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By Jon Paul Hoornstra
Contributing Sports Writer
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Frank Pitts Jr., a wide receiver on the Kansas City Chiefs' first Super Bowl-winning team, died Friday. He was 82.
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Pitts played 10 seasons professionally for the Chiefs (1965-70), Cleveland Browns (1971-73) and Oakland Raiders (1974).
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A native of Atlanta, Pitts played college football at Southern University. He was a fourth-round draft pick by the Chiefs in the American Football League draft.
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The Chiefs won the AFL championship the following year, but Pitts did not became a starter until 1968.
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That year, he started 10 of 13 games, catching 30 passes for 655 yards and six touchdowns. Pitts also hauled in five passes for 56 yards in his first playoff game, a 41-6 loss to the Raiders in the first round.
In 1969, the Chiefs won the AFL championship again; this time it earned them an invitation to Super Bowl IV and a date with the Minnesota Vikings.
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Pitts caught three passes for 33 yards, and also carried the ball three times for 37 yards, in the Chiefs' 23-7 win. That proved to be the only Super Bowl championship of Pitts' career.
By 1970, Pitts' role in the Chiefs' offense was fading. He started 10 games, catching 11 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns.
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Pitts retired with 127 gamess in the NFL, 2,897 recieving yards, 27 receiving touchdowns, and one touchdown on the ground.
Pitts' home was burglarized, and his Super Bowl ring stolen, in 2005. He was the Louisiana Senate sergeant-at-arms at the time, and held the same title in 2006 when he was presented duplicate rings during halftime of a game between the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers,
Pitts is survived by his wife, Diane, their three children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. One of his grandsons, Brandon Bolden, followed his path to the gridiron. Bolden played collegiately at Ole Miss before appearing in 12 NFL seasons for the Raiders, New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins.
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