“With his wife Linda by his side, it is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of our beloved Len Dawson,” the family said in a statement to KMBC in Kansas City, where Lawson previously worked as a sports broadcaster. “He was a wonderful husband, father, brother and friend. Len was always grateful and often overwhelmed by the countless connections he made during his football and broadcasting career. “He loved Kansas City and no matter where his travels took him, he couldn’t wait to come home.” Dawson, who was hospitalized in Kansas City on Aug. 12, worked for the Chiefs for nearly half a century: 14 years as a quarterback and 33 as a broadcast analyst. He spent the first five years of his 19-season pro career as a backup for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns, but his career took off after signing in 1962 to play for the AFL’s Dallas Texans (soon to be the Kansas City Chiefs) for to play under Hank Stram, who was an assistant at Purdue during Dawson’s stellar career at the school. The man Stram once called “the most accurate passer in pro football” immediately showed his worth as a team’s No. 1 quarterback, leading the AFL in completion percentage (61.0) and earning Player of the Year honors in 1962 while leading the Texans to the league title. Len Dawson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1987 and as a broadcaster in 2012. AP Photo/Colin E. Braley, File After moving to Kansas City the following year, the team’s success continued under Dawson, who was a seven-time All-Star/Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro. In 1966, he took the Chiefs to another AFL title, which for the first time meant a trip to what would become known as the Super Bowl. Dawson played well (16-of-27, 211 yards), but the Chiefs were outmatched by Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers in a 35-10 loss. The Chiefs returned three seasons later to face the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. Despite Joe Namath and the New York Jets upsetting the Baltimore Colts the previous year, the NFL was still considered superior and the Vikings entered as a double-digit favorite. But Kansas City’s defense dominated and Dawson had a typically strong game (12-of-17, 142 yards), including a 46-yard touchdown pass to Otis Taylor in the third quarter that sealed the 23-7 win. Dawson was selected as the second-team quarterback, behind Namath, in the 1970 AFL All-Time Team. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1987 and as a broadcaster in 2012, following a television and radio career that began as a sportscaster on Kansas City TV in 1966 while still playing for the Chiefs, several times. going to KMBC after practice to broadcast that evening’s sports report. Dawson went on to become a play-by-play analyst for NBC as well as a longtime host of HBO’s “Inside the NFL.” After a series of health issues that included prostate cancer and quadruple heart bypass surgery, Dawson retired from broadcasting in 2017 after 33 years as the Chiefs’ radio color analyst. Dawson remained a beloved figure in Kansas City, although he cut back on public appearances several years ago when his health began to fail. But he always had time for fans, whether it was a photo or an autograph, the latter often in an iconic black-and-white photo from halftime of the first Super Bowl: the exhausted quarterback, a mud-splattered white uniform, sitting in a folding chair with a cigarette in his mouth and a bottle of Fresca at his feet. It captured a time and place perfectly. And he perfectly captured a man who embodied calmness and confidence. Dawson was born on June 20, 1935, the ninth of 11 children who filled the home of James and Annie Dawson in the industrial town of Alliance, Ohio. He was a three-sport athlete at Alliance High School, setting records in football and basketball and parlaying his success on the gridiron into a scholarship offer from Purdue. There, Dawson led the NCAA in passing efficiency as a sophomore, while also playing defense and kicking, and helped lead a memorable upset of Notre Dame during the 1954 season. By the end of his college career, Dawson had thrown for over 3,000 yards despite playing in an era that favored ground-and-pound football, and was selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 1957 draft. He eventually found success with the Chiefs, and when he hung up his helmet after the 1975 season, Dawson retired with 28,711 career passing yards and 239 touchdowns. All but 204 yards and two touchdowns came with the Chiefs franchise. Dawson was married to his high school sweetheart, Jackie, from 1954 until her death in 1978, and together they had two children. His second wife, Linda, remained by his side even when Dawson was forced into a nursing facility. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
