Teams
- Houston Oilers (1971-1975)
- Green Bay Packers (1976-1985)
Accolades
- 1-time All-Pro (1983)
“Any receiver worth his salt knows he’s only as good as his quarterbacks. I had many, many good quarterbacks throw me the ball over the course of 16 seasons. I was lucky to have two great quarterbacks throw me passes – Lynn Dickey with the Green Bay Packers, and you know who – Jim Kelly with the Buffalo Bills.”
—James Lofton, Hall of Fame Receiver, Green Bay Packers (source)
Lynn Dickey started his career as mostly an afterthought. Playing behind Dan Pastorini on a mostly mediocre Oilers team, Dickey only started 10 games from 1971-1975, and the team’s 2-7-1 record during those games didn’t seem to imply that Pastorini’s backup had a very productive career ahead of him.
In 1976, the Green Bay Packers traded veteran QB John Hadl for a Dickey who had thrown of all four passes the previous season. The previous season, Bart Starr’s first as Packers Head Coach, had been a 4-10 debacle. The Pack wouldn’t fare much better in ’76 with a 5-9 mark. Dickey’s first few seasons in green and gold would also be relatively unremarkable, splitting time with Carlos and David Whitehurst, while a broken leg in the second half of 1977 would shelf him for the entire next season as well.
Then the decade turned, and with it did Dickey’s fortunes. In 1980, at the ripe age of 31, he started all 16 games for the Packers, firing off 3,529 yards passing for a continuously mediocre Green Bay lineup. But it was the strike-shortened 1982 season when Lynn Dickey had his breakthrough, at an age when even the best quarterbacks have begun the descent into their twilight. He led the Packers to a 5-3-1 record during the nine-game regular season, good enough to send them to the postseason for the first time in 10 years. His 14.4 yards per completion was the NFL’s best that season
Over these next two games, Dickey would be terrific in guiding to the Pack to their first playoff win since Super Bowl II, a 15-year drought. In defeating the St. Louis Cardinals (led by the very underrated Neil Lomax), he went 17-23 for 260 yards and four TDS which resulted in a 150.4 passer rating. The next week, in keeping the Packers within four points for much of the 4thquarter, Dickey’s luck ran out to Danny White and the Dallas Cowboys. Despite three picks, Dickey was able to air it out for 332 yards including a 6-yard end zone toss to future hall-of-famer James Lofton.
The next two seasons, Dickey would continue to be fantastic, leading the NFL in TDs in ’83 with 32, with an amazing 4,458 passing yards. He also led the league in yards per attempt at 9.2, and also with 15.4 yards per completion. In ’84 he would throw for 3,195 more yards and add another 25 touchdowns through the air. However, Green Bay would go just 8-8 during both seasons, one each under Head Coaches Bart Starr and Forrest Gregg. In 1986, at the age of 36, Dickey was finally out of late-career magic, going 5-5 in 10 starts, giving way to fellow vet Jim Zorn towards the end of the season.
Only making the playoffs once in a 16-year NFL career might not seem particularly noteworthy, but any Packers fan from the early ‘80s will remember Lynn Dickey fondly. For a guy who didn’t even start a full season until his 30s, what Dickey was able to do from 1980-1985 is pretty remarkable. But even more importantly, for an organization with such a proud history of pro football, Dickey was the only Packers QB to guide the green and gold to a playoff victory between 1967 and 1993. And after witnessing one incredibly successful season after another in the 1960s, Dickey gave the Green Bay faithful one of the few reasons to celebrate during the gap between Bart Starr and Brett Favre.
Deviation Chart
| Season | W-L% | Tot Y/G | Tot TD/G | Tot TO/G | Y/C/Y/A | Cmp % | TD% | Int% |
| Reg Season | -0.045 | 0.032 | 0.036 | -0.028 | 0.064 | 0.041 | 0.030 | -0.066 |
| Playoffs | 0.000 | 0.280 | 0.384 | -0.011 | 0.330 | 0.142 | 0.379 | 0.025 |
Longevity Bonus = 0.7 Title Bonus = 0.0
Index Score = 1.259 (average QB = 0.0)
Deviation Rank (out of 155)
| Season | W-L% | Tot Y/G | Tot TD/G | Tot TO/G | Y/C/Y/A | Cmp % | TD% | Int% |
| Reg Season | 135th | 35th | 46th | 138th | 18th | 48th | 59th | 143rd |
| Playoffs | T-47th | 2nd | 3rd | 97th | 4th | 9th | 5th | 64th |
Why is he on the Top 100 list?
In the regular season, Lynn Dickey was a Top 50 all-time QB in four categories. His gunslinging was his greatest asset as he ranks 18th in yards/completion + yards/attempt average, and is 35th in total yards per game. Touchdowns per game and completion percentage also rank highly. The playoff rankings are outstanding, but do not have a significant impact on his index score as he only played in two games (note: playoff games are weighted as a percentage of total career games – regular season and playoffs).
Why isn’t he higher on the list?
Like another legendary Packer signal caller who would come around a few years later, Dickey was a high-risk/high-reward proposition. As such, he ranks in the bottom 20 all-time in both interceptions per attempt and for total turnovers per game. Also, the Packers’ incredible mediocrity, as shown in his win-loss percentage, weighs down his overall ranking as well.
The Quarterback Project 