Michael "Dee" Dowis (August 2, 1968 – August 29, 2016) was an American college football player who was a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

Air Force Falcons The Air Force Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The athletics department has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned teams. The current athl ...

. He graduated as the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

's all-time leading rusher for a quarterback.

Early years

Dowis was born and grew up in

Royston, Georgia Royston is a city in Franklin, Hart, and Madison counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 2,649 at the 2020 census. History A post office called Royston has been in operation since 1878. The community was named after W.A. Royst ...

. His father, Leonard Dowis, was the Franklin County High School football coach. He died of a heart attack when Dee was four years old. Dowis attended Franklin County High School, where he practiced multiple-sports. In football, he was a starter at

in a

wishbone offense The wishbone formation, also known simply as the bone, is an offensive formation in American football. The style of attack to which it gives rise is known as the wishbone offense. Like the spread offense in the 2000s to the present, the wishbone ...

and led the team to the Georgia football playoffs. He received All-state honors at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

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 t ...

. He wasn't a highly recruited athlete because of his size.

College career

Dowis was accepted into the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and U ...

. As a freshman with the

Falcons Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

in 1986, he was the third-string

behind James Tomallo and

Troy Calhoun Nathan Troy Calhoun (born September 26, 1966) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the United States Air Force Academy, a position he has held since the 2007 season. Early life and playing career Calho ...

. He tallied 24 carries for 39 yards, one rushing touchdown, 10-of-29 attempts for 115 yards and one passing touchdown. He felt homesick and almost transferred after the season. As a sophomore in 1987, he began the season as the backup

behind Steve Letnich, but when the Falcons fell behind, 0-20, in the season opener loss (13-27) against the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

, he replaced Letnich and never looked back. He had 18 carries for 188 yards in the 49-7 win against

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. He broke his right wrist in the season finale win (34-31) against the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. The injury forced him to miss the team's 33-28 loss against Arizona State University in the 1987 Freedom Bowl. He set an

single-season rushing mark for

s with 1,315 yards that stood for 12 years. He finished the season with 194 carries for 1,315 yards (6.8-yard avg.), 10 rushing

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 Amer ...

s, 45-of-112 attempts for 600 yards, 4 passing touchdowns and 8 interceptions. As a junior in 1988, he had 153 carries for 972 yards (6.4-yard avg.), 12 rushing touchdowns, 41-of-96 attempts for 870 yards and 7 passing touchdowns. He also tied an

record after completing 11 consecutive passes against

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. As a senior in 1989, he became the fifth player in

history to run and pass for more than 1,000 yards in a single-season. He ran for 1,286 yards with 18 touchdowns and passed for 1,285 yards with 7 scores. He also set the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

career record for rushing yards by a

with 3,612 (broken by

Antwaan Randle El Antwaan Randle El (; born August 17, 1979) is an American football coach and former player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He is currently the wide receivers coach for the Detroit Lions of the Nati ...

in 2001). Against

, he set the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to mos ...

record for most rushing yards by a

in a single-game with 249 (broken by Chad Hall on October 13, 2007) and most rushing touchdowns by a

in a single-game with 6. Dowis is regarded as one of the best option

s in

history. He finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1989.

Personal life

Dowis received an MBA from the

University of West Florida The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a public university in Pensacola, Florida. Established in 1963 as part of the State University System of Florida, the university sits on the third largest campus in the State University Sys ...

in 1993. He served as a football

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

on the Air Force staff in 1995. On July 17, 1998, he was inducted into the

Franklin County Sports Hall of Fame The Ty Cobb Museum is a museum located in Royston, Georgia, that honors Baseball Hall of Fame player Ty Cobb. The museum contains art and memorabilia, film, video, books and historical archives of Cobb as well as several other notable people ...

as a charter member. In 2009, he was inducted into the Air Force Academy Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2011, he was inducted into the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the North Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. He lived in Greenville, South Carolina, near

, where he was born and raised. He worked as a manager for

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

pharmaceuticals, and was married with two children. On August 29, 2016, he died in a traffic accident at the age of 48 after driving south in the northbound freeway lane, not wearing a seatbelt. Forensic toxicology reports confirmed that he had a

blood alcohol content Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes; it is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume or mass of blood. For example ...

level of .21 at the time of the accident.Air Force football legend Dee Dowis dies in Georgia traffic crash
/ref>

References

External links

Air Force Academy Record Book

1989 NCAA news

1989 Heisman Trophy results

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowis, Dee 1968 births 2016 deaths People from Royston, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football quarterbacks Air Force Falcons football players Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Air Force Falcons football coaches University of West Florida alumni Road incident deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) Alcohol-related deaths in Georgia (U.S. state)