William Henry "D.J." Dozier Jr. (born September 21, 1965) is an American former professional

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL)

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB)

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He played five seasons with the NFL's

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

from 1987 to 1991, and played one season with the MLB's

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

in 1992. He currently resides in

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

Early life

Dozier was born in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

. He attended Kempsville High School in

, and later attended

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. When D.J. was 12 years old, he played on a youth basketball team for Kempsville and made it to the Virginia Beach city championship game. His team played against the Green Run Suns, who had future NBA Hall of Fame player David Robinson on the team. Kempsville won the game, mainly in part to David Robinson (who was a small forward and not the tallest player on the team nor highest scorer) missing the game due to having come down with the mumps. Dozier, who would eventually grow to 6 feet tall, was already 5'9" or 5'10" by 12 years old. With his athleticism, skill and size, he dominated the undefeated Suns and won the city championship.

Football career

*Dozier scored the winning touchdown of Penn State's 1987 National Championship Fiesta Bowl victory over Miami. *Dozier was drafted out of Penn State in the first round (#14 overall) of the

1987 NFL draft The 1987 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot Ma ...

. *He shared the November 11, 1985 cover of ''

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'' with

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's Ray McDonald. *He had a career average of 4.0 yards per carry. In 1991—his final season—he averaged 5.3 yards per rush on 9 attempts. *He fumbled the ball only 4 times during his 5-year professional career. *Dozier had a perfect 158.3 passer rating as a pro. (He was 1-for-1 for 19 yards and a touchdown) *Dozier caught 33 career passes, averaging 9.1 yards per catch. *As a kick returner, he averaged 19.4 yards per return.

Baseball career

Dozier, who was 6'0", 202 pounds and who threw and batted right-handed was originally drafted by the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

in the 18th round in 1983 (459th overall). He opted not to sign and decided to go to college, where he would pursue his football career. In 1990, the New York Mets signed him as an amateur free agent. He spent 1990 and 1991 in the minor leagues, where he showed good speed (he stole 33 bases with St. Lucie in 1990) and also some power (in 1990, he hit 13 home runs with St. Lucie). He played for the Williamsport Bills in 1991. After spending some time in the minors in 1992, he was called up to the Major Leagues and made his debut on May 6, 1992, at the age of 26. In 25 games, he hit .191 with 4 stolen bases and 19 strikeouts in 47 at-bats. Defensively, he committed 1 error for a fielding percentage of .971. On October 26, 1992, Dozier was traded with catcher Raul Casanova and pitcher Wally Whitehurst for shortstop/third baseman Tony Fernández.

References

External links

D.J. Dozier's Penn State Nittany Lions 1986 National Championship Football Pennant
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dozier, D.J. 1965 births Living people African-American baseball players All-American college football players American football running backs Baseball players from Norfolk, Virginia Detroit Lions players Major League Baseball left fielders Minnesota Vikings players Penn State Nittany Lions baseball players Penn State Nittany Lions football players New York Mets players Baseball players from Virginia Beach, Virginia Players of American football from Norfolk, Virginia Jackson Mets players Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Louisville Redbirds players St. Lucie Mets players Tidewater Tides players Williamsport Bills players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen Players of American football from Virginia Beach, Virginia