Lynn Dickey
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Clifford Lynn Dickey (born October 19, 1949) is an American former
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
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 played 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) for 15 seasons, primarily with the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
. He played
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for the Kansas State Wildcats and was selected in the third round of the 1971 NFL draft by the
Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...
, where he spent his first five seasons. Dickey was a member of the Packers for his remaining 10 seasons, leading them in 1982 to their first playoff appearance since 1972 and victory since 1967. He also led the league in passing touchdowns during the 1983 season. For his accomplishments with the franchise, he was inducted to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1992.


Early life

Born in Paola, Kansas, and raised in Osawatomie, Kansas, southwest 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 ...
, Dickey led Osawatomie High School to a state championship and graduated in 1967. Its football stadium is named after him, and his number "10" was retired by the school in January 1971.


College career

Dickey was recruited to
Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...
. Following his senior season in 1970, Dickey finished tenth in the voting for the
Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...
and was named MVP of the North–South Shrine Game. His 6,208 career passing yards was the record at Kansas State for 38 years, until passed by Josh Freeman in
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.


Professional career


Houston Oilers

Dickey was selected in the third round of the 1971 NFL draft, 56th overall, by the
Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...
, where he played four seasons, splitting time with fellow 1971 draft pick Dan Pastorini (third overall). He and Pastorini were in competition for the starting quarterback role in 1972, and Dickey was having a good preseason. However, he suffered the first in a long line of serious injuries throughout his career, a dislocated and broken hip in the fourth preseason game, which cost him the rest of the year. Dickey started ten games with the Oilers, winning two overall, including Houston's lone win in the
1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
season.


Green Bay Packers

In 1976, he was traded to the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
in exchange for John Hadl. His Packers career got off to a rocky start. Dickey suffered a broken leg in
1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...
, causing him to miss two full calendar years. But by
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
he was back as the starter. Dickey led the Packers to the 16-team
playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
in the strike-shortened 1982 season. The Packers won the opening round after Dickey went 19 of 26 (73%) for 286 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions in a 41–16 triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals. Green Bay was eliminated the following week by the
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
in the divisional round after Dickey went 24 of 37 for 274 yards with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions as the team fell 37–26. Perhaps the high point of Dickey's NFL career came in
1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
when he powered the Packers' offense to a then-team record 429 points. His 4,458 yards that season served as the team record until being surpassed by Aaron Rodgers in 2011 and threw a career-best 32 touchdowns, the most in the NFL in
1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
. According to sportswriter Alex Rubenstein of
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, Dickey's back-to-back performances on Sept. 4 and 11 of the 1983 season were the greatest by an NFL quarterback through a two-game stretch throughout the first 98 NFL seasons. If a QB rating were not artificially capped at 158.3, Dickey's rating across those two games would have been 164.1, a mark not reached again across multiple games until Peyton Manning in the 2003 playoffs; the first to surpass that mark in the regular season across two games was Patrick Mahomes in 2018. In the two games, a 41-38 win over the
Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...
followed by a 21-25 loss to the
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...
, Dickey completed 41 of his 51 passes for 623 yards with eight touchdowns and 1 interception. Dickey was named second-team All-NFC behind Joe Theismann. Dickey's Packers had beaten Theismann's
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
champion
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in a thrilling ''
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'' game earlier that season (Washington kicker
Mark Moseley Mark DeWayne Moseley (born March 12, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played for Philadelphia Eagles (1970), the Houston Oilers (1971–72) ...
missed a field goal in the closing seconds, preserving the Packers' 48–47 win). The game is included in
NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...
's program "Top Ten Quarterback Duels." Dickey retired from professional football prior to the 1986 season after he was waived late in training camp. He holds Packers records for highest completion percentage in a game with a minimum of 20 attempts (19–21, 90.48%, versus
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on December 13,
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
). His record for most passing yards in a
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
game (418 versus Tampa Bay on October 12) was broken by
Matt Flynn Matt or Matthew Flynn may refer to: * Matt Flynn (American football) (born 1985), American football player * Matt Flynn (Australian footballer) (born 1997), Australian rules footballer * Matt Flynn (politician) (born 1947), American politician * ...
on January 1, 2012, with 480 yards. (
Aaron Rodgers Aaron Charles Rodgers (born December 2, 1983) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears foo ...
had 422 in a playoff game against the Arizona Cardinals); and highest average gain in a season (9.21 yards per attempt in 1983). The latter is an NFL single-season record for quarterbacks with 400 or more attempts.


NFL career statistics


Personal life

After retiring from football, Dickey relocated to the greater
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 ...
area where he opened a football-themed
restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...
. Dickey has three grown daughters; Natalie, Meredith, and Elizabeth and resides in Leawood, Kansas. He then worked for the popular Kansas City AM station Sports Radio 810 on the show "Crunch Time", airing at 9:00 a.m. He now works at Serve You Rx, a pharmacy benefit management company home based in
Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
.


Honors

In 1996, when the Big Eight expanded to the
Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...
, the
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named Dickey as the All-Time Big Eight Quarterback.
Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...
has retired the No. 11 to jointly honor Dickey and his successor at KSU, Steve Grogan. It is the only number retired by Kansas State's football program. Dickey is a member of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickey, Lynn 1949 births Living people American football quarterbacks Green Bay Packers players Houston Oilers players Kansas State Wildcats football players People from Osawatomie, Kansas People from Paola, Kansas Players of American football from Kansas Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame