Len Dawson, MVP of the Chiefs’ first Super Bowl victory, in hospice

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Len Dawson, the 87-year-old Hall of Fame quarterback who led the Kansas City Chiefs to their first Super Bowl title, has entered hospice care in Kansas City.

KMBC-TV, the Kansas City station where Dawson began his broadcasting career in 1966, confirmed that Dawson is in hospice care through his wife, Linda.

MVP of the Chiefs’ 23-7 Super Bowl victory over Minnesota in January 1970, Dawson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987 and received the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2012.

From Alliance, Ohio, Dawson played 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 of 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 his retirement in 1975.

In addition to his work at KMBC where he was the station’s first sports anchor, Dawson served as a games analyst for NBC and the Chiefs’ radio network and hosted HBO’s « Inside the NFL. »