William Patrick Kenney was born on January 20,1955 and is an American former quarterback who spent nine years in the National Football League with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1980 to 1988 and a former politician who spent eight years as a Missouri State Senator.
22 Facts About Bill Kenney
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Bill Kenney was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the 12th round of the 1978 NFL draft.
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Bill Kenney was born in San Francisco and graduated from San Clemente High School in 1973.
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Bill Kenney originally received a scholarship to play at Arizona State University but did not play his first year.
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Bill Kenney then transferred to small Saddleback College, where he played for one season.
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Bill Kenney spent the remainder of his college career at the University of Northern Colorado.
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Bill Kenney was selected by the Miami Dolphins with the second to last pick of the 1978 NFL draft.
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Bill Kenney 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.
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Bill Kenney ended up starting games late in the year because of an injury to Fuller and did exceptionally well.
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Bill Kenney responded by having a breakout season, setting team records for passing yards and completions in a season; the latter was good enough to lead the NFL.
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Bill Kenney 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.
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Bill Kenney eventually gave up his starting job in 1988 when the Chiefs traded for Steve DeBerg.
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Bill Kenney was released after failing to throw a touchdown pass in 114 attempts that season.
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Bill Kenney left the Chiefs as the second most prolific passer in team history behind Hall of Famer Len Dawson.
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Bill Kenney has been passed in most passing categories since then by Trent Green; Green broke Kenney's single season record for passing yards in 2004.
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Bill Kenney did not appear in any games with the team and he retired after the season.
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Bill Kenney took up residency in Lee's Summit, Missouri after his retirement.
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Bill Kenney 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.
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In 1996, Bill Kenney ran an unsuccessful campaign to become Lieutenant Governor of Missouri.
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In 2001, Bill Kenney became the majority floor leader of the Missouri Senate, and held the position for two years.
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Bill Kenney left the Senate afterwards due to term limits, and retired from politics altogether as a result.
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Bill Kenney was appointed to the Missouri Public Service Commission by Governor Jay Nixon on January 9,2013.