Jack DeWayne Dotson (born June 10, 1971) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

and

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

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 ...

(NFL) for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

. He was drafted in the fourth round (131st overall) of the

1994 NFL Draft The 1994 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 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Mar ...

by the

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 ...

. He also was a member of the

Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to A ...

in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL). 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 Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

Early years

Dotson attended Hendersonville High School, where he was a three-year starter at

and a two-year starter at

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)#Offen ...

. As a senior, he rushed for a school record 1,500 yards, while making 114 tackles on defense and receiving All-state honors at

. He also practiced

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

College career

Dotson accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

. As a freshman in 1989, he was a backup

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

on a team that won the SEC championship and the 1990 Cotton Bowl against the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. He tallied 14 tackles (one for loss). As a sophomore in 1990, he became a starter at

, posting 59 tackles (fourth on the team), 4 tackles for loss (fourth on the team), 4 quarterback pressures, 2 passes defensed and 2 forced fumbles. He had a career-high 17 tackles and returned an interception 27 yards for a

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 ...

against

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. He contributed to his team winning the SEC championship and the 1991 Sugar Bowl against the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

. In 1991, he transferred to the

and had to sit one year to comply with the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

transfer rules. As a junior in 1992, he was a starter at

, registering 100 tackles (second on the team), 10 sacks (led the team), 5 tackles for loss, 12 quarterback pressures, 5 passes defensed and one forced fumble. As a senior in 1993, his 400-pound bench press ranked second on the squad. He collected 92 tackles, five sacks, 10 tackles for loss (second on the team), 16 quarterback pressures (led the team), two passes defensed, one forced fumble and 2 fumble recoveries. He had 15 tackles (3 for losses) and one sack against

. He finished the season as one of the 10 semifinalists for the

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Dotson was selected by the

in the fourth round (131st overall) of the

. He was released during training camp.

Miami Dolphins

On September 7,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, he was signed by the

to their

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, he made the regular roster as a backup

and

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player, however, he didn't appear in a single game during the season. In

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, with the arrival of new

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Jimmy Johnson, he was converted into a

but was released before the start of the season. In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, he was re-signed and appeared in 10 games as a back-up to starter

Stanley Pritchett Stanley Jerome Pritchett (born December 22, 1973) is a former professional American football player. A 6'1", 245-lb. fullback from the University of South Carolina, Pritchett was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fourth round of the 1996 N ...

, replacing him as a starter for two games because of a knee injury. He made his lone career pass reception for four yards, against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. He also recovered one fumble that season. He wasn't very effective in a fullback role and was released on November 18, to make room for

Roosevelt Potts Roosevelt Potts (born January 8, 1971) is a former professional American football player who played fullback in the National Football League for six seasons from 1993 to 1998 for the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, and Baltimore Ravens, aft ...

Nashville Kats (AFL)

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, Dotson joined the

of the

where he played for two seasons as a

and

. In his rookie season in the AFL, he recorded 10 tackles, one sack, one pass defensed and one kick return. In

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, he recorded seven tackles and one sack. He was waived on June 16.

Personal life

From 2007 to 2014, Dotson was a volunteer coach for the White House High School Blue Devils, coaching the

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

and

s. Dotson owns a concrete business in

White House, Tennessee White House is a city in Robertson County, Tennessee, Robertson and Sumner County, Tennessee, Sumner counties in the United States state of Tennessee. The population was 12,982 at the 2020 census. It is approximately twenty-two miles north of down ...

where he also resides. He is married to his wife Glenda and have two kids, J.D. and Jada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dotson, DeWayne Living people 1971 births Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee American football linebackers American football running backs Tennessee Volunteers football players Ole Miss Rebels football players Dallas Cowboys players Miami Dolphins players Nashville Kats players