Kansas City Chiefs legend Len Dawson died Wednesday at age 87. A Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback and TV and radio broadcaster, Dawson leaves behind his wife, Linda, his two children and millions of fans.
“With wife Linda at his side, it is with much sadness that we inform you of the passing of our beloved Len Dawson. He was a wonderful husband, father, brother and friend,” his son, Len Dawson Jr., told FOX4. “Len was always grateful and many times overwhelmed by the countless bonds he made during his football and broadcast careers.”
Dawson spent the first five years as a backup for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns in what was then known as the American Football League. He finally signed on as a quarterback with the Dallas Texans in 1962, alongside Hank Stram, who was assistant coach during Dawson’s time at Purdue University. Dawson would lead the Texans to the league title as their No. 1 quarterback and MVP that year before moving to Kansas City.
Dawson, who would be a seven-time All-Star/Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro twice, led the Chiefs to the league’s first Super Bowl. Though the team would fall to the Green Bay Packers that year, Dawson and the Chiefs would come back three years later to take the 1970 Super Bowl from the Minnesota Vikings in a historic game. The Chiefs won 23-7, after Dawson made a 46-yard touchdown pass to Otis Taylor in the third quarter to solidify the victory for Kansas City.
“We were the underdog in that game,” Dawson said, according to NPR. “We were supposed to get beat by a couple of touchdowns. Thankfully, we didn’t believe that.”
Dawson retired after 19 seasons, finishing with 239 touchdowns and 28,711 yards on record in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His time playing for the Chiefs would earn him his place in the Hall of Fame in 1987. But he would end up becoming one of only three members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame elected for time as both a player and a broadcaster.
Before fully retiring, Dawson worked with KMBC as a sports broadcaster on radio, network and cable television. He was a sports anchor on HBO’s “Inside the NFL” and became an iconic figure both for Kansas City and the NFL for his work as a player and an anchor before retiring in 2017. KMBC wrote that Dawson remained a member of the station family up until his death.
Dawson worked for the Chiefs for 14 years as a quarterback and 33 as the Chiefs’ radio color analyst, leaving a lasting impact on the team both on and off the field. Kansas City Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt talked about Dawson’s legacy: “Len Dawson is synonymous with the Kansas City Chiefs. Len embraced and came to embody Kansas City and the people that call it home,” Hunt said. “You would be hard-pressed to find a player who had a bigger impact in shaping the organization as we know it today than Len Dawson did.
He had a history of health issues that included prostate cancer and a quadruple heart bypass surgery before he entered hospice care earlier this month because of rapidly declining health.