Graduating from Purdue (where Hank Stram was as assistant coach) he was originally a 1st round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1957. He was traded to Cleveland in 1959 and in 1962 he joined the Dallas Texans and led them to an AFL Championship that year. After the team moved to Kansas City he remained the starter until he retired in 1975. With the Chiefs he was selected to 6 AFL All-Star teams (and 1 NFL Pro Bowl team in 1971) and 2 AFL All-League Teams (the equivalent of the NFL’s All Pro team). The AFL’s Player of the Year in 1966 and the NFL’s Man of the Year in 1973 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987.
Passing for over 28,500 yards and 237 touchdowns he lead Kansas City to 3 AFL Championships (the first when they were the Dallas Texans), 2 Super Bowls and a Super Bowl victory during his 14-year career with the Chiefs. The MVP of the upset of the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV he is still the Chiefs All-Time leading passer in literally every passing category in the book.
Image Gallery of Len Dawson, Quarterback, 1957-1975
Len Dawson Career Passing Table
| Year | Age | Team | # | QB Record | Completions | Attempts | Completion % | Yards | Longest | Y/A | TD | Int | Y/G | Rate | Sacked | Lost Yards | 4th Quart Comebacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | 22 | PIT | 16 | 0-1-0 | 2 | 4 | 50.0 | 25 | 15 | 6.3 | 0 | 0 | 8.3 | 69.8 | |||
| 1958 | 23 | PIT | 16 | 1 | 6 | 16.7 | 11 | 11 | 1.8 | 0 | 2 | 2.8 | 0.0 | ||||
| 1959 | 24 | PIT | 16 | 3 | 7 | 42.9 | 60 | 32 | 8.6 | 1 | 0 | 5.0 | 113.1 | ||||
| 1960 | 25 | CLE | 18 | 8 | 13 | 61.5 | 23 | 23 | 1.8 | 0 | 0 | 11.5 | 65.9 | ||||
| 1961 | 26 | CLE | 18 | 1-0-0 | 7 | 15 | 46.7 | 85 | 17 | 5.7 | 1 | 3 | 12.1 | 47.2 | |||
| 1962*+ | 27 | DTX | 16 | 11-3-0 | 189 | 310 | 61.0♦ | 2759 | 92 | 8.9♦ | 29♦ | 17 | 197.1 | 98.3♦ | 0 | ||
| 1963 | 28 | KAN | 16 | 5-7-1 | 190 | 352 | 54.0 | 2389 | 82 | 6.8 | 26♦ | 19 | 170.6 | 77.5 | 1 | ||
| 1964* | 29 | KAN | 16 | 7-7-0 | 199 | 354 | 56.2♦ | 2879 | 72 | 8.1 | 30 | 18 | 205.6 | 89.9♦ | 1 | ||
| 1965 | 30 | KAN | 16 | 6-4-2 | 163 | 305 | 53.4♦ | 2262 | 67 | 7.4 | 21♦ | 14 | 161.6 | 81.3♦ | 1 | ||
| 1966*+ | 31 | KAN | 16 | 11-2-1 | 159 | 284 | 56.0♦ | 2527 | 89♦ | 8.9♦ | 26♦ | 10 | 180.5 | 101.7♦ | 1 | ||
| 1967* | 32 | KAN | 16 | 9-5-0 | 206 | 357 | 57.7 | 2651 | 71 | 7.4 | 24 | 17 | 189.4 | 83.7♦ | 0 | ||
| 1968* | 33 | KAN | 16 | 11-2-0 | 131 | 224 | 58.5♦ | 2109 | 92 | 9.4♦ | 17 | 9 | 150.6 | 98.6♦ | 2 | ||
| 1969* | 34 | KAN | 16 | 5-2-0 | 98 | 166 | 59.0♦ | 1323 | 55 | 8.0 | 9 | 13 | 147.0 | 69.9 | 13 | 89 | 1 |
| 1970 | 35 | KAN | 16 | 5-5-2 | 141 | 262 | 53.8 | 1876 | 61 | 7.2 | 13 | 14 | 134.0 | 71.0 | 34 | 277 | 1 |
| 1971* | 36 | KAN | 16 | 9-3-1 | 167 | 301 | 55.5 | 2504 | 82 | 8.3 | 15 | 13 | 178.9 | 81.6 | 30 | 303 | 3 |
| 1972 | 37 | KAN | 16 | 7-5-0 | 175 | 305 | 57.4 | 1835 | 44 | 6.0 | 13 | 12 | 131.1 | 72.8 | 28 | 255 | 2 |
| 1973 | 38 | KAN | 16 | 3-2-1 | 66 | 101 | 65.3 | 725 | 48 | 7.2 | 2 | 5 | 90.6 | 72.4 | 14 | 104 | 2 |
| 1974 | 39 | KAN | 16 | 3-5-0 | 138 | 235 | 58.7 | 1573 | 84 | 6.7 | 7 | 13 | 112.4 | 65.8 | 25 | 199 | 0 |
| 1975 | 40 | KAN | 16 | 1-4-0 | 93 | 140 | 66.4♦ | 1095 | 51 | 7.8 | 5 | 4 | 91.3 | 90.0 | 23 | 196 | 0 |
| 14 seasons Texans/Chiefs | 93-56-8 | 2115 | 3696 | 57.2 | 28507 | 92 | 7.7 | 237 | 178 | 155.8 | 83.2 | 167 | 1423 | 15 | |||
| 3 seasons Steelers | 0-1-0 | 6 | 17 | 35.3 | 96 | 32 | 5.6 | 1 | 2 | 5.1 | 35.0 | ||||||
| 2 seasons Browns | 1-0-0 | 15 | 28 | 53.6 | 108 | 23 | 3.9 | 1 | 3 | 12.0 | 35.1 | 1 | |||||
| 19-Year NFL Career | 94-57-8 | 2136 | 3741 | 57.1 | 28711 | 92 | 7.7 | 239 | 183 | 136.1 | 82.6 | 167 | 1423 | 15 | |||
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
- + – AFL All-League Selection
- * – AFL All-Star Selection
- ♦ – Led the AFL
