Michael "Dee" Dowis (August 2, 1968 – August 29, 2016) was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player who was a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

Air Force Falcons The Air Force Falcons are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in El Paso County, Colorado north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. Th ...

. He graduated as the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's all-time leading rusher for a quarterback.

Early years

Dowis was born and grew up in

Royston, Georgia Royston is a city in Franklin, Hart, and Madison counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 2,649 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Royston has been in operation since 1878. The community was named after W.A. Roy ...

. His father, Leonard Dowis, was the Franklin County High School football coach. He died of a heart attack when Dee was four years old. Dowis attended Franklin County High School, where he practiced multiple-sports. In football, he was a starter at

in a

wishbone offense The wishbone formation, also known simply as the bone, is an offensive formation in American football. The style of attack to which it gives rise is known as the wishbone offense. Like the spread offense in the 2000s to the present, the wishbone ...

and led the team to the Georgia football playoffs. He received All-state honors at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. He wasn't a highly recruited athlete because of his size.

College career

Dowis was accepted into the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...

. As a freshman with the

Falcons Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distribu ...

in 1986, he was the third string

behind James Tomallo and

Troy Calhoun Nathan Troy Calhoun (born September 26, 1966) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the United States Air Force Academy, a position he has held since the 2007 season. Early life and playing career Calh ...

. He tallied 24 carries for 39 yards, one rushing touchdown, 10 of 29 attempts for 115 yards and one passing touchdown. He felt homesick and almost transferred after the season. As a sophomore in 1987, he began the season as the backup

behind Steve Letnich, but when the Falcons fell behind, 20–0, in the season opener loss (27–13) against the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

, he replaced Letnich and never looked back. He had 18 carries for 188 yards in the 49–7 win against

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

. He broke his right wrist in the season finale win (34–31) against the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. The injury forced him to miss the team's 33–28 loss against

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

in the 1987 Freedom Bowl. He set an

single-season rushing mark for

s with 1,315 yards that stood for 12 years. He finished the season with 194 carries for 1,315 yards (6.8 yard avg.), 10 rushing

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s, 45 of 112 attempts for 600 yards, 4 passing touchdowns and 8 interceptions. As a junior in 1988, he had 153 carries for 972 yards (6.4 yard avg.), 12 rushing touchdowns, 41 of 96 attempts for 870 yards and 7 passing touchdowns. He also tied an

record after completing 11 consecutive passes against

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. As a senior in 1989, he became the fifth player in

history to run and pass for more than 1,000 yards in a single-season. He ran for 1,286 yards with 18 touchdowns and passed for 1,285 yards with 7 scores. He also set the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

career record for rushing yards by a

with 3,612 (broken by

Antwaan Randle El Antwaan Randle El (; born August 17, 1979) is an American professional American football, football coach and former player who currently serves as the wide receivers coach and assistant head coach for the Chicago Bears of the National Football L ...

in 2001). Against

, he set the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

record for most rushing yards by a

in a single-game with 249 (broken by Chad Hall on October 13, 2007) and most rushing touchdowns by a

in a single-game with 6. Dowis is regarded as one of the best option

s in

history. He finished sixth in the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

voting in 1989.

Statistics

Personal life

Dowis received an MBA from the

University of West Florida The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a public university in Pensacola, Florida, United States. Established in 1963 as a member institution of the State University System of Florida, the University of West Florida is a comprehe ...

in 1993. He served as a football

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

on the Air Force staff in 1995. On July 17, 1998, he was inducted into the Franklin County Sports Hall of Fame as a charter member. In 2009, he was inducted into the Air Force Academy Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2011, he was inducted into the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the North Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. He lived in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

, near

, where he was born and raised. He worked as a manager for

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

pharmaceuticals, and was married with two children. On August 29, 2016, he died in a traffic accident at the age of 48 after driving south in the northbound freeway lane, not wearing a seatbelt. Forensic toxicology reports confirmed that he had a

blood alcohol content Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes. BAC is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume of blood. In US and many i ...

level of .21 at the time of the accident.Air Force football legend Dee Dowis dies in Georgia traffic crash
/ref>

References

External links

Air Force Academy Record Book

1989 NCAA news

1989 Heisman Trophy results

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowis, Dee 1968 births 2016 deaths People from Royston, Georgia Players of American football from Madison County, Georgia American football quarterbacks Air Force Falcons football players Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Air Force Falcons football coaches University of West Florida alumni Road incident deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) Alcohol-related deaths in Georgia (U.S. state)