James Alexander Dewar Jr. (June 17, 1922 – June 30, 1989) 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 ...

halfback who played two seasons in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

(AAFC). Dewar played for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

in 1947 and the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

in 1948.

High school and college

Dewar attended

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

, where he was a standout as a halfback on the school's football team starting as a sophomore in 1942. He ran back a punt 90 yards for a touchdown in a 53–0 victory over Butler University that year. Dewar joined the U.S. Army in 1943 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and played service football at Camp Grant in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

. He was selected in 1944 to play in the

College All-Star Game The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League (NFL) champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year. It was also known as the C ...

, a now-defunct matchup between 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 ...

champion and a squad composed of the country's best college players. After the war, Dewar returned for a final season at Indiana.

Professional career

Dewar was selected with the 173rd pick in the

1947 NFL Draft The 1947 National Football League Draft was held on December 16, 1946, at the Commodore Hotel in New York City, New York. The National Football League in this draft made the first overall pick, a bonus pick determined by lottery. The Chicago B ...

by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

. He instead joined the

of the

, who had selected him in the

1947 AAFC Draft The 1947 AAFC Draft was the first collegiate draft of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). It used an inverse order to the teams' final standings in the 1946 season. The Buffalo Bills, which had finished with the same record as the Brookly ...

along with former Indiana teammate Bob Cowan. The Browns finished the 1947 season with a 12–1–1 record and won the AAFC championship against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. After a year with the team, Dewar was sent to the

. He played one season there before leaving football.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dewar, Jim 1922 births 1989 deaths Cleveland Browns (AAFC) players Brooklyn Dodgers (AAFC) players United States Army personnel of World War II Sportspeople from Oak Park, Illinois