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.
Starting quarterbacks by season [ edit ]
Patrick Mahomes , the current starter since 2018
Alex Smith was the team's starter from 2013–2017
Chase Daniel started one game each in 2013 and 2014
Matt Cassel 's 15 starts in 2009 were the most for one Chiefs starting quarterback since Trent Green's complete season in 2005.
Tyler Thigpen was the third different starting quarterback for the Chiefs in the 2008 season.[ 7]
Trent Green was the team's starter from 2001 to 2006
Damon Huard (left) and Brodie Croyle (right) split the starting quarterback duties in the 2007 season.
Elvis Grbac (#11) in huddle
Len Dawson started games for the Chiefs from 1962 to 1975
Cotton Davidson , the first starting quarterback in franchise history. Starter in 1960 and 1961
The number of games started in the season by each player is listed in small parentheses. Statistics do not include postseason starts.
14 game seasons
16 game seasons
17 game seasons
Post-season records [ edit ]
All-Star/Pro Bowl quarterbacks[ edit ]
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×
Most games as starting quarterback [ edit ]
Only the top 10 are listed below.
As of week 13 of the 2024 season
Team career passing leaders [ edit ]
Below are the top five quarterbacks in each category throughout their tenure with the Chiefs. Stats are complete through week 13 of the 2024 NFL Season.
Yards[ 103]
Name
Yards
Patrick Mahomes
31,406
Len Dawson
28,507
Trent Green
21,459
Alex Smith
17,608
Bill Kenney
17,277
Touchdowns[ 104]
Name
TDs
Patrick Mahomes
238
Len Dawson
237
Trent Green
118
Bill Kenney
105
Alex Smith
102
Quarterback rating (minimum 500 attempts) [ 105]
Name
Rating
Patrick Mahomes
102.3
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]
General
Herb, Patrick, Kuhbander, Brad, Looney, Josh, and Moris, Pete, eds. 2008 Kansas City Chiefs Media Guide , Kansas City Chiefs Football Club, Inc., 2008
Specific
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^ Herb, Kuhbander, Looney, and Moris. p. 400
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^ a b c Herb, Kuhbander, Looney, and Moris. p. 417
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^ "Doug Hudson" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 19, 2008 .
^ "1988 Kansas City Chiefs season" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 19, 2008 .
^ "Steve DeBerg" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 19, 2008 .
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^ "Ron Jaworski" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 19, 2008 .
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^ "Steve Bono" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 31, 2008 .
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^ "Elvis Grbac" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 31, 2008 .
^ "1998 Kansas City Chiefs season" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved July 19, 2008 .
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^ "Brodie Croyle" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 31, 2008 .
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^ "2013 Kansas City Chiefs season" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 10, 2013 .
^ "2014 Kansas City Chiefs season" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 1, 2015 .
^ "2015 Kansas City Chiefs season" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 13, 2015 .
^ "2016 Kansas City Chiefs season" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 14, 2016 .
^ "2017 Kansas City Chiefs season" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 10, 2017 .
^ "2018 Kansas City Chiefs season" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 1, 2019 .
^ "2019 Kansas City Chiefs season" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 1, 2019 .
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^ "2021 Kansas City Chiefs season" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 12, 2021 .
^ "2022 Kansas City Chiefs season" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 11, 2022 .
^ "2023 Kansas City Chiefs season" . Pro Football Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 27, 2023 .
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Founded in 1960
Formerly the Dallas Texans (1960–1962)
Based and headquartered in Kansas City , Missouri
Franchise Stadiums Key personnel Culture Lore Rivalries Wild card berths (10) Division championships (16) Conference championships (4) League championships (5) Retired numbers Media Current league affiliations Former league affiliation