The Kansas City Chiefs honored the late Len Dawson before the first snap of Thursday’s preseason game against the Packers.
With 12:38 remaining in the first quarter, starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes jogged onto the field with the offense, and the Chiefs lined up in the choir huddle, which Dawson used when he quarterbacked the Chiefs under Hank Stram.
Dawson, who died Wednesday at age 87, would stand in front of the huddle facing his teammates with the running backs and receivers directly in front of him and the offensive line in the back. The Chiefs didn’t run a play and a delay of game penalty was called. But the Packers declined the penalty — allowing Mahomes to run off the field while pumping up the crowd to honor Dawson. Mahomes didn’t play a snap in the Chiefs’ 17-10 win at Arrowhead Stadium, but during pregame warmups he wore a hoodie with Dawson’s No. 16.
“He wanted to jump in there,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of Mahomes. “(Travis) Kelce, who wasn’t going to play, he wanted to jump in there. The defense couldn’t wait to see it. It was crazy the way it worked out. It was a neat deal for a great person.”
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt came up with the idea to pay tribute to Dawson, and the team also wore No. 16 decals on their helmets and will continue to do so this season.
Dawson quarterbacked Lamar Hunt’s franchise from 1962-75. He led the Chiefs/Texans to three AFL championships and was MVP of Super Bowl IV. Dawson also led the AFL in passing four times and is the franchise leader in completions (2,115), attempts (3,696), passing yards (28,507) and touchdowns (237).
Dawson was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1987 and was selected again in 2012 as a broadcaster.
“It’s a tribute to a great person and a great player and all he did (as a broadcaster),” Reid said. “Very seldom are you a Hall of Famer at two different things. He had a wonderful life and really took advantage of every day he had on earth.”
