Douglas Max Donley (born February 6, 1959) 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 ...

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 ...

(NFL) for 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 ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. He was selected in the second round of the

1981 NFL Draft The 1981 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, 1981, at the New York She ...

. 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 ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

Early years

Donley attended Cambridge High School (Class of 1977), where he was a three-sport standout in football,

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 ...

and

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 ...

, earning the nickname 'White Lightning' for his blazing speed. On the gridiron, Donley was a three-year letterman 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 ...

for the Bobcats, finishing with a career total of 2,572 rushing yards. He also had 226 yards receiving and 1,028 yards in kick returns for a career all-purpose yardage total of 3,826 yards to go with 31 touchdowns. He dislocated his right shoulder multiple times and had it operated as a junior. He received All-state honors as a senior. In track, Donley won the OVAC Class 4-A championship in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

as a junior (1976) with a leap of 21 ft. 2.5 in. and was a double-winner at the conference meet as a senior (1977) - winning the long jump (21-10.75 and the 220-yard dash (22.4 seconds), helping the Bobcats to the OVAC team title. He earned All-Eastern District honors in the

100-yard dash 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

and was recognized as a high school All-American in track. In basketball, Donley was hampered by his shoulder injury as a senior, but still managed to score 10 points per contest and had a school-record 17-assist game. His jersey was retired by his high school, he was inducted into the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of Fame and the Cambridge High School Hall of Fame.

College career

Widely recruited for football, he accepted a scholarship from

, where as the fastest player on the team, he was moved to wide receiver, with the intention of reducing the additional damage he could receive on his problematic shoulder. He was a backup as a freshman, making 2 receptions for 55 yards (eighth on the team), a 27.5-yard average and one

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 ...

. Donley became a starter as a sophomore, posting 24 receptions for 510 yards (21.3-yard avg.) and 3

s, including a 78-yard

against the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. As a junior, he had 37 receptions for 800 yards (21.6-yard avg.) and 5

s. As a senior, he registered 43 receptions for 887 yards (school record), a 20.6-yard average and 7

s, which was the third straight season that he led the team in receiving. He played in his fourth bowl game, while being named All-Big Ten and honorable-mention All-American. He left as the school's All-time leading wide receiver in career receptions (106), receiving yards (2,252), average yards per reception (21.2) and receiving

s (16).

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

The

liked his athletic potential and ignored his previous chronic shoulder injury, selecting him in the second round (53rd overall) of the

. As a rookie, he was the second fastest player on the team behind

Tony Dorsett Anthony Drew Dorsett Sr. (born April 7, 1954) is a former American football running back who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. From Western Pennsylvania, Dorsett attended the ...

. He only played in 17 games in his first 2 seasons, making 5 receptions for 55 yards and no

s. 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 ...

, he led the team with a 20.6-yard reception average. He missed 5 games because of a knee injury, posting 18 receptions for 370 yards (sixth on the team) and 2

s. In

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 ...

with the retirement of Drew Pearson, he started 9 games over new addition

Mike Renfro Michael Ray Renfro (born June 19, 1955) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Texas Christian University. Early years Renfro a ...

, but was limited by shoulder and hamstring injuries. He tallied 32 receptions for 473 yards (fourth on the team) and 2

s. That year, he also participated in the Pro Football 60-yard dash at the

Dallas Times Herald The ''Dallas Times Herald'', founded in 1888 by a merger of the ''Dallas Times'' and the ''Dallas Herald'', was once one of two major daily newspapers serving the Dallas, Texas (USA) area. It won three Pulitzer Prizes, all for photography, and t ...

Invitational Track Meet, where he placed fourth with a time of 6.33 seconds. Donley had a short career because of injuries and was forced into early retirement, after the Cowboys waived him injured on April 3,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. In his career, he had 55 receptions for 898 yards and 4

Chicago Bears

On May 21,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, after originally announcing his retirement the previous year, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

, reuniting with head coach and former Cowboys assistant coach

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year i ...

. He was looked upon to replace the injured

Dennis McKinnon Dennis Lewis McKinnon (born August 22, 1961) is a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears and the Dallas Cowboys. McKinnon played college football at Florida State University an ...

, but Donley ended up being placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on September 6, after breaking a bone in his hand. He wasn't re-signed at the end of the season.

Personal life

Donley is owner and president of Advantage Hole in One in Dallas, Texas. He is married to Dina Donley and also has 2 sons: Jake and Drew Donley.

References

External links

Time and Change, Doug Donley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donley, Doug 1959 births Living people People from Cambridge, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio American football wide receivers Ohio State Buckeyes football players Dallas Cowboys players Chicago Bears players