At 290 pounds, “Jumbo” Jim Kekeris was used as a tackle, fullback and place-kicker by Coaches Don Faurot and Chauncey Simpson from 1943-46. A St Louis native, Kekeris earned all-Big Six Conference honors three times, and was a second-team all-American as a senior. He played in the East-West Shrine game and College All-Star game. He… Read more »
News
Sport: Football
Mike Kelly
It’s true that sports broadcasters, by nature, do a lot of talking. However, the pro’s pros also listen. And, for Mike Kelly, he was all ears in his first season of calling Missouri Tigers basketball games. And why not? The advice that he still remembers to this day came from none other than the legendary… Read more »
David Kendall
There are days when David Kendall kicks back and wonders how he ever pulled it all off. Even he can’t believe it at times. Back in college, a chance meeting with the then-head trainer of the Kansas City Chiefs led to an internship during training camp. Which would seem ho-hum except for the fact that… Read more »
Bill Kenney
There is no other way to say it. In late 1978, Bill Kenney had one last shot – and perhaps only a couple of minutes – to keep his dream alive in the National Football League. Brought in to Arrowhead Stadium for a tryout with the Kansas City Chiefs, the quarterback arrived on a blustery… Read more »
Eddie Kennison
The phone call came in from none other than Kansas City Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil – and only an hour before kickoff on a Thursday night in Philadelphia, at that. Eddie Kennison will never forget it. There he was in midseason 2001, sitting in his apartment in Denver and recently released, and yet staying confident… Read more »
Blair Kerkhoff
For more than 100 years, one of the country’s most respected newspapers could be found near downtown Kansas City on Grand Boulevard. Blair Kerkhoff, a sportswriter, would walk in in awe most days. The Kansas City Star, and the exterior walls fitted in brick, likely elicited similar reactions from many others. “Something that made an… Read more »
Frank Kirchmer
His passion for sports took root in south St. Louis, where he and his buddies played just about every sport you could think of. In the summers, they’d ride their bikes through south Kingshighway to Mertz Field, a sandlot really, and at night he would listen to the KMOX broadcast of the St. Louis Cardinals… Read more »
Geary Labruary
It’s often said that the wife of a high school football coach knows the coach the best. So when looking back at the career of the late Geary Labuary, his widow, Stephanie, has the stories – some that explain why so many folks in the central Missouri town of California still revere the coach to… Read more »
Dale Labruary
He used to pull up every morning at the Chrysler plant in St. Louis and take his lunch pail to work. This was in the early 1970s, not long after Dale Labuary had graduated high school. And he didn’t realize how unhappy he was until visiting his brother, a young high school coach running a… Read more »
Larry Lady
Very few people get the opportunity to have three different impactful careers. Larry Lady, however, is one of those people. A college basketball referee for 40 years, Lady also enjoyed a successful career in the financial sector as an executive. When he retired from his day job with Waddell & Reed in 1992, little did… Read more »
Lamar High School Football Program
To coach Scott Bailey, those who have watched the rise of the Lamar High School Football Program should know one thing: It wasn’t his doing alone. “In our town, the school is important, and our town supports all the things that our kids do, with football being one of them,” Bailey said. A turnaround known… Read more »
Mark Lamping
With all eyes on baseball’s player strike of 1994, one of the game’s few late-season transactions made headlines, centered in the heart of the Midwest. The signing of an ace pitcher? A big bopper? No. But he became just as significant. Mark Lamping was hired as the President of the St. Louis Cardinals. “I was… Read more »
Willie Lanier
A Kansas City Chief from 1967 to 1977, Lanier played in 8 Pro Bowls. Nicknamed “Contact” because of this ferocious tackling, Lanier was characterized as the defensive star in the Super Bowl IV victory. Lanier was named All AFL/AFC seven times, MVP of the 1971 Pro Bowl and the 1972 NFL Man of the Year.… Read more »
Danny LaRose
One of the greatest two-way talents in Missouri history, LaRose starred from 1958-1960 as an end who could dominate the line of scrimmage and as MU’s leading receiver as a sophomore and senior. He also punted for MU in 1960. A native of Crystal City, MO, LaRose won all-conference honors in 1958 and 1960 and… Read more »
Benny Lawson
He could have had a career as an accountant, handling the important work every year of doing other people’s taxes. Yet, deep down, Benny Lawson missed the game of football. In the mid-1950s, he had played on two conference championship teams at Seneca High School and so, after already having earned a bachelor’s degree, he… Read more »
Pat Leahy
A member of three St. Louis University Billiken NCAA national championship soccer teams from 1969-1972, St. Louis native Pat Leahy joined the New York Jets in 1974. The Most Valuable Player in 1990, Leahy finished his impressive 18 year career with the Jets as the team’s all-time leading scorer, a record he still holds. Pat… Read more »