The Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes And Andy Reid Reflect On Len Dawson

For his team’s first offensive possession in its final preseason game, Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt came up with a creative way to honor franchise legend Len Dawson, who passed away on Aug. 24.

Current franchise icon Patrick Mahomes held a choir huddle like Dawson used to, pausing to honor him long enough to earn a delay of game penalty before running off the field and allowing backup quarterback Chad Henne to take the snap.

“Players completely bought into it and wanted to do it,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “It’s a tribute to a great person and a great player.”

The whole team embraced the idea. Travis Kelce, who didn’t play the rest of the game, made sure to be in that huddle.

Reid said defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo may have been more excited than anyone.

“The defense couldn’t wait to see it,” Reid said.

All Chiefs players wore white circular decals of 16 (Dawson’s retired jersey number) on the back of their helmets, and Arrowhead Stadium held a moment of silence before the national anthem.

In addition to Mahomes leading the Dawson-inspired huddle, he adorned himself in gear memorializing the fellow great Chiefs quarterback.

The Chiefs star, who before a 2018 game wore a hoodie with the iconic image of Dawson smoking a cigarette at halftime of Super Bowl I, sported a hoodie with Dawson’s signature on it during warm-ups and then a Dawson headband during the game.

“He was kinda the guy that got the Kansas City Chiefs going,” Mahomes said. “He was a part of that great group that made the Chiefs who we are today.”

Before Mahomes, Dawson was the only other Chiefs quarterback to lead the team to a Super Bowl.

In fact, Dawson’s Super Bowl I appearance came against the Green Bay Packers, the team the Chiefs defeated 17-10 in the preseason game one day after Dawson’s passing.

He died at age 87 following a series of health issues that included prostate cancer and quadruple heart bypass surgery.

After more than 30 years as the Chiefs’ radio color analyst, Dawson retired from broadcasting in 2017.

“A lot of people grew up listening to Len,” Mahomes said, “broadcasting those games.”

Mahomes only met Dawson a few times because the former quarterback was not often seen after his health began to decline.

But Mahomes is very cognizant of Dawson’s illustrious career.

Dawson’s Chiefs won AFL championships in 1962, 1966 and 1969. He earned the Most Valuable Player award in Super Bowl IV after he directed Kansas City to a 23-7 win against the heavily-favored Minnesota Vikings.

Dawson won the AFL passing title four times and still holds franchise career records for pass attempts (3,696), completions (2,115), passing yards (28,507) and touchdowns (237). Dawson started 158 regular season games for Kansas City — the most of any quarterback in franchise history.

He was named to six AFL All-Star teams and also earned AFL Player of the Year honors for the 1962 season.

“Len kind of set the standard here in Kansas City,” Mahomes said.

Dawson also excelled in a broadcasting career, which he incredibly launched during his playing days. In 1966 he served as a sports anchor with KMBC Radio and as sports director for the local ABC affiliate.

Following his retirement from the NFL after the 1975 season, Dawson joined NBC and served as a color analyst on NFL games until 1982. He then joined the Chiefs Radio Network as a color commentator in 1984.

While working NFL games for NBC, Dawson began a 24-year run (1977-2001) as the host of Inside the NFL, cable television’s longest-running series and the first NFL-related program to air on cable.

In 2012 Dawson was honored with the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame after receiving induction into the Hall of Fame in 1987 for his accomplishments as a player.

“Very seldom are you a Hall of Famer in two different things,” Reid said.

A seventh son of a seventh son, Dawson was indeed special.

It’s why Kansas City crafted a unique honor.

“Some people are going to remember him as a player. Others will remember him as a broadcaster,” Hunt said. “But I hope that everybody in Kansas City will remember him as someone who embraced the city and spent his entire life trying to make Kansas City a better place to live, work and play.”