Clifton Dawson
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Position: | 2006 / Round: 6 / Pick: 47 | ||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com · PFR |
Clifton George Dawson (born October 8, 1983) is a former
Dawson was also a member of the Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans.
Early years
Dawson was born in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough. He attended Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute in Toronto,[1] and was a good student and a letterman in football and track. In football, as a senior, he led his team to the Toronto City Championship, was named the team's Most Valuable Player, and was an All-Canada selection.
College career
Dawson briefly attended Northwestern University before opting to transfer to Harvard University.[2]
During his freshman season at Harvard, he was unanimously selected for the first-team All-Ivy League, making him the first offensive player in Ivy League history to earn first-team honors as a freshman. Dawson set the league's single-season record for rushing yards by a freshman with 1,187 yards and became the first freshman in Ivy League history to rush for more than 1,000 yards. Dawson fumbled just once in 215 carries.[3]
During his sophomore season, he was again named a unanimous first-team All-America selection and was named to the New England Football Writers All-New England team. He placed tenth in the balloting for the Walter Payton Award, which is given to the top player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision. He led the Ivy League in rushing, with an average of 130.2 yards per game, making him the highest-ranking sophomore in Division I-AA and one of just three sophomores among the nation's top 25 rushers. He set Harvard's single-season records for rushing yards (1,302), rushing touchdowns (17), total touchdowns (18) and points (108). He rushed for at least 100 yards in seven of the ten games with the Harvard Crimson.[3]
In his junior season, Dawson was again a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection and named to the New England Football Writers All-New England. He attained a total of 1,139 yards in the season. He rushed for at least 100 yards in seven of Harvard's ten games. He ended the season by scoring the historic game-winning touchdown in the third overtime period of Harvard's 30-24 win against Yale.[3]
In his senior season, Dawson became the all-time
Dawson also ran track and majored in Economics while at Harvard.[3]
Professional career
Toronto Argonauts
Though he was not selected during the
First stint with Colts
He was signed as a free agent by the Indianapolis Colts after the conclusion of the draft.[5] He was one of the team's final cuts.
Cincinnati Bengals
Dawson subsequently signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. He made his NFL debut on September 16, 2007. He played in two games with the Bengals and then, on September 25, he was released.
Second stint with Colts
Two days later, Dawson was re-signed by the Colts. Dawson played in eleven games with the Colts during the 2007–08 season and remained with the team during the 2008 off-season and training camp.[6] The Colts waived him near the end of the 2008 training camp, but re-signed him the next day.[7] However, he was released again before the final preseason game.
Dawson was re-signed by the Colts on October 14, 2008. It was during this stint that he scored his first and only NFL touchdown. He was released on March 22, 2009.
Houston Texans
Dawson signed with the Texans on May 19, 2009. He was placed on season-ending
References
- ^ "Clifton Dawson". Just Sports Stats. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
- ^ Powers, John (November 19, 2005). "Dawson's Leap". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ^ a b c d e "# 33 Clifton Dawson". Harvard University. Retrieved 2008-10-18. [dead link]
- ^ Shapiro, Madeleine I. (November 13, 2006). "Clifton Dawson, Ivy League Rushing King".
- ^ Shapiro, Madeleine (April 29, 2007). "Dawson signs with Colts after going undrafted". The Harvard Crimson. Archived from the original on 2007-05-21. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
- ^ "Clifton Dawson Career Notes". Indianapolis Colts. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26.
- ^ Chappell, Mike (2008-08-12). "Colts re-sign RB Dawson, Keith hurt". The Indianapolis Star. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
- ^ "NFL transactions for August 3, 2009". Pro Football Weekly. 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2009-08-06.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "NFL transactions for August 7, 2009". Pro Football Weekly. August 12, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-12.[permanent dead link]