AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6

Free agency was not a common term in ‘62, but the Dallas Texans were able to sign a future Hall of Famer on July 2nd of that year. After spending five seasons (’57-61) in the NFL with Pittsburgh (’57-59) and Cleveland (’60-61), QB Len Dawson returned to his mentor, current Texans head coach Hank Stram. Stram had served as an assistant coach at Purdue where one of his prized pupils was Dawson.

The former first-round selection of Pittsburgh in the ‘57 NFL Draft knew his career was at a crossroads. Dawson received an opportunity from his former college coach and quickly took hold as the starting quarterback of the Dallas Texans.

In a Saturday night contest, the Texans hosted the Boston Patriots in Dawson’s regular season debut on September 8, 1962. The Alliance, Ohio native did not disappoint the home crowd as he led the Texans to a 42-28 victory against the Patriots.

After a slow first quarter, the Dallas Texans got on the board thanks to a two-yard TD run from RB Abner Haynes. Boston quickly responded with a touchdown of its own, but Dawson came right back. He threw a five-yard scoring pass to E Chris Burford as Dallas took a 21-14 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, Dawson continued to lead a potent offensive attack as the Texans slowly pulled away. The quarterback threw his second touchdown pass of the day, this one covering nine yards to Haynes. Dawson finished the day by completing 16 of 23 passes for 202 yards with two TDs and adding four carries for 32 yards.

Dawson went on to have a successful 14-year career with the Texans/Chiefs. He played in 182 games (158 starts) for the club, completing 2,115 of 3,696 passes for 28,507 yards with 237 TDs and 178 INTs for a 92.8 passer rating. The MVP of Super Bowl IV was enshrined into the Chiefs Hall of Fame in ‘79.

During his 19-year professional career, Dawson played in 210 games (161 starts) with Pittsburgh (’57-59), Cleveland (’60-61) and Dallas/Kansas City (’62-75). He connected on 2,136 of 3,741 throws for 28,711 yards with 239 TDs and 183 INTs, good for an 82.6 rating. He was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he was presented by Stram on August 8, 1987.