John Witherspoon McDowall (June 26, 1905 – May 25, 1969), known as "Spindle Legs", was an

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

player 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 ...

athlete at

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 ...

. McDowall was recognized as an All-Southern football player in 1927. He was elected to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 1975, becoming the first player from NC State to be inducted.

Early years

McDowall was born on June 26, 1905, in

Micanopy, Florida Micanopy ( ) is a town in Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, United States, located south of Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The population as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census was 600. The oldest community in t ...

to J. W. McDowall and M. D. Younglove. Jack played high school ball in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...

under

Rex Farrior Jewel Rex Farrior Sr. (October 5, 1896 – January 17, 1993) was an American college football and baseball player and coach for the Florida Gators of the University of Florida, as well as a lawyer. He became a founding partner in a prominent Tam ...

. In 1922 he led the Gainesville High team to an undefeated season and the Florida High School State Championship. After having starred at Gainesville, he was deemed too small to ever get a scholarship to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

even though he was some 6 feet 1 inch tall. At a Gainesville pool hall J.B. "Shorty" Lawrence, a Floridian coaching in NC, walked in and offered him the chance to play at Rockingham for $25 a week. He led the Rockingham team to a 6-1-1 season, losing only to New Bern in the second round of the State Championship play-offs. This led to his chance to play for NC State.

NC State

McDowall won 11

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

at NC State. He was named the top athlete in the first half-century of NC State Athletics. McDowall is the only man to twice win the Norris Cup, and once held the North Carolina state record in the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

Football

He is best known as North Carolina State's first All-Southern

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 ...

, and its first inductee to the

=1925

= He once ran for an 80-yard touchdown against

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

=1927

= He led the Wolfpack to a 9–1 mark and a

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

championship in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

under coach

Gus Tebell Gustave Kenneth Tebell (September 6, 1897 – May 28, 1969) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. From 1925 to 1929, he coached football at North Carolina State University, where h ...

. McDowall threw for 14 of the Wolfpack's 31 touchdowns. In the 12–6 win in

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

over his hometown

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

, he ran 75 yards for a touchdown after intercepting the ball off a Gator's hands. The season closed with a convincing defeat of

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. He was selected to play on an All-Southern team which beat an All-

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

team on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Georgia Tech coach Bill Alexander said of McDowall, "I have talked with a number of persons who know football well and that have seen McDowall play. They all say he is a wonder at running and passing. We expect much of him when we go to the Pacific Coast for the Christmas charity game."

Basketball

=1927–28

= He was also

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the basketball team in 1928.

Coaching career

He later coached at Asheville High School, and was athletic director of

Rollins College Rollins College is a private college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several graduate programs. It is Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institution. History Rollins Colle ...

in his native state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

for 29 years.

Politics

In 1952, he successfully ran as a Democrat for Orange County commissioner on a platform consisting of pro-business administration, better roads, country beautification, the Sports Fishermen's Program, and conservation. Re-elected in 1956, McDowall held the position until 1960.

Personal

McDowall completed a master's degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

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 ...

. One description of Jack goes as follows: "He wears spectacles, is wiry of build and has been described as looking more like a minister than a football player."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDowall, Jack 1905 births 1969 deaths American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks American men's basketball players Baseball first basemen NC State Wolfpack football players NC State Wolfpack baseball players NC State Wolfpack men's basketball players Rollins Tars athletic directors Rollins Tars football coaches All-Southern college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Florida Democrats Florida local politicians Duke University alumni Sportspeople from Gainesville, Florida People from Micanopy, Florida Coaches of American football from Florida Players of American football from Gainesville, Florida Baseball players from Gainesville, Florida Basketball players from Gainesville, Florida