MLB Hall of Famer who made $25m after signing blank contract now runs a funeral home

Andre Dawson is one of the best players never to win a World Series.

The outfielder was drafted in the 11th round by the Montreal Expos in 1975 and won National League Rookie of the Year in 1977.

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By the time he retired in 1996, he was an eight-time All-Star, had four Silver Slugger Awards, and one MVP nod.

Known as The Hawk, he made MLB history in 1990 after the Cincinnati Reds intentionally walked him five times — the first player ever to get the honor.

“What did I do to deserve that?” Dawson said after the game.

In total, Dawson had 438 home runs, 1,591 RBI, and 143 intentional walks over his storied career which also took him to the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, and Florida Marlins.

He famously joined the Cubs after presenting the team with a blank contract.

Having spent 10 years playing through a series of brutal knee injuries on rock-solid artificial turf in Montreal, Dawson was desperate to head south and play on the storied grass of Wrigley Field.

The Cubs initially refused to sign the free agent — MLB owners were later found guilty of colluding to limit spending, which ultimately ended in a $280 million payment to the Players Association — but Hawk would not give up.

After setting Expos records for games, bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, runs batted in, extra base hits, total bases, and steals, he was done and even threatened to head for Japan rather than return.

Dawson and his agent, Dick Moss, went to Cubs spring training in March 1987 and handed executives a blank contract.

“The best avenue for me was to show up unannounced,” he later told ESPN. “I was sticking my neck out financially, but if you pay me what you think I’m worth, I’m willing to go from there.”

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GM Dallas Green offered a base salary of $500,000 — a pay cut of more than 50 percent.

Dawson kept his word and accepted, going on to win his sole MVP award with the team that season despite not reaching the playoffs.

He earned $25 million over 21 years in the big leagues and took an unusual route after retiring.

“Paradise kind of fell into my lap,” he told ESPN in 2020.

Dawson bought a funeral parlour in Richmond Heights, Miami, just 15 minutes from where he grew up.

“You don’t know where God is going to lead you, and this never would have — in my wildest imagination — been something I would have thought that I’d be doing,” he explained. “But I feel like maybe this is my calling.”

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His gut feeling was correct.

“The funeral home business is not about volume,” his brother Vince Brown explained. “It’s about controlling the quality of what you do and making it rewarding for the families that come to you and the people who work for you. Andre seems to have found enjoyment in that. Strangest thing!”

Now in his 70s, Dawson hasn’t left the sport that made him behind. Working alongside his alma mater, Florida A&M, The Hawk is still looking to help grow the game and support HBCUs.

“It was in my blood, instilled in me, very early on,” Dawson told MLB.com in 2024.

“Once I was there and able to experience the whole culture of college and meet new people, that experience I wouldn’t trade.

“Major League Baseball, through its initiatives, are starting to get a lot of the kids to go through the programs and then go to the HBCU programs.

“I think the quality of talent is starting to get a lot better. Thanks to the initiatives, that’s one of the reasons why we’re starting to get a better quality of player.”

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It was a blank contract that started it all, and a blank cap that will now mark an iconic career.

The Hall of Famer was enshrined with an ‘M’ crest, but always felt it should have been with a Cubs hat.

Upon his election, blank caps were not an option, but after Dawson requested to be changed to a Chicago hat, he will get a compromise.

“I always felt that I was a Cub in the Hall of Fame. I just had the ‘M’ on the cap,” Dawson said via MLB.com. “That’s what I always related to. That’s where my heart was, even though I was six years a Cub. It means everything. It means I finally had the opportunity to provide my input.”

The Hall of Fame gets the final say on every inductee’s plaque.

“The Hall of Fame Board of Directors voted unanimously to provide Andre Dawson with the option of having no logo on his Hall of Fame plaque, which will be recast to reflect his wishes,” Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the Board of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, said. “This decision gives Andre a choice that he would have taken if it had been available when he was elected in 2010, just four years prior to the formal implementation of that alternative.”

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