Hall of Fame QB Len Dawson, who led Kansas City Chiefs to Super Bowl IV win, dies at age 87

Len Dawson, who led the Kansas City Chiefs to victory in Super Bowl IV and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as both a player and broadcaster, has died at the age of 87, according to his family.

«With wife Linda at his side, it is with much sadness that we inform you of the passing of our beloved Len Dawson,» the family said in a statement to KMBC in Kansas City, where Lawson previously worked as a sports broadcaster. «He was a wonderful husband, father, brother and friend. Len was always grateful and many times overwhelmed by the countless bonds he made during his football and broadcast careers.

»He loved Kansas City and no matter where his travels took him, he could not wait to return home."

Dawson, who had entered hospice care in Kansas City on Aug. 12, worked for the Chiefs for nearly a half-century: 14 years as a quarterback and 33 as a broadcast analyst.

He spent the first five years of his 19-season professional career as a sparingly used backup for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns, but his career took off after he signed in 1962 to play for the AFL's Dallas Texans (soon to be the Kansas City Chiefs) to play under Hank Stram, who had been an assistant at Purdue during Dawson's stellar collegiate career.

The man Stram once called «the most accurate passer in pro football» immediately showed he was worthy of being a team's No. 1 quarterback, leading the AFL in completion percentage (61.0) and earning 1962 Player of the Year honors while carrying the Texans to the league title.

After moving to Kansas City, the team's success continued under Dawson, who was a seven-time All-Star/Pro Bowler and twice was a first-team All-Pro.

In 1966, he took the Chiefs to another AFL title, which for the first