Lenny the Cool gets a little pub...

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Football has long been a passion for Dawson

By SEAN BARKER
Journal Register News Service


Len Dawson is one person. But in many ways he has lived two lives.

Both have involved football.

Both have been successful.

To one generation, Dawson is one of the most accurate passing quarterbacks to play the game, one who never let his size get in the way of leading the Kansas City Chiefs to three professional titles, including a 23-7 win in Super Bowl IV over the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings.

To another, he is a passionate proponent of the game as a broadcaster and host of HBO’s successful Inside the NFL for 22 years.

“My interest in this game spans more than half a century,” said Dawson, the recipient of this year’s Walter Camp Football Foundation’s Distinguished American award.

“I’ve been called a lot things. I’m not sure about distinguished,” Dawson joked.

Dawson has never taken his professions lightly.

A No. 1 pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers out of Purdue in 1957, Dawson would pay his dues for five seasons before taking advantage of an opportunity to play with the Dallas Texans of the AFL, who later became the Kansas City Chiefs. His MVP performance in Super Bowl IV gave the AFL even more credibility after the Jets’ win in Super Bowl III.

During his career, he completed 2,136 of 3,741 passes for 28,711 yards and 239 touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,293 yards before retiring after the 1975 season.

As a broadcaster, Dawson actually began his career while still playing for the Chiefs in 1966.

Dawson, a five-time All-Pro selection, became sports director for KMBC 9 News, an NBC affiliate he stills works for today.

For the past 16 seasons he has been a member of the Chiefs’ radio broadcast team.

“I happened to be at the right place at the right time,” said Dawson, an Ohio native who has become a fixture in the Kansas City community. “I was really a pioneer in many ways. No one else was doing that. But when you were a No. 1 pick back then you got a $2,000 bonus and you were very happy to get that. You needed to do other things.”

So Dawson would work 6 to 10 at the station Monday through Friday. He also had four radio shows a day during a 10-year span.

So what fuels Dawson’s passion for football?

“It’s a combination of things,” Dawson said. “It’s the excitement. There are 11 people on each side and it takes a lot of cooperation with people to be successful. Everyone needs to work together to make it be successful.

“I still enjoy the game,” Dawson said. “I still enjoy gaining knowledge of the game. I enjoy knowing what is outstanding and what is terrible and what is mediocre and being able to let others know. I think the more you know about something, the more you like it.”

His knowledge of the game was nurtured early on. Dawson has six older brothers, one of whom was his first coach in football. Another coached him in baseball.

He credits them with helping him learn the fundamentals of the games.

Dawson was all-state in both football and basketball in Stark County, Ohio, which ironically is the home of Canton, the site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where Dawson was inducted in 1987. He also played high school baseball.

“That’s where I had an advantage in the games,” Dawson said. “I had learned so much about the fundamentals from my brothers. It gave me a great deal more confidence. I was a little better than the others, not because of size or speed, but because of the understanding of fundamentals.”

Tools that helped him become successful in two different fields.

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