December 14, 1965: Mack Lee Hill dies on the operating table during knee surgery, at Menorah Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri. He was only 25 years old.
This was a compound tragedy: Born on August 17, 1940 in Quincy, Florida, outside Tallahassee, and nicknamed "The Truck" after Mack Trucks, he had been drafted out of Southern University in 1964, essentially to fill the hole left a year earlier, when running back Stone Johnson was killed when he broke his neck in a preseason game. He was only 23, and had yet to play a regular-season game in the NFL (or the American Football League, in which the Chiefs were playing at the time).
Hill had rushed for 576 yards in 1964, and had already gained 627 yards in 1965. In both seasons, he led the AFL in yards per carry. He seemed to be a star in the making. But on December 12, 1965, in a 34-25 loss to the Buffalo Bills at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, he tore a ligament in his right knee, ending his season.
He was taken back to Kansas City, and was operated on 2 days later. The surgery should have been routine, and seemed to have been completed. But his temperature suddenly spiked to 108 degrees, triggering severe convulsions, and he died an hour and a half later. The team doctor, Albert R. Miller, determined that a fat globule had broken off, entering the bloodstream, and causing a pulmonary embolism.
Chiefs coach Hank Stram said, "Mack Lee Hill was a fine gentleman and a great football player. He was probably one of the most unselfish players I have ever coached. He was completely dedicated to the team. Football was his life."
The Chiefs retired his Number 36, and created the Mack Lee Hill Award, given annually to the team's outstanding rookie. When their team Hall of Fame was established, Hill was elected to it.
The Chiefs have had a sad history, starting with the death of Stone Johnson, and it didn't stop with the death of Hill. In 1980, former All-Pro offensive tackle Jim Tyrer, going through business failures, did what Belcher did today: He shot and killed his wife, and then killed himself. He was 41.
In 1983, running back Joe Delaney, having played 2 All-Pro seasons, drowned in a failed attempt to save 2 drowning boys. He was 24.
In 2000, Derrick Thomas, then one of the best linebackers in the game, crashed his car, was paralyzed, and died a few days later of a blood clot, at 33.
In 2012, Jovan Belcher was added to the list. I don't know what the Chiefs did to bring all this on, but it seems like the club is cursed. In 2020, they won Super Bowl LIV, their 1st World Championship in 50 years. But their history is still tragic.
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December 14, 1965 was a Tuesday. Actor Ted Raimi was born on this day.
Football was in midweek. Baseball was in the off-season. And no games were scheduled in the NHL. But there were 3 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the San Francisco Warriors, 141-137 at the old Madison Square Garden. Rick Barry scored 57 points for the Warriors, but it wasn't enough, as the Knicks got 31 points from Walt Bellamy and 30 from Dick Barnett.
* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Detroit Pistons, 142-129 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena). Kevin Loughery scored 35 points for the Bullets.
* And the Cincinnati Royals beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 112-109 at the Cincinnati Gardens. For the Royals, Oscar Robertson had 31 points, while Jerry Lucas had 30 points and 25 rebounds. For the Sixers, Wilt Chamberlain had 32 points and 20 rebounds.
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