William Douglas Dennison (born December 18, 1951) is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns. He also was a member of the Chicago Blitz and

Arizona Wranglers The Arizona Wranglers were a professional American Football team in the United States Football League that, name-wise, existed from late 1982 to mid-1985. They played at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, a su ...

of the United States Football League. 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 Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.

Early years

Dennison attended J.P. McCaskey High School, where he was a district triple jump champion and finished sixth in the state finals. He played only 2 years of football. He accepted a

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 ...

scholarship from Kutztown State College, where he set school records in the triple jump with 47 feet and the long jump with 23 feet. As a junior in 1972, he began playing football as a two-way starter at safety and running back. As a senior in 1973, he was leading the division in rushing, when he suffered a left knee injury in the fifth game of the season and was lost for the year. He received second-team All-PSAC honors, after finishing the year with 587 rushing yards on 149 carries and 13 receptions for 128 yards. In 1978, he was inducted into the Kutztown Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Dennison was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys after the

1974 NFL Draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers to have h ...

, after not being selected because of his college knee injury. The

NFL 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 major ...

players held a strike from July until August, which helped him get an extended look in training camp and eventually become the first

player from Kutztown State. As a rookie, he was a contributor in special teams and established himself as the team's short-yardage specialist, registering 4 touchdowns. In

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, when Calvin Hill left to join the WFL, he was used in combination with

Preston Pearson Preston James Pearson (born January 17, 1945) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys. He played college basketball at the University of Illi ...

and Charley Young. He started his first three games, finishing the season with 383 rushing yards (third on the team) and 7 rushing touchdowns (led the team). Head coach Tom Landry once said: "Doug Dennison is the best guy I know to give a football to on the goal line or short yardage," "if you want to make it, you give it to Doug. Dennison is going to give you everything he's got." and "Doug Dennison is a warrior,", "If you had to go to war, you'd want to go with Doug Dennison". In

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, he was named the starter after Pearson missed most of the season with an injury, leading the team in rushing (542 yards) and also scoring 6 touchdowns. He started 10 out of 14 games, alternating later at running back when Pearson returned. In

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

, he was relegated to playing mostly on special teams with the arrival of Tony Dorsett. In

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

, he was placed on the injured reserve list, after suffering a left knee injury while playing special teams in the sixth game against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. On August 21,

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, he was waived to make room for Ron Springs. He finished his Cowboys career with 19 touchdowns on 309 carries and 1,112 rushing yards.

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns signed him on October 13,

, to replace Greg Pruitt, who was lost for the season with an injured knee. At the end of his one-year contract, the Browns didn't re-sign him after drafting

Charles White Charles or Charlie White (or occasionally Whyte) may refer to: Artists and authors * Charles White (artist) (1918–1979), African-American painter, printmaker, muralist * Charles White (writer) (1845–1922), Australian journalist and author * C ...

Toronto Argonauts (CFL)

On March 21,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, he signed with the Toronto Argonauts. After injuring his left knee on the first day of camp, he announced his retirement. He later changed his mind and rejoined the team in August, but was waived on September 11,

Chicago Blitz (USFL)

After being out of

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 ...

for three years, head coach George Allen signed him to the Chicago Blitz in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, to provide depth behind Tim Spencer. He finished the season with 134 rushing yards on 42 carries and 15 receptions for 166 yards and one touchdown.

Arizona Wranglers (USFL)

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, the Chicago Blitz and the

engineered a swap of assets in which Allen, the Blitz coaching staff and most of the Blitz players moved to Phoenix, while most of the Wranglers roster moved to Chicago, with the exception of Alan Risher, who stayed in Arizona to back up Greg Landry. The agreement allowed the team to move, while keeping a strong roster. Dennison remained a backup before retiring at the end of the season.

References

External links

Dennison Has Lofty Pro Grid AmbitionsDennison's Next Goal - 1,000 YardsDennison return an adventure
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dennison, Doug 1951 births Living people Sportspeople from Lancaster, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American football running backs Kutztown Golden Bears football players Dallas Cowboys players Cleveland Browns players Toronto Argonauts players Chicago Blitz players Arizona Wranglers players