Dwight Dewitt Sullivan (born April 24, 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 ...

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

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) for the New Jersey Generals. 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 ...

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

Early years

Sullivan attended Hillside High School, where he practiced football and track & field. He accepted a football scholarship from

, where he played as a running back and

. As a junior in 1979, he helped the Wolfpack win the ACC football championship, leading the team with 150 carries for 665 rushing yards (4.4-yard avg.) and 6 rushing touchdowns, starting in the team's twin-veer offense. He had 131 rushing yards against

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

and 119 rushing yards against

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

. In 1980, he missed most of the season (only played in 2 games) with an ankle injury and was redshirted. As a fifth-year senior in 1981, the team changed to an I formation offense and he was mostly used as a blocker for freshman standout Joe McIntosh, who led the ACC with 1,190 rushing yards. He was third on the team with 56 carries for 334 rushing yards (6.0-yard avg.) and 2 rushing touchdowns. He finished his college career with 238 carries for 1,123 rushing yards (4.7-yard avg.), 9 rushing touchdowns and 15 receptions for 73 yards. He also practiced track & field.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Sullivan was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the eighth round (221st overall) of the

1982 NFL draft The 1982 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 27–28, 1982, at the New York She ...

. He was limited with a heel and hand bruise. He was waived on September 6.

New Jersey Generals (USFL)

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 was signed as a free agent by the New Jersey Generals of the

. He was the starter at

in the season opener, before falling on the depth chart behind

Maurice Carthon Maurice Carthon (born April 24, 1961) is an American former football player and coach. Carthon was a fullback in the United States Football League (USFL) and National Football League (NFL) for a total of 11 seasons. After his playing career en ...

in the fourth game. He posted 47 carries for 205 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns and 20 receptions for 99 yards. On December 27, he was traded along with linebacker Steve Hammond to the Los Angeles Express in exchange for Brian Sipe. On January 23,

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 ...

, he was cut by the Express. In January

, he signed with the Generals. He was released on February 21. He was later re-signed on February 23. He was limited with ankle and knee injuries, only playing in 8 games and his production dropped to 8 carries for 81 yards and one rushing touchdown.

References

External links

Dwight Sullivan Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Dwight 1959 births Living people Players of American football from Hattiesburg, Mississippi American football fullbacks NC State Wolfpack football players New Jersey Generals players