Dee Dowis

Dowis was born and grew up in Royston, Georgia. 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 quarterback in a wishbone offense and led the team to the Georgia football playoffs.

He received All-state honors at shortstop in baseball. He wasn't a highly recruited athlete because of his size.

Dowis accepted a football scholarship from the United States Air Force Academy. As a freshman with the Falcons in 1986, he was the third-string quarterback behind James Tomallo and Troy Calhoun. 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.[1]

As a sophomore in 1987, he began the season as the backup quarterback behind Steve Letnich, but when the Falcons fell behind, 0-20, in the season opener loss (13-27) against 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. He broke his right wrist in the season finale win (34-31) against the University of Hawaii. The injury forced him to miss the team's 33-28 loss against Arizona State University in the 1987 Freedom Bowl. He set an NCAA single-season rushing mark for quarterbacks 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 touchdowns, 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 NCAA record after completing 11 consecutive passes against Northwestern University.

As a senior in 1989, he became the fifth player in NCAA 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 career record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 3,612 (broken by Antwaan Randle El in 2001). Against San Diego State University, he set the Western Athletic Conference record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single-game with 249 (broken by Chad Hall on October 13, 2007) and most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a single-game with 6.[2]

Dowis is regarded as one of the best option quarterbacks in NCAA history.[3] He finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1989.

Dowis received an MBA from the University of West Florida in 1993. He served as a football coach on the Air Force staff in 1995.

On July 17, 1998, he was inducted into the Franklin County Sports Hall of Fame 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.[4] He was also inducted into the North Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

He lived in Greenville, South Carolina, near Royston, Georgia, where he was born and raised. He worked as a manager for 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 level of .21 at the time of the accident. [5]

• Air Force Academy Record Book
• 1989 NCAA news
• 1989 Heisman Trophy results
• NY Times article
• Rocky Mountain News profile