Bill Kenney

Bill Kenney

Infobox NFLretired
name=Bill Kenney


width=
caption=
position=Quarterback
number=9
birthdate=birth date and age|1955|1|20
San Francisco, California
deathdate=
debutyear=1980
finalyear=1988
draftyear=1978
draftround=12
draftpick=333
(By the Miami Dolphins)
undraftedyear=
college=Northern Colorado
teams=
* Kansas City Chiefs (1980-1988)
stat1label=TD-INT
stat1value=105-86
stat2label=Yards
stat2value=17277
stat3label=QB Rating
stat3value=77.0
nfl=KEN697683
pfr=
dbf=
highlights=
* Pro Bowls: 1983
HOF=
CollegeHOF=
CFHOF=

William Patrick Kenney (born January 20, 1955 in San Francisco, California) is a retired quarterback who spent 9 years in the National Football League with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1980 to 1988 and a former politician who spent 8 years as a Missouri State Senator. Kenney was originally drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the 12th round of the 1978 NFL Draft with the final selection, making him "Mr. Irrelevant".

High school/college

Kenney was born in San Francisco and graduated from San Clemente High School in 1973. He originally received a scholarship to play at Arizona State University but transferred to small Saddleback College after one season. After graduating from Saddleback, a two year junior college, he spent the remainder of his college career at the University of Northern Colorado.

NFL

Kenney was given the "honor" of being named Mr. Irrelevant in 1978 when he was drafted by the Miami Dolphins. The award traditionally is given to the last selection of the draft; Kenney earned the award as the second-to-last selection when the last player taken suffered a back injury and failed to report to camp. He was cut from the Dolphins at the end of training camp, but he had more success two years later, when he made the Kansas City Chiefs roster as the backup to Steve Fuller. He ended up starting games late in the year because of an injury to Fuller and did acceptably 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. 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 berth that season, and is the only Mr. Irrelevant to have been selected to one.

He didn't 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, he missed 7 weeks due to a thumb injury). He eventually gave up his starting job in 1988 when the Chiefs traded for Steve DeBerg. Kenney was released after failing to throw a touchdown 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. He has been passed in most passing categories since then by Trent Green; Green also broke Kenney's single season record for passing yards in 2004.

In 1989, he signed with the Washington Redskins to be the third quarterback behind Mark Rypien and Doug Williams. He did not appear in any games with the 'Skins, however, and he retired after the season.

Politics

Kenney took up residency in Lee's Summit, Missouri after his retirement. He turned his attention to politics at this time, and in 1994, he successfully ran as a Republican to represent a portion of Kansas City and parts of suburban Jackson County in the Missouri State Senate. In 1996, Kenney ran an unsuccessful campaign to become Missouri's Lieutenant Governor.

In 2001, Bill Kenney became the majority floor leader of the Missouri Senate, and held the position for two years. He left the Senate afterwards due to term limits, and retired from politics altogether as a result.

External links

* [http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=KENNEBIL02 Database Football] - career statistics
* [http://www.irrelevantweek.com/mr_irr.html Mr. Irrelevant] - List of past Mr. Irrelevants, including Kenney


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Kenney — can refer to:People* Annie Kenney, suffragette * Ben Kenney, musician * Bill Kenney, American football player * Charles Lamb Kenney, writer * Douglas Kenney, co founder of National Lampoon * Ed Kenney, actor * Edward Aloysius Kenney, politician * …   Wikipedia

  • Kenney — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Ben Kenney (* 1977), US amerikanischer Rockmusiker Beverly Kenney (1932–1960), US amerikanische Jazz Sängerin Bill Kenney (* 1955), US amerikanischer Footballspieler Edward Aloysius Kenney (1884–1938), US… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Pat Kenney — Kenney in September 2008 Ring name(s) Lance Diamond[1] Simon Diamond[1] …   Wikipedia

  • Mr. Irrelevant — is the title bestowed each year upon the last pick of the annual National Football League draft. Contents 1 Irrelevant Week 2 Notable winners 3 Mr. Irrelevant winners and other final selections …   Wikipedia

  • History of Kansas City Chiefs quarterbacks — The National Football League s Kansas City Chiefs have had a total of thirty one quarterbacks start a game in their franchise s 47 year history. The team has also had numerous backup quarterbacks that have stolen the spotlight from the… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Kansas City Chiefs players — This is a select list of players from the Kansas City Chiefs football team from the National Football League. For more information, see Kansas City Chiefs. Current rosterAll time first round draft picksChiefs quarterbacksThroughout the Chiefs… …   Wikipedia

  • Most career 300-yard passing games by NFL quarterbacks — This is a list in progress of the number of 300 yard passing games NFL QB s have achieved in their careers in the regular season and postseason. Active players are in bold. Quarterback Games w/300+ Yards (Reg. Season) Games w/300+ Yards… …   Wikipedia

  • 1986 Kansas City Chiefs season — Infobox NFL season team = Kansas City Chiefs year = 1986 record = 10 6 division place = 2nd AFC West coach = John Mackovic stadium = Arrowhead Stadium playoffs = L (Jets) 15 35The 1986 Kansas City Chiefs season ended with a 10 6 record, the most… …   Wikipedia

  • List of retired professional American football players — This is a list of individuals who formerly played professional American football in the NFL, AFL, AAFC and other major leagues. See also one of the other lists of American football players for more names.A* Joe Abbey, End, [1948 1949] * Fay… …   Wikipedia

  • World-number-one male tennis-player rankings — is a year by year listing of both the male tennis player who, at the end of a full year of play, has generally been considered to be the best overall player for the entire year, and of the runner up for that year. Contents 1 Unofficial rankings… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”