E.J. Holub, a Chiefs linebacker and center who is the only player to start in the Super Bowl on both offense and defense, has died at the age of 81.
A member of the Chiefs’ Hall of Fame, Holub has a unique place in pro football history, having started at linebacker in Super Bowl I and at center in Super Bowl IV.
During a great career at Texas Tech, Holub was nicknamed “The Beast” and was considered one of the top players in the country at both center and linebacker. The Dallas Texans (who would soon move to Kansas City and change their name to the Chiefs) selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 1961 American Footaball League draft.
Holub was great in the professional ranks, too, playing on offense and defense as well as handling long snaps on special teams. He was a five-time AFL All-Star. Unfortunately, knee injuries repeatedly slowed him down, and he would ultimately have 11 surgeries during his career. Chiefs coach Hank Stram eventually took him off linebacker duties for good but kept him at center, reasoning that he could play the position without having to run, which his bad knees prohibited him from doing.
In 1970, Holub said, “The doctor says I have the knees of an 80‐year‐old man. He said I couldn’t stand another operation. He said if it gets to hurting me awful he might have to fuse it and I’d wind up stiff‐legged — you know, like old Chester in Gunsmoke.”
Despite that, Holub tried to keep playing, until one more knee injury in training camp in 1971 ended his career for good.
During the 1982 NFL players’ strike, Holub showed little sympathy for the players’ cause, saying the younger generation had grown soft.
“We played for money, but mostly for the fun of it,” Holub told the New York Times. "[Fred] Arbanas played with one eye knocked out. Ed Budde played with a plate in his head. Now, if some players get a pimple, they don’t put out like they should.”
No one could ever accuse E.J. Holub of not playing through pain.