Tony Dorsett

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Tony Dorsett
Date of birth	April 7, 1954 (age 53)
Place of birth	Rochester, Pennsylvania
Position(s)	Running back
College	Pittsburgh
NFL Draft	1977 / Round 1/ Pick 2
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	1978, 1981, 1982, 1983
Awards	1976 Heisman Trophy 1976 Maxwell Award 1976 Walter Camp Award
Stats
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1977-1987 1988	Dallas Cowboys Denver Broncos
College Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1994

Anthony Drew Dorsett (born April 7, 1954 in the Pittsburgh suburb of Rochester, Pennsylvania), and lived in Hopewell Township, PA. Tony is a former American football running back who was a star in High School Football at Hopewell High School college football at the the University of Pittsburgh and in the NFL.

1 College Career
2 NFL Career
3 Quotes
4 Trivia
5 External links

[edit] College Career

Dorsett was a running back at University of Pittsburgh and helped to lead them to a national title in 1976, also picking up the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award and the Walter Camp Award while setting NCAA college records. He was a four-time All-American, and he finished his college career with an 6,082 total rushing yards, then an NCAA record. This would stand as the record until it was surpassed by Ricky Williams in 1998.

Dorsett is considered one of the greatest running backs in college football history.

[edit] NFL Career

In 1977, he was drafted by the NFL's Dallas Cowboys in the first round and played with them through 1987.

In Dorsett's rookie year, he rushed for 1,007 yards and 12 touchdowns and won the Rookie of the Year honors. Dorsett was announced starter for the 10th game of the Cowboys' season, and he would stay starter for many years. Dorsett was the first player to win the college football championship one year, then win the Super Bowl the next, when the Cowboys beat the Denver Broncos 27-10 to win Super Bowl XII. In his sophomore season, 1978, Dorsett recorded 1,325 yards and 9 touchdowns. The Cowboys once again traveled to the Super Bowl, but lost 35-31 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIII.

Dorsett's most productive season was in 1981, when he recorded 1,646 yards. Dorsett had a career total of 12,033 yards in Dallas before being traded to the Denver Broncos in 1988. Dorsett led the Broncos with 703 yards that year, but injuries led to his retirement.

Dorsett recorded 12,739 yards and 77 touchdowns in his 12-year career. Dorsett also had 13 receiving scores and even a fumble recovery for a touchdown. In January 3, 1983, Dorsett broke a 99-yard run against the Minnesota Vikings, which is the longest run from scrimmage in NFL history (even though the Cowboys had only 10 men on the field, not the required 11).

Dorsett made the Pro Bowl 4 times during his career (1978, 1981-1983) and rushed for over 1,000 yards in 8 of his first 9 seasons. The only season that he didn't reach the 1,000 rushing yards milestone was the strike shortened season of 1982(which had only 9 games), where he led the NFC in rushing with 745 yards.

Dorsett was elected to both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1994 and was enshrined in the Texas Stadium Ring of Honor the same year. In 1999, he was ranked number 53 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

[edit] Quotes

"I have had cameras and mikes pushed in my face, and I've just had to deal with it. And I've gotten mud slung at me by the media, and I've had to deal with that too. I've learned the hard way how powerful the media are at making an image, at breaking an image. When a player is out there in the public eye, the media magnify everything he says and run with it. They make a real big deal out of things that are not even worth discussing, just to sell newspapers. I have been misquoted time and again. How I despise seeing words in print that I never even thought to say, let alone said. Often I've said something one way, and when it appears in print it comes out another way, with words that give a different meaning to what I actually said. The old expression 'Don't ever let the facts get in the way of a good story' and 'Figures don't lie but liars figure' give a pretty accurate description of what I'm talking about. I know reporters have to make a living, but I hate their taking advantage of someone's life, tearing it apart, exploiting things just to make a buck." -Running Tough, Memoirs of a Football Maverick, by Tony Dorsett, p131