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| Dawson in huddle |
Lenny Dawson of the Kansas City Chiefs
...The new weather forecast for the Kansas City area cleared the wire
in the KMBC newsroom(TV & Radio) during my nightly talk show.
The guy who was responsible each night for bringing it to me in the
studio was none other than Kansas City Chiefs all star quarterback Lenny
Dawson. Len was sports director of the station and there about every
night.
I, of course, would take advantage of that and get him to sit down
for a few minutes when I didn’t have another guest and chat about the
upcoming Sunday game.
We seem to hit it off...Lenny had gained fame at Purdue and I was at Illinois for one semester...after my Army years.
One night he was in an exceptionally good mood so I ask him to take us through some plays.
“I have no idea what goes on in the huddle, Lenny, so run some plays for us.”
He took off his suit coat jacket (for TV) and proceeded to call a dozen
or so plays like he was in the huddle. It was a gas...and I’m sure my
radio audience enjoyed it as much as I did.
One Friday evening with a big game coming up Sunday...Lenny waited
until I went to a break and was off the air in the studio and whispered
in my ear:
“Don’t miss our first play Sunday”. Said with a twinkle in his eye.
I turned the tv on ten minutes before gametime so I wouldn’’t miss the first play.
The first play came up...and...Dawson fired one of the longest passes ever downfield for a Chief’s touchdown!
I should have made some kind of a bet on it!
Lenny would lead the Chiefs to three American Football League (AFL) championships.
The Chiefs went to the Superbowl in January of 1970 when I was an NBC
News correspondent in Vietnam. I sent Lenny from a wire from
Saigon...telling him “go get em” meaning their NFL opponent the Vikings.
Lenny posted the wire in the locker room before the game.
He won...23-7 and was named MVP of the game!
contact:
stanmajor@aol.com
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