Greyhound great Cliff Frazier passes away

Former Fort Scott Community College football great Cliff Frazier, a member of the 1972 NJCAA national championship runner-up team, passed away at the age of 61 on Sunday, Aug. 17 while in palliative care due to lung cancer at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Mo.

Frazier was born in St. Louis County, Mo., on Nov. 23, 1952. He played nose tackle for the Greyhounds and was named a Junior College All-American at the position in 1972 and 1973. Frazier went on to play for Dick Vermeil at UCLA, earning All-Pacific 8 and NCAA All-American stadus in 1975 and was a tri-captain of the Rose Bowl championship Bruins squad at the end of the season (January 1976).

The attached photo file is a story published in the Nov. 1, 1972, edition of the Fort Scott Tribune after he received the Weekly 'Hound Award from the coaching staff following a victory over Coffeyville on Oct. 28.

The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Frazier in the second round of the 1976 NFL Draft. He played in all 14 games for the Chiefs in the 1977 season. He was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles but was unable to make the team.

He returned to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. His first role was as Monroe in "North Dallas Forty." He later starred as Jethro Snell for six seasons on the HBO series "1st and Ten." Frazier was one of only four actors who appeared in all six seasons of the show. Frazier also played Brutis in the movie "House Party."

Frazier was inducted into the Fort Scott Community College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990 for his individual accomplishments. The 1972 Greyhound football squad he was a part of was inducted this year and is to be honored on October 11.

Friends are welcomed to attend his Celebration of Life Service Saturday, at First Baptist Church of Chesterfield, 17103 Wild Horse Creek Rd., Chesterfield, Mo. Visitation will be held beginning at 10 a.m. with services at 11 a.m. For additional information about First Baptist Church of Chesterfield, call (636) 537-8748 or visit www.firstbcc.org

In lieu of flowers the family is requesting that donations be made to Union Baptist Church of Chesterfield, Mo., Clifford H. Frazier, Jr. Memorial Fund, 17200 Church Road, Chesterfield, Mo. 63005.