William Patrick Kenney (born January 20, 1955) is an American former

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who spent nine years in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

from 1980 to 1988 and a former

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who spent eight years as a Missouri State Senator. Kenney was selected by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

in the 12th round of the

1978 NFL draft The 1978 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 2–3, 1978, at the Roosevelt Hotel ...

Early life and college

Kenney was born in San Francisco and graduated from San Clemente High School in 1973. He originally received a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

to play at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

but did not play his first year. He then transferred to small

Saddleback College Saddleback College is a public community college in Mission Viejo, California. It is part of the California Community College system and awards over 300 associate degrees, academic certificates, and occupational skills awards in 190 programs. ...

, where he played for one season. He spent the remainder of his college career at the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNCO or UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado, United States. It was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has offi ...

College statistics

NFL

Kenney was selected by the

with the second to last pick of the

. He was cut from the Dolphins at the end of

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

, but he had more success two years later, when he made the

roster as the backup to Steve Fuller. He ended up starting games late in the year because of an injury to Fuller and did exceptionally well. His late season performance helped him to take over the starting job for good in 1981. After an average 1982 season, Kenney was in line to be replaced by Todd Blackledge, whom the Chiefs drafted as part of the vaunted

Quarterback class of 1983 The 1983 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York Sh ...

. Kenney responded by having a breakout season, setting team records for passing yards (4,348) and completions (346) in a season; the latter was also good enough to lead the NFL. Kenney earned a

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

berth that season. At one point, he threw for over 300 yards in 4 games in a row, topping out at 417 yards in a loss to Seattle. Unfortunately for Kenney and the Chiefs, they would lose all four games. He did not come close to matching his 4,000-yard output over the next four seasons, but he did enough to prevent Blackledge from starting when he was healthy (in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, he missed 7 weeks due to a thumb injury). He eventually gave up his starting job in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

when the Chiefs traded for

Steve DeBerg Steven Leroy DeBerg (born January 19, 1954) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 years. Early life DeBerg is an alumnus of Savanna High School in Anaheim, Califor ...

. Kenney was released after failing to throw a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

pass in 114 attempts that season. He left the Chiefs as the second most prolific passer in team history behind Hall of Famer

Len Dawson Leonard Ray Dawson (June 20, 1935 – August 24, 2022) was an American professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the K ...

. He has been passed in most passing categories since then by

Trent Green Trent Jason Green (born July 9, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Indiana Hoosiers. He was selected by the San ...

; Green also broke Kenney's single season record for passing yards in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. In 1989, he signed with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

to be the third quarterback behind Mark Rypien and Doug Williams. He did not appear in any games with the team, however, and he retired after the season.

Politics

Kenney took up residency in

Lee's Summit, Missouri Lee's Summit is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri and a suburb of the Kansas City metropolitan area. It resides in Jackson County (predominantly) as well as Cass County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 101,108, making it the 6th ...

after his retirement. He turned his attention to

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

at this time, and in 1994, he successfully ran as a Republican to represent a portion of

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

and parts of suburban Jackson County in the Missouri State Senate. In 1996, Kenney ran an unsuccessful campaign to become

Lieutenant Governor of Missouri The lieutenant governor of Missouri is the first person in the order of succession of the U.S. state of Missouri's executive branch, thus serving as governor in the event of the death, resignation, removal, impeachment, absence from the state, ...

. In 2001, Bill Kenney became the

majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...

floor leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are thei ...

of the Missouri Senate, and held the position for two years. He left the Senate afterwards due to

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...

s, and retired from politics altogether as a result. Kenney was appointed to the

Missouri Public Service Commission The Missouri Public Service Commission regulates investor-owned telephone, electric, natural gas, steam, water, and sewer utilities in the state of Missouri. Manufacturers and retail dealers who sell new and used manufactured homes and modular un ...

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Jay Nixon Jeremiah Wilson "Jay" Nixon (born February 13, 1956) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the List of governors of Missouri, 55th governor of Missouri from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

on January 9, 2013. On January 24, 2013, he was confirmed by the Missouri Senate to a six-year term.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

* - career statistics {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenney, Bill 1955 births Living people 20th-century members of the Missouri General Assembly 21st-century members of the Missouri General Assembly American athlete-politicians American Conference Pro Bowl players American football quarterbacks Arizona State Sun Devils football players Kansas City Chiefs players Northern Colorado Bears football players Players of American football from San Francisco Republican Party Missouri state senators Saddleback Gauchos football players San Clemente High School (California) alumni Sportspeople from Lee's Summit, Missouri