Looking at Lenny
OK, quick… name the top All-Time Chiefs QBs. Most would, of course, think of Mahomes, Trent Green, Joe Mantana, Alex Smith and I hope, Lenny Dawson (Leonard Ray Dawson). The other QBs would come in second, and there is a lot of them. Remember Rich Gannon, Matt Cassel how about the Chiefs very first QB, Cotton Davidson. I always liked Elvis Grbac, mainly because of his name. Back to Lenny ‘The Cool’ Dawson.
Lenny was born in Ohio in 1935, the seventh son of a seventh son. A great HS athlete, getting All-State in football and basketball. Dawson was recruited by Ohio, but picked Purdue (Indiana) largely due to his budding friendship with Hank Stram. Years later this friendship with Stram changed his life. Lenny in his sophomore year threw four TD passes to beat Missouri 31-0 in 1954. If you remember that then you are old. He was drafted by the Steelers, but with no success. He was traded to the Cleveland Browns, but still no success. Asking for a release Dawson signed with the AFL Texans in 1962 and you might remember, he finally had success, Quite a bit of it. He was the league MVP in 1962. He led the Texans to three league titles. The Texans moved to KC to become the Chiefs. Lenny kept getting wins. From ‘62 to ‘69 Dawson threw more TD passes than any other pro QB. “Lenny the Cool” as his teammates called him, took the Chiefs to the first Super Bowl in 1967. Losing to the Packers (35-10), but they came back to win Super Bowl IV in 1970 beating the Vikings 23-7. Hank Stram was carried off the field but Lenny was the MVP. Lenny had few injuries (the new moving pocket helped a lot) but in
