“When Wilt Towered Over the Gridiron: Hank Stram Recalls the Day Wilt Chamberlain Tried Out for the Chiefs”
In the rich tapestry of sports history, few tales capture the imagination like the cross-sport exploits of legends. And when Kansas City Chiefs head coach Hank Stram revealed a little-known moment from the 1960s — a tryout he organized for basketball giant Wilt Chamberlain — it added yet another mythic layer to the already towering legacy of the Big Dipper.
“I set up a try-out for him during Chiefs pre-season,” Stram once said, reflecting on the day he dared to envision a Hall of Fame center as a possible NFL tight end. The idea was far from outrageous. Chamberlain was not only a basketball titan, but also a supreme athlete — agile, fast, and powerful. In high school, he ran track and dominated in field events. In college, he flirted with boxing. But football? That was uncharted territory.
Stram described the moment with awe, as though even he couldn’t quite believe what he saw.
“I asked Wilt to stand behind the goalpost while I threw him the ball over the bottom post,” Stram recalled. “He would just stand there ’till the last second. Then, he would leap up & make the catch.”
And catch he did. Every. Single. One.
“He caught everything I threw at him!” Stram exclaimed, still impressed decades later. What made it more surreal was the way Wilt handled the football — like it was a mere toy in his enormous hands.
“After a while, his hand looked like a baseball glove! Just effortless!”
While Wilt Chamberlain ultimately stayed loyal to the hardwood — where he would go on to become one of the most dominant figures the NBA has ever seen — the story of his NFL tryout remains a tantalizing “what-if” in the annals of sports. Imagine Chamberlain in a Chiefs uniform, streaking down the field, catching touchdown passes over helpless defenders who stood no chance against his 7’1” frame and 48-inch vertical.
For Hank Stram, a visionary coach and football lifer, the memory of that day is more than just a footnote — it’s a reminder of the rare breed of athlete Wilt Chamberlain was. And it leaves fans to wonder what could have been if the Big Dipper had taken his talents to the gridiron.
One thing’s for sure: with Chamberlain on the field, every ball was catchable. Effortlessly.
