The Chiefs paid tribute to Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson before the first snap of Thursday night’s preseason game against the Packers. Dawson died Wednesday at 87.
Starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes went onto the field before the team’s first offensive snap with 12:38 remaining in the first quarter. The Chiefs reenacted Dawson’s legendary “choir” huddle, a precursor to the sugar huddle.
They stayed in the huddle until the play clock expired, with Mahomes shaking his teammates’ hands before leaving the field without taking a snap.
Chiefs fans gave a standing ovation, and the Packers declined the delay of game penalty.
Mahomes said on the broadcast that owner Clark Hunt and coach Andy Reid came up with the idea.
“He was part of a great group who made the Chiefs what they are today,” Mahomes said, via Jeff Rosen of the Kansas City Star.
Dawson earned induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1987 and received the Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2012. Dawson started for the Chiefs in Super Bowl I against the Packers, and he was the MVP of Super Bowl IV.
The Chiefs will wear a No. 16 decal on the back of their helmets all season.
