KANSAS CITY – Len Dawson, the Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback and former HBO and Kansas City sports broadcaster, has entered hospice care.
KMBC-TV 9 confirmed Dawson is in hospice care through his wife, Linda.
Dawson, 87, nicknamed "Lenny The Cool", played in the NFL for 19 years – most of that time with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Dawson also worked for more than 50 years as a sports broadcaster – a second career he started at KMBC in 1966 while still playing for the Chiefs and setting franchise records.
The MVP of the Chiefs' 23-7 Super Bowl victory over Minnesota in January 1970, Dawson was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987 and received the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2012.
As quarterback, he led the Chiefs to their first championship in Super Bowl 4 in 1970 – and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.
To this day he still owns the Chiefs' career passing, touchdowns, and wins.
From Alliance, Ohio, Dawson starred at Purdue and was selected fifth overall by Pittsburgh in the 1957 NFL draft. After seeing limited time in the NFL in three seasons with the Steelers and two with Cleveland, he joined the Dallas Texans in the American Football League in 1962, reuniting with former Purdue assistant coach Hank Stram.
Dawson moved with the team to Kansas City the following season and remained the Chiefs' starting quarterback until retiring in 1975.
In addition to his work at KMBC where he was the station's first sports anchor, Dawson was a game analyst for NBC and the Chiefs' radio network and hosted HBO's "Inside the NFL" show.