Dorsett is Also In Pro Football and College Halls of Fame

Published on January 14th, 2024 5:14 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Tony Dorsett: National Champion, Heisman Winner, Super Bowl Champion. Three players in the history of the NFL - Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen and Charles Woodson - have won a college national championship, a Heisman Trophy and a Super Bowl.

Tony Dorsett was the first.

In addition, Dorsett was also placed in the Pro Football and College Football Halls of Fame.

Dorsett, who played his high school football at Hopewell in Aliquippa, Pennsylvia, attended Pittsburgh college and immediately made an impact.

In fact, Dorsett was the first freshman in nearly three decades to be selected as an All-American.

Dorsett was electric right out of the gate, rushing for 1,586 yards and 12 touchdowns in his freshman year.

After finishing fourth in Heisman Trophy voting in 1975, Dorsett blew the doors off the house in 1976, as he rushed for 1,948 yards and 21 touchdowns (with another receiving touchdown for good measure). Dorsett won a host of awards that season, including the Heisman Trophy. Everything came together for Dorsett in 1976, as he was able to lead Pitt to a national title.

The Dallas Cowboys happily selected Dorsett with the second overall pick in the 1977 NFL Draft, and Dorsett immediately made an impact.

In his rookie season, Dorsett rushed for 1,007 yards and 12 touchdowns, which was good enough to earn him Rookie of the Year honors.

Dorsett's best season would come in 1981, when he rushed for 1,646 yards and four touchdowns.

Dorsett would win his lone Super Bowl ring at Super Bowl XII, when the Cowboys easily topped the Denver Broncos by a score of 27-10.

By the age of 23, Dorsett had earned the distinction of being the first ever player to win a college national championship, the Heisman Trophy and a Super Bowl.

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After a long and distinguished decade-plus career in the NFL, Dorsett retired and was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Dorsett would finish his professional career with a total of 12,739 rushing yards and 99 rushing touchdowns, cementing himself as one of the greatest running backs of all time.

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