It’s rare to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player. It’s far more rare to make it both as a player and as a broadcaster.
That’s precisely what former AFL and NFL quarterback Len Dawson has accomplished.
According to Randy Covitz of the Kansas City Star, Dawson will receive the 2012 Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame for “longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football.”
The honor comes 26 years after Dawson entered the Hall of Fame as a player, making him only the third to ever accomplish both. (The others are Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf.)
“You could have knocked me over,” Dawson said. “That never, ever crossed my mind. To win the Rozelle Award is very special. . . . A lot of it had to do with being a pioneer with Inside the NFL on HBO. I was on that show for 24 years . . . that’s a long run. And that was the only place you get the highlights from all the games.”
Dawson also worked as a game analyst for NBC from six years, and he has been the Chiefs’ radio analyst since 1984. As a player, Dawson led the Chiefs to three AFL titles (the first coming when the Chiefs were the Dallas Texans), two Super Bowl appearances, and one Super Bowl victory.
Dawson will receive the Rozelle Award on August 2, the night before the 2012 Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
