bengals will take a chartered flight to New Orleans Tuesday morning and return later that day.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith along with players from other teams are expected to be in attendance.  Goodell, Bengals Coach Marvin Lewis and PlayersRep agent Dave Lee, who represented Henry, are among those expected to deliver eulogies.

Besides the NFLPA establishing a memorial fund for Henry, a local trust fund for Henry’s children has been set up at Fifth-Third Bank branches in Dayton, Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky.  Checks can be made out to Chris Henry Memorial Fund.

The Chiefs have zero chance to win Sunday’s game in Cincinnati and it has nothing to do with their recent struggles.  Paul Brown Stadium will be so full of emotion, I don’t think it would matter the team on the other side of the field.  There might have been a chance for Kansas City if the Bengals had won at San Diego yesterday, but losing in the final seconds will only make things harder for the road team this Sunday.