John Hadl John Willard Hadl ( born February 15 , 1940 ) is a former collegiate and professional football player . Hadl was born in Lawrence , Kansas . After playing halfback on both offense and defense at the University of Kansas as a sophomore , Hadl played quarterback for his last two years at Kansas , and was selected as the school ' s Player of the Century . He was an All American at running back in 1960 and at quarterback in 1961 . He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1994 . College football . Hadl was the first KU player to be picked twice for All - America ( 1960 and 1961 ) honors for his skills as a quarterback and halfback . Hadl also excelled as a defensive back , and punt returner and punter ; he led the country with a 45 . 6 - yard punting average in 1959 . Hadl ' s No . 21 jersey is one of only three KU has retired . Hadl , who was picked for the all - conference team for three seasons , wound up with 1 , 281 yards passing and 1 , 016 yard rushing . Hadl still holds two KU records : Longest interception return , a 98 - yard run against TCU ; and longest punt , 94 yards vs . Oklahoma . With Hadl running the offense , the Jayhawks were ranked in the top 20 during his junior and senior years , finishing 15 - 5 - 2 . He wrapped up his KU career leading his team to a 33 - 7 win over Rice University in the Bluebonnet Bowl . He was also named MVP in the East - West Shrine game and the College All - Star Game . Playing career . He played at 6 ft 1 in ( 1 . 85 m ) and 210 lb ( 95 kg ) . He joined the American Football League ' s San Diego Chargers in 1962 . He shared quarterbacking duties until 1966 , when he became San Diego ' s starting quarterback , and averaged over 3 , 000 yards and 23 touchdown s per ( 14 - game ) season for the next four years . He was the American Football League ' s leading passer in both 1965 and 1968 , and was a four - time AFL All - Star . In 1969 , he was selected as the AFL All - Star Game ' s Most Valuable Player . The other half of the Chargers ' potent passing / receiving tandem was Lance Alworth , the first American Football League player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame . Many observers believe that Hadl , who threw most of the passes that Alworth received , also belongs in the Hall . Before the 1973 season , Hadl was traded to the Los Angeles Rams for defensive end Coy Bacon and running back Bob Thomas . Leading the Rams to the playoffs that year , he was named the National Football Conference Player of the Year . Hadl was traded to the Green Bay Packers the next season when he was beaten out for the starting quarterback position by James Harris . Hadl finished with a starting record of 82 - 76 - 9 in his professional career . He holds the NFL record for the most tied games ( 9 ) by a starting quarterback . Hadl wore # 21 for all of his NFL career , and was the last regular starting quarterback to wear a uniform number greater than # 19 before the NFL adopted a rigid uniform numbering system in 1973 . Coaching career . Hadl was also head coach of the Los Angeles Express football team of the USFL during 1984 and 1985 , compiling a record of 13 - 23 in the regular season , 1 - 1 in the postseason . Hadl is currently an associate athletic director in the University of Kansas athletic department , despite the belief that he might have been the " unnamed assistant football coach " at KU who provided improper benefits to recruits in the early 1980s in violation of NCAA regulations . Hadl has consistently denied any wrongdoing , and his current tenure with Kansas athletics has not yielded any suggestion of rules violations .