The first football player Texas Tech retired a jersey for, E.J. Holub entered pro football with the legendary nickname "The Beast"—and spent the next decade proving he earned every syllable of it. Selected sixth overall by the Dallas Texans in the 1961 AFL Draft, Holub made immediate professional history by doing what modern football specialization renders practically impossible: starting at two completely different, physically demanding positions on opposite sides of the ball.

Holub stepped onto the gridiron as an instant defensive anchor at linebacker. Over his first six seasons with the franchise, he commanded Hank Stram’s defense with relentless intensity, picking off 10 passes—returning one for a touchdown—and collecting five AFL All-Star selections (1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966) alongside back-to-back First-Team All-AFL honors in 1962 and 1963. He was the emotional heartbeat of the 1962 Dallas squad that captured the AFL Championship in a dramatic overtime thriller over Houston.

Sustained collisions eventually levied a massive toll on his lower body, resulting in nine knee surgeries during his playing days. Rather than step away when knee instability ended his tenure at linebacker, Holub pulled off a miraculous mid-career transition: he moved full-time to offense and took over as the team's starting center in 1968, extending his career while giving Kansas City an elite interior anchor.

That unbelievable positional versatility yielded unique championship lore. Holub remains the only player in gridiron history to start two Super Bowls at two different positions, having started at middle linebacker in Super Bowl I and later at center in Kansas City’s Super Bowl IV victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

After the 1970 season, Holub retired after 10 years with the Texans/Chiefs, playing every pro snap for the organization.  He entered the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 1976.