During an NFL Alumni dinner in Kansas City that celebrated the playing and broadcasting careers of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson Saturday night, Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt announced that the club is naming the television broadcast booth inside Arrowhead Stadium in honor of the Kansas City Chiefs legend.
"Len Dawson is a Kansas City icon and few people have transformed the Chiefs franchise and the city of Kansas City the way that Len has," Hunt said. "For his outstanding contributions as a broadcaster, we are thrilled to recognize his career accomplishments by dedicating the Len Dawson Television Broadcast Booth."
Dawson joined the Dallas Texans in 1962 and led the team to its first AFL Championship and moved to Kansas City with the franchise in 1963. Under Dawson's guidance, the Chiefs won AFL Championships in 1962, 1966 and 1969. He led Kansas City to a 23-7 victory in Super Bowl IV over the Minnesota Vikings and was named the game's MVP.
He started 158 regular season games and was selected to play in six AFL All-Star Games as well as the 1972 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. During his career with the Chiefs, he completed 2,115 of 3,696 passes for 28,507 yards and 237 touchdowns, all franchise records. Dawson retired after 19 seasons in the NFL, 14 with the Chiefs. He was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.
Dawson began his legendary broadcasting career in 1966 as a sports anchor with KMBC Radio and as sports director for KMBC-TV while still playing quarterback for the Chiefs. Following his retirement from professional football in 1975, Dawson joined NBC as a color analyst on NFL games until 1982. He joined the Chiefs Radio Network as a commentator in 1984, holding that role through the 2016 season. He is in his 34th season in 2017, which will be his final as a member of the Chiefs Radio Network crew.
While working NFL games for NBC, Dawson also embarked on what would become a 24-year run that spanned four decades (1977-2001) as the host of HBO's popular "Inside the NFL." "Inside the NFL" was cable television's longest-running series and the first NFL-related program to air on cable.
For his contributions to broadcasting, Dawson was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the recipient of the Hall's Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2012. He was only the third individual in history to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as both a player and a broadcaster, joining Dan Dierdorf and Frank Gifford. The broadcast booth will be completed and dedicated surrounding the Chiefs annual Alumni Game festivities, which falls on Monday, October 30, when the Chiefs play host to the Denver Broncos on ESPN's Monday Night Football.
