Damon Jerrel Dunn (born March 15, 1976) is an American politician, commercial real estate developer, minister, and former

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 ...

player.

Early life

Dunn was born in 1976 in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

to a 16-year-old mother, Ramona Dunn. When Dunn was three years old his father,

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

starting wide receiver, Mike Lockett, was killed in a car accident. Dunn grew up in a trailer on his grandparents' farm. Dunn was an honor student in Sam Houston High School in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

and an All-State Texas football player.

College

After high school Dunn attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

on a football scholarship after being recruited by Bill Walsh. Dunn also ran track at Stanford. At Stanford Dunn was coached by

Tyrone Willingham Lionel Tyrone Willingham (born December 30, 1953) is a former American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Stanford University (1995–2001), the University of Notre Dame (2002–2004), and the University of Washington (2005–2 ...

and Dunn has said he viewed him as a father figure, having grown up without a male role model in his life. While at Stanford Dunn set numerous records and was awarded an NCAA Academic Scholarship, All-Pac-10 Honors and Academic All-Pac-10 Honors, and the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Award. During his career at Stanford Dunn participated as an associate pastor in the Jerusalem Baptist Church, where he managed youth ministries.

NFL career

Dunn graduated from Stanford in 1998 with a degree in

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

. He was not picked in the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 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 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

. The season after he graduated from Stanford, Dunn was on the practice squad of 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 ...

team

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

. Dunn then 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 1999. The next year, Dunn played in the

Berlin Thunder The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe. History The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season. Home games f ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

, the

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

of the NFL, and the Browns in 2000. In 2001, Dunn played for the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

team

Los Angeles Xtreme The Los Angeles Xtreme was a professional American football team based in Los Angeles, California. The team was a member of the XFL (2001), XFL, begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the ...

; the XFL folded after that season. Dunn joined

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 ...

training camp before the

2001 NFL season The 2001 NFL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Football League (NFL), and the first season of the 21st century. The league permanently moved the first week of the regular season to the weekend following Labor Day. In the wake o ...

. He left the NFL after being injured there.

Other ventures

After retiring from the NFL, Dunn and a former Stanford roommate became partners in an

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

-based real estate business, which developed several shopping centers.

Politics

California Secretary of State

In 2009, Dunn announced that he would run for

California Secretary of State The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's other constitutional officers; the officeho ...

challenging incumbent Democrat

Debra Bowen Debra Lynn Bowen (born October 27, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as the Secretary of State of California from 2007 to 2015. Previously, she was a member of the California State Legislature from 1992 to 2006. In March 200 ...

. The ''Los Angeles Sentinel'' quoted Dunn: "There are a lot of African Americans that are conservative fiscally, but we don't have the welcoming face in the Republican Party." In March 2010,

Orly Taitz Orly Taitz ( he, אורלי טייץ; born August 30, 1960) is an Israeli-American political conspiracy theorist and political candidate. A dentist, lawyer, and former real estate agent, Taitz was a figure in the "birther" movement, which prom ...

qualified to run for the office of

. At the same time, she unsuccessfully challenged the eligibility of her Republican Party

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

opponent, Dunn, claiming that he was pretending to be a Republican. While playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Dunn had registered to vote as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

in 1999 but that registration expired in 2005. On May 12, 2010, Pamela Barnett (named plaintiff from Taitz's lawsuit '' Barnett v. Obama'') filed a lawsuit in the Sacramento County Superior Court alleging that Dunn was not eligible to run for Secretary of State. The ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' endorsed Dunn for the June 2010 primary.

Ronnie Lott Ronald Mandel Lott (born May 8, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback and safety in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Lott played college football for the Univ ...

, a Hall of Fame NFL player, endorsed Dunn the following month. Taitz was defeated by Dunn in the June 8 primary by a margin of about three to one, losing by over 900,000 votes. On June 17, 2010, Taitz filed a lawsuit in the Orange County Superior Court contesting the election results, again alleging Dunn's ineligibility. On March 17, 2011, the judge ruled against Taitz. On May 1, 2012, a

California Court of Appeal The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts.

affirmed the superior court's ruling.

Mayor of Long Beach

In 2014 Dunn ran for Mayor of Long Beach. He qualified for the runoff by finishing second in the primary election, and faced Robert Garcia on June 3. Dunn lost the election to Robert Garcia, former vice-mayor on June 3, 2014.Robert Garcia beats Damon Dunn, becomes Long Beach’s youngest mayor
''

Long Beach Press Telegram The ''Press-Telegram'' is a paid daily newspaper published in Long Beach, California. Coverage area for the ''Press-Telegram'' includes Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Compton, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, Lynw ...

'', June 4, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2016.

Electoral history

Personal life

While in the NFL, Dunn worked with the Make-a-Wish Foundation visiting kids with terminal diseases. Dunn started the Fighting Giants Ministry that ministers to children with life changing injuries. Dunn has also worked with St. Augustine Soup Kitchen, the Cops-N-Kids program and the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...

Foundation. Dunn served as president of his local

Fellowship of Christian Athletes The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is an international non-profit Christian sports ministry founded in 1954 and based in Kansas City, Missouri. It has staff offices located throughout the United States and abroad. History FCA was found ...

chapter and has spoken nationally at FCA events. Dunn is also a licensed

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

minister and a member of Antioch Church of Long Beach. He lives in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Damon 1976 births Living people African-American players of American football American football wide receivers American athlete-politicians Berlin Thunder players California Republicans Cleveland Browns players Dallas Cowboys players Jacksonville Jaguars players Los Angeles Xtreme players New York Jets players Players of American football from Fort Worth, Texas Southern Baptist ministers Stanford Cardinal football players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople