The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League (NFL). Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League. In 1963, the team moved to Kansas City, Missouri and were renamed the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs have had 56 different quarterbacks attempt a pass, 39 different starting quarterbacks, and 19 different quarterbacks start at least 10 games. Eleven different quarterbacks have been named to either the AFL All-Star team or Pro Bowl for a total of 25 selections. Five of those quarterbacks have been name All-Star or Pro Bowl multiple times. Eleven of the Chiefs starting quarterbacks have led the Chiefs to the playoffs, however, only five have won a playoff game. [1] Patrick Mahomes has been the Chiefs' starting quarterback since 2018. Mahomes has been the full-time starting quarterback since the beginning of the 2018 season, when he broke multiple single season team records and became the first Chiefs player to win MVP. Cotton Davidson was the team's first starting quarterback. He played all 14 games for the Texans in their inaugural 1960 season. [2] Davidson played with the franchise from 1960 to 1962, [3] and was traded in 1963 to the Oakland Raiders. [4] Len Dawson signed with the Chiefs (then known as the Texans) on July 2, 1962 and played for the franchise for 14 seasons. [4] [5] With Dawson as the team's starter, the Texans/Chiefs won three American Football League championships and appeared in two Super Bowl championship games. [5] Dawson was named Most Valuable Player after the Chiefs' victory in Super Bowl IV and retired in 1975 with several franchise records. [5] [6] Three quarterbacks currently in the Pro Football Hall of Fame have started at least one game for Kansas City: Dawson, Joe Montana, and Warren Moon. The most quarterbacks started in one season was five in 1987, however, this was primarily due to the player strike that led to teams using replacement players. The Chiefs have had the same quarterback start every game in a season 15 times. Trent Green started the most consecutive games with 81. Mahomes and Dawson are the only quarterbacks to lead the Chiefs to the Super Bowl, I and IV for Dawson and LIV, LV, LVII, and LVIII for Mahomes, with the Chiefs winning IV, LIV, LVII, and LVIII.
The number of games started in the season by each player is listed in small parentheses. Statistics do not include postseason starts.
Season | Quarterback(s) | Reference(s) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dallas Texans 1960–1962 | ||||||
1960 | Cotton Davidson (12) / Hunter Enis (2) | [3] [8] [9] | ||||
1961 | Cotton Davidson (12) / Randy Duncan (2) | [10] [11] | ||||
1962 | Len Dawson (14) | [12] [13] | ||||
Kansas City Chiefs 1963–present | ||||||
1963 | Len Dawson (13) / Eddie Wilson (1) | [14] [15] | ||||
1964 | Len Dawson (14) | [16] | ||||
1965 | Len Dawson (12) / Pete Beathard (2) | [17] [18] | ||||
1966 | Len Dawson (14) | [19] | ||||
1967 | Len Dawson (14) | [20] | ||||
1968 | Len Dawson (13) / Jacky Lee (1) | [21] [22] | ||||
1969 | Len Dawson (7) / Jacky Lee (1) / Mike Livingston (6) | [23] [24] | ||||
1970 | Len Dawson (12) / Mike Livingston (2) | [25] | ||||
1971 | Len Dawson (13) / Mike Livingston (1) | [26] | ||||
1972 | Len Dawson (12) / Mike Livingston (2) | [27] | ||||
1973 | Mike Livingston (8) / Len Dawson (6) | [28] | ||||
1974 | Len Dawson (8) / Mike Livingston (6) | [29] | ||||
1975 | Mike Livingston (7) / Len Dawson (5) / Tony Adams (2) | [30] [31] | ||||
1976 | Mike Livingston (14) | [32] | ||||
1977 | Mike Livingston (11) / Tony Adams (3) | [33] [34] |
Season | Quarterback(s) | Reference(s) |
---|---|---|
2021 | Patrick Mahomes (17) | [99] |
2022 | Patrick Mahomes (17) | [100] |
2023 | Patrick Mahomes (16) / Blaine Gabbert (1) | [101] |
2024 | Patrick Mahomes (14) | [102] |
Quarterback | Record |
---|---|
Patrick Mahomes | 15–3 |
Len Dawson | 5–3 |
Joe Montana | 2–2 |
Steve DeBerg | 1–2 |
Alex Smith | 1–4 |
Todd Blackledge | 0–1 |
Dave Krieg | 0–1 |
Steve Bono | 0–1 |
Elvis Grbac | 0–1 |
Matt Cassel | 0–1 |
Trent Green | 0–2 |
Quarterback | No. of selections |
---|---|
Len Dawson | 7× |
Patrick Mahomes | 6× |
Alex Smith | 3× |
Cotton Davidson | 2× |
Trent Green | 2× |
Steve Bono | 1× |
Matt Cassel | 1× |
Elvis Grbac | 1× |
Bill Kenney | 1× |
Mike Livingston | 1× |
Joe Montana | 1× |
Only the top 10 are listed below.
Rank | Name | Seasons | GS | GP | W | L | T | Pct |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Len Dawson | 1962–75 | 158 | 183 | 94 | 56 | 8 | .620 |
2 | Patrick Mahomes | 2017–present | 110 | 110 | 87 | 23 | 0 | .791 |
3 | Trent Green | 2001–06 | 88 | 88 | 48 | 40 | 0 | .545 |
4 | Bill Kenney | 1980–88 | 77 | 106 | 34 | 43 | 0 | .442 |
5 | Alex Smith | 2013–17 | 76 | 76 | 50 | 26 | 0 | .658 |
6 | Mike Livingston | 1968–79 | 75 | 90 | 30 | 43 | 1 | .412 |
7 | Steve DeBerg | 1988-91 | 52 | 57 | 31 | 20 | 1 | .606 |
8 | Elvis Grbac | 1997–2000 | 47 | 49 | 26 | 21 | 0 | .553 |
Matt Cassel | 2009–12 | 48 | 19 | 28 | 0 | .404 | ||
10 | Steve Fuller | 1979–82 | 31 | 52 | 13 | 18 | 0 | .419 |
Steve Bono | 1994–96 | 37 | 21 | 10 | 0 | .677 |
As of week 15 of the 2024 season
Below are the top five quarterbacks in each category throughout their tenure with the Chiefs. Stats are complete through week 15 of the 2024 NFL Season.
Name | Yards |
---|---|
Patrick Mahomes | 31,772 |
Len Dawson | 28,507 |
Trent Green | 21,459 |
Alex Smith | 17,608 |
Bill Kenney | 17,277 |
Name | TDs |
---|---|
Patrick Mahomes | 241 |
Len Dawson | 237 |
Trent Green | 118 |
Bill Kenney | 105 |
Alex Smith | 102 |
Name | Rating |
---|---|
Patrick Mahomes | 101.9 |
Alex Smith | 94.8 |
Trent Green | 87.3 |
Joe Montana | 85.0 |
Damon Huard | 83.3 |
a : Strikes by the National Football League Players Association in the 1982 and 1987 seasons resulted in shortened seasons (9 and 15-game schedules, respectively). [106]
b : Replacement quarterbacks Matt Stevens, Frank Seurer, and Doug Hudson started for the Chiefs alongside Kenney and Blackledge following the NFL Players Association strike in 1987. For the only time in team history, five different quarterbacks started in 1987 following the player's strike. [30] [47] [107]
Leonard Ray Dawson was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs franchise. After playing college football at Purdue, Dawson began his NFL career in 1957, spending three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and two with the Cleveland Browns. He left the NFL in 1962 to sign with the AFL's Chiefs, where he spent the last 14 seasons of his career, and rejoined the NFL after the AFL–NFL merger.
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