Former Kansas City Chiefs QB Len Dawson, who helped KC win its first Super Bowl in 1970 and played against the Green Bay Packers in the first big game passed away yesterday at age 87.
Beginnings
Dawson started his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1957, still long before Pittsburgh would become its dominant self in the 1970s. The first two years in the Burgh weren’t great for Dawson- only playing a combined 7 games in 1957 and 1958. In 1959, he played in 12 games, but that would end up being his last playing season in the Steel City. The Steelers shipped Dawson off to division rival Cleveland where he spent another two years playing in 2 games and 7 games, respectively, an eerily similar career with the Browns in ’60 and ’61.
Dawson then played for the Dallas Texans for 1 year in 1962. Dallas would subsequently move to Kansas City, MO in 1963 and become today’s Kansas City Chiefs. In the Texans’ final year of existence, he played in 14 games, which would end up being the number of games he’d play that year and nearly every year after until his retirement in 1975.
Len was a 1st round top 5 selection by the Steelers in the 1957 NFL Draft, having played his college ball at Purdue for incredibly only 1 year. While with the Boilermakers, he had 856 pass yards, going 69-for-130 in 9 games played for a mediocre 53.1 completion percentage. He also managed 7 TDs but threw 10 interceptions. Dawson also had 23 rush yards on 44 carries.
Post-Career
Dawson was a 1987 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee as a player and as a broadcaster for the Chiefs. After his playing career, he spent time on TV, working for NBC nationally from 1977-1982. He was a key figure on HBO’s Inside the NFL, serving as a co-host from 1979-2001. Dawson spent his last few years with the Chiefs as their radio analyst, a position he held from 1985-2017. In 2017, the broadcast booth at Arrowhead Stadium was named in his honor.
Dawson achieved many accolades throughout his stellar 19-year pro career. 7 Pro Bowl appearances, 2 First Team All-Pro nominations, 1 Super Bowl title and MVP both in 1970, a 3-time AFL champion, the 1973 Walter Payton MOTY award, and 3 retired numbers across 3 NFL franchises in Pittsburgh (#16), Cleveland (#18) and Kansas City (#16).
Len also holds several Chiefs team career records, most notably most career passing yards (28,507), career passing TDs (239), completions/attempts ratio (2,115 for 3,696; 57.2%), career regular season wins (93), regular season game-winning drives (16, tied with 2001-2006 QB Trent Green)
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