(Photo Credit: Lewis Marien, The Mercury)

Jerry Cornelison is a former NFL and CFL offensive tackle. He had played collegiately at Southern Methodist University (SMU).

Now, he holds a notable feat.

Following the death of Hall of Famer Len Dawson in 2022, Cornelison became the oldest living former Kansas City Chiefs player. At 87, he is also one of a only handful of living members of the inaugural 1960 Dallas Texans team.

Chiefs’ alumni, including Cornelison, headed to Manhattan, KS this week as the latest member of the Chiefs family toured local resident and Manhattan-Ogden school board member Curt Herrman’s “Chiefseum” — the world’s largest collection of Chiefs memorabilia, according to Guinness World Records. The collection now has amassed over 1,600 different items in relation to the iconic history of the Dallas Texans and Kansas City Chiefs.

Cornelison was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 1958, but chose instead to play a year for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, who ended up offering him more money to play professionally.

Cornelison then played three seasons with the Lamar Hunt-led Dallas Texans before the team relocated to Kansas City and was renamed the Kansas City Chiefs.

After football, Cornelison spent 31 years selling pants for the Haggar Clothing Company.

Shortly before retiring from that job, the Kansas City Chiefs called yet again, asking if he’d like to join what is known as the Chiefs Ambassadors, a group of retired former players, who perform charity work throughout the year in the greater Kansas City area.

In an interview with 1350 KMAN, Cornelison said if he could press rewind and do his career all over again, he absolutely would.