After spending five seasons in the NFL as a journeyman backup, Len Dawson’s full potential was realized in 1962 when he became a member of the American Football League’s Dallas Texans. Over the next 14 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs franchise, Dawson established himself as one of the club’s all-time greats and one of the finest passers in Pro Football history.
Dawson was born on June 20, 1935, in Alliance, Ohio. He attended Alliance High School, where he was an MVP on the football team – setting school records and earning first-team all-state honors during the early 1950s.
After graduating high school, Dawson received offers from Ohio State and Purdue. Although he wouldn’t have to go far from home by taking the offer to play in Woody Hayes’ split-T offense with the Buckeyes, he’d eventually pack his bags for Indiana to join assistant coach Hank Stram with the Boilermakers. In 1954, Dawson became Purdue’s starting quarterback as a sophomore. He was also a contributor on defense and also served as the team’s kicker.
His college debut was also the season opener against the Missouri Tigers. Dawson delivered four touchdown passes to lead Purdue to a 31-0 victory. The following week, the Boilermakers put together an upset win over Notre Dame, who were riding a 13-game winning streak that dated back to the 1953 season. Purdue finished 1954 with a 5-3-1 record. Over the next two seasons, Dawson led the Big 10 in passing yardage and TDs. He also earned All-Big 10 and Third-Team All-American honors. Dawson passed for 3,325 yards and 29 touchdowns through three seasons as the Boilermakers’ signal-caller.
In 1957, he became the fifth-overall selection taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers in that year’s pro draft. Dawson spent his rookie season as the club’s third-string quarterback behind Earl Morrall and Jack Kemp. The following season, the Steelers cashed in on a blockbuster trade that acquired star passer Bobby Layne from the Detriot Lions, making Dawson even more expendable from the team’s roster.
Mid-way through the 1959 season, Pittsburgh traded Dawson to the Cleveland Browns, where he’d have similar issues climbing the depth chart. After struggling to beat out starter Milt Plum, Cleveland released Dawson shortly after the 1961 campaign. In his first five pro seasons, Dawson appeared in 28 games (two starts, completing 21 of 45 passes for 204 yards, a pair of touchdowns, with five interceptions.
During the 1962 off-season, Dawson joined the newly formed American Football League and signed with the Dallas Texans. The move reunited him with Hank Stram, who was going into his third season as the team’s head coach. Dawson earned the Texans’ starting job at QB, replacing veteran Cotton Davidson.
With Dawson under center, the Texans took the AFL by storm, leading the league with 29 touchdown passes and erupting to an 11-3 record to win the AFL Western Division and earn a bid to the ’62 AFL Championship game against the two-time defending champion Houston Oilers. Dawson passed for 88 yards and a touchdown to win the first of three AFL championships, defeating the Oilers 20-17 in double-overtime.
Dawson finished the ’62 campaign with 2,759 passing yards, earned All-Pro honors, and was voted as the league’s MVP.
The following season, the Texans left Dallas for Kansas City, Missouri, where the club rebranded as the Kansas City Chiefs.
Three seasons later, Dawson continued flourishing in Stram’s “moving-pocket” offense, and the Chiefs became a club few teams challenged. In 1966, Dawson led Kansas City to an 11-2-1 record and a 31-7 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFL Championship, earning the Chiefs the honor of representing the league in the first-ever Super Bowl against the NFL’s Green Bay Packers. Dawson finished the season with 2,527 yards passing and 26 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. In the final game of the 1966 season, however, the Chiefs quarterback struggled to find answers against Green Bay’s punishing defense, and the Packers won easily, 35-10.
Three seasons after losing Super Bowl I, Kansas City rode a magical 1969 campaign highlighted by Dawson’s dramatic comeback from a knee injury he suffered early in the season. He returned in time to help Kansas City finish with an 11-3 record before embarking on an epic postseason run that included upsetting the defending Super Bowl champion New York Jets at home and collecting a 17-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders in the AFL Championship to appear in Super Bowl IV against the highly favored Minnesota Vikings franchise that featured a fierce defense dubbed “The Purple People Eaters.”
In the game, Dawson completed 12 of 17 passes for 142 yards and threw for a score to lead Kansas City to a 23-7 victory for the franchise’s first-ever Super Bowl championship. Following the game, Dawson was awarded MVP honors. He finished the ’69 season with 1,323 passing yards, nine touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Dawson also earned First-Team All-Pro honors and was named to the AFL All-Star game.
In 1971, Dawson carried the Chiefs back to the playoffs for a Christmas Day matchup against the Miami Dolphins that made history as the longest game ever played after lasting for six quarters before Miami kicker Garo Yepremian made a 37-yard field goal in double-overtime to defeat Kansas City, 27-24.
Kansas City failed to make the postseason for the remainder of Dawson’s career. He’d officially retired following the 1975 NFL season. In 1979, Dawson was inducted into the Chiefs’ Hall of Honor and had his number 16 jersey retired. He is the only player to wear #16 for the Chiefs. In 1987, he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
After 19 seasons playing pro football (14 with the Texans/Chiefs), Dawson finished his career connecting on 2,136 of 3,741 passes for 28,711 yards, 239 touchdowns, and 92 interceptions. He’s a Super Bowl champion, a Super Bowl MVP, a three-time AFL Champion, a six-time AFL All-Star, a Pro Bowler, and a two-time First-Team All-Pro. Today, he is currently the all-time passing leader in Chiefs franchise history.
Dawson was also an award-winning sportscaster. During his playing days in 1966, Dawson served as a sports anchor with KMBC Radio and a sports director for KMBC-TV. After he retired from the NFL, Dawson joined NBC to serve as a color analyst for NFL games until 1982. In 1984, he joined the Chiefs Radio Network and was the color commentator for 35 years. While with NBC during the late 70s, Dawson also took on a career venture that led to him being the host of HBO’s “Inside the NFL,” which spanned four decades (1977-2001).
In 2012, Dawson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a recipient of the hall’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award. He became just the third former player in NFL history to go to Canton as a player and broadcaster, joining Dan Dierdorf and Frank Gifford. At the 44th Annual NFL 101 Awards ceremony in 2014, Dawson was presented with the Lamar Hunt Award, recognizing his contributions on and off the field that helped shape the NFL into what it is today. In 2017, the Chiefs honored Dawson by renaming the television broadcast booth inside Arrowhead Stadium as the Len Dawson Broadcast Booth.
On August 24, 2022, Dawson passed away at 87. During the final preseason game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs honored Dawson by lining in the old choir huddle.
