Boyd Hamilton Dowler (born October 18, 1937) is a former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player, a wide receiver in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. He played 12 seasons from 1959 to 1971, 11 with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

and one with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. Born in

Rock Springs, Wyoming Rock Springs is a city in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 23,036 at the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state of Wyoming, and the most populous city in Sweetwater County. Rock Springs is ...

, Dowler grew up in

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

, where his father Walter was a high school history teacher, who was also a former football coach who had played college football at

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. Boyd was a three-sport athlete at Cheyenne High School. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

as a

single-wing In American and Canadian football, a single-wing formation was a precursor to the modern spread or shotgun formation. The term usually connotes formations in which the snap is tossed rather than handed—formations with one wingback and a ha ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

under head coach Dal Ward. Dowler led the Big Seven conference in receiving as a junior in 1957, but spent more time as a passer and runner during his senior season. While at

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, he was a member of

Delta Tau Delta Delta Tau Delta () is a United States-based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapters ...

fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

. The 25th overall pick in the 1959 NFL Draft, Dowler was the

NFL rookie of the year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest coach in football history, and he is recognized a ...

's first season as head coach. Dowler was a two-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

er in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

and 1967, and a key contributor on the Packers dynasty in the 1960s, assisting the team to five NFL championship wins and victories in

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

s I and II. A late hit by

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

defensive back

Mike Gaechter Michael Theodore Gaechter (January 9, 1940 – August 17, 2015) was an American football safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of Oregon. Early years Born in Santa Mo ...

in the end zone following a third quarter touchdown catch resulted in a shoulder injury in the 1966 NFL Championship Game. Dowler aggravated the shoulder early in the first quarter of the first Super Bowl two weeks later, allowing seldom-used

Max McGee William Max McGee (July 16, 1932 – October 20, 2007) was a professional football player, a wide receiver and punter for the Green Bay Packers in the NFL. He played from 1954 to 1967, and is best known for his seven receptions for 138 yards a ...

to be a significant contributor in the game with two touchdown catches. Dowler made a big impact the following year in Super Bowl II with a 62-yard touchdown reception from quarterback

Bart Starr Bryan Bartlett Starr (January 9, 1934 – May 26, 2019) was an American professional football quarterback and head coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Alab ...

in the first half. He finished the game as the top receiver for the Packers, with two receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown. Dowler is a member of the

Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...

and the

NFL 1960s All-Decade Team This is a list of National Football League (NFL) players who had outstanding performances throughout the 1960s and have been compiled together into this fantasy group. The team was selected by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Foot ...

. After eleven seasons with the Packers ending in 1969, Dowler played one year for the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

. He had been acquired from the Packers for the Redskins' 1971 fifth-round pick (124th overall–

Jim Stillwagon James R. Stillwagon (February 11, 1949 – February 4, 2018) was an American football player who played five years in the Canadian Football League and was a two-time All-American during his college career. Stillwagon was a three-year starter ...

) which had been obtained from the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

earlier on January 28, 1971. Dowler was on

George Allen George Allen may refer to: Politics and law * George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team * George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...

's coaching staff with the Rams in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

and made the transition with him to Washington as a player-coach. Dowler retired with a career record of 474

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another ...

s for 7,270 yards and 40

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. He led the Packers in receptions for seven seasons. Following his playing career, Dowler spent over 30 years working as an assistant coach and scout in the NFL. Notable positions that Dowler held included the passing game coordinator role for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1973-1975 and, his final stop, a scout for the Atlanta Falcons. Dowler retired as a scout in 2007.

References

External links

University of Colorado Athletics Hall of Fame
– Boyd Dowler *

– college football statistics – Boyd Dowler * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dowler, Boyd 1937 births Living people People from Rock Springs, Wyoming Sportspeople from Cheyenne, Wyoming Players of American football from Wyoming American football punters American football wide receivers Cheyenne Central High School alumni Colorado Buffaloes football players Green Bay Packers players Washington Redskins players Western Conference Pro Bowl players Coaches of American football from Wyoming Los Angeles Rams coaches Washington Redskins coaches Philadelphia Eagles coaches Cincinnati Bengals coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches