 Dickey signing autographs in 2007 | |||||||||||||||||
| No. 10, 12 | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1949-10-19)October 19, 1949 (age 76) Paola, Kansas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 214 lb (97 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school | Osawatomie(Osawatomie, Kansas) | ||||||||||||||||
| College | Kansas State (1968–1970) | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1971: 3rd round, 56th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||
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Clifford Lynn Dickey (born October 19, 1949) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aquarterback for 15 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL), primarily with theGreen Bay Packers. He playedcollege football for theKansas State Wildcats and was selected in the third round of the1971 NFL draft by theHouston Oilers, 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 theGreen Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1992.
Born inPaola, Kansas, and raised inOsawatomie, Kansas, southwest ofKansas City, Dickey ledOsawatomie 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.[1]
Dickey was recruited toKansas State University. Following his senior season in 1970, Dickey finished tenth in the voting for theHeisman Trophy and was named MVP of theNorth–South Shrine Game.[2] His 6,208 career passing yards was the record at Kansas State for 38 years, until passed byJosh Freeman in2008.
Dickey was selected in the third round of the1971 NFL draft, 56th overall, by theHouston Oilers,[3] where he played four seasons, splitting time with fellow 1971 draft pickDan Pastorini (third overall).[4] 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.[5] Dickey started ten games with the Oilers, winning two overall, including Houston's lone win in the1973 season.[6]
In 1976, he was traded to theGreen Bay Packers in exchange forJohn Hadl.[7] His Packers career got off to a rocky start. Dickey suffered a broken leg in1977, causing him to miss two full calendar years. But by1980 he was back as the starter. Dickey led the Packers to the 16-teamplayoffs in the strike-shortened1982 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 theSt. Louis Cardinals.[8] Green Bay was eliminated the following week by theDallas Cowboys 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.[9]
Perhaps the high point of Dickey's NFL career came in1983 when he powered the Packers' offense to a then-team record 429 points.[10][11] His 4,458 yards that season served as the team record until being surpassed by Aaron Rodgers in 2011[12] and threw a career-best 32 touchdowns, the most in the NFL in1983.[13]
According to sportswriter Alex Rubenstein ofSB Nation, 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 untilPeyton Manning in the 2003 playoffs; the first to surpass that mark in the regular season across two games wasPatrick Mahomes in 2018. In the two games, a 41-38 win over theHouston Oilers followed by a 21-25 loss to thePittsburgh Steelers, Dickey completed 41 of his 51 passes for 623 yards with eight touchdowns and 1 interception.[14]
Dickey was named second-team All-NFC behindJoe Theismann.[citation needed] Dickey's Packers had beaten Theismann'sSuper Bowl championWashington Redskins in a thrillingMonday Night Football game earlier that season (Washington kickerMark Moseley missed a field goal in the closing seconds, preserving the Packers' 48–47 win).[15] The game is included inNFL Network's program "Top Ten Quarterback Duels."
Dickey retired from professional football prior to the 1986 season after he was waived late in training camp.[16][17][18] He holds Packers records for highest completion percentage in a game with a minimum of 20 attempts (19–21, 90.48%, versusNew Orleans on December 13,1981).[19] His record for most passing yards in a1980 game (418 versusTampa Bay on October 12) was broken byMatt Flynn on January 1, 2012, with 480 yards. (Aaron Rodgers 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.
| Year | Team | GP | Passing | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Cmp | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rtg | |||
| 1971 | HOU | 7 | 57 | 19 | 33.3 | 315 | 0 | 9 | 13.3 |
| 1972 | HOU | 0 | DNP | ||||||
| 1973 | HOU | 12 | 120 | 71 | 59.2 | 888 | 6 | 10 | 64.2 |
| 1974 | HOU | 14 | 113 | 63 | 55.8 | 704 | 2 | 8 | 50.9 |
| 1975 | HOU | 14 | 4 | 2 | 50.0 | 46 | 0 | 1 | 52.1 |
| 1976 | GB | 10 | 243 | 115 | 47.3 | 1,465 | 7 | 14 | 52.2 |
| 1977 | GB | 9 | 220 | 113 | 51.4 | 1,346 | 5 | 14 | 51.4 |
| 1978 | GB | 0 | DNP | ||||||
| 1979 | GB | 5 | 119 | 60 | 50.4 | 787 | 5 | 4 | 71.7 |
| 1980 | GB | 16 | 478 | 278 | 58.2 | 3,529 | 15 | 25 | 70.0 |
| 1981 | GB | 13 | 354 | 204 | 57.6 | 2,593 | 17 | 15 | 79.0 |
| 1982 | GB | 9 | 218 | 124 | 56.9 | 1,790 | 12 | 14 | 75.3 |
| 1983 | GB | 16 | 484 | 289 | 59.7 | 4,458 | 32 | 29 | 87.3 |
| 1984 | GB | 15 | 401 | 237 | 59.1 | 3,195 | 25 | 19 | 85.6 |
| 1985 | GB | 12 | 314 | 172 | 54.8 | 2,206 | 15 | 17 | 70.4 |
| Career | 152 | 3,125 | 1,747 | 55.9 | 23,322 | 141 | 179 | 70.9 | |
After retiring from football, Dickey relocated to the greaterKansas City area where he opened a football-themedrestaurant which was unsuccessful.[20]
In 1996, when theBig Eight expanded to theBig 12 Conference, theAssociated Press named Dickey as the All-Time Big Eight Quarterback.Kansas State University has retired the No. 11 to jointly honor Dickey and his successor at Kansas St.,Steve Grogan. It is the only number retired by Kansas State's football program.
Dickey is a member of theGreen Bay Packers Hall of Fame[21] and theKansas Sports Hall of Fame.
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