The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Former Longhorns great Gib Dawson passes away
08.04.2005 | Football
PHOENIX -- Gib Dawson, who in 1951 became the only Texas player ever to lead the Longhorns in five different offensive categories in the same season, died July 30 at his home in Arizona. He was 74.
Dawson earned all-Southwest Conference honors as a running back in 1951 and 1952, and was named the Most Valuable Player in the College All-Star game matching collegiate players against the World Champion Detroit Lions in summer of 1953.
A three-year letterman at Texas (1950-52), Dawson played on two SWC championship teams (1950 & 1952), and was a leader on the 1952 team which finished 10th nationally after a 9-2 season and a victory over Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl.
But it was during the 1951 season that Dawson made UT history. He led the team in total offense (714 yards), scoring (62 points), receiving (8 catches for 170 yards), rushing (74 carries for 671 yards and all purpose yards (939, including rushing, passing and 98 kick return yards). He also led the 1952 club in all-purpose yards, with 698 rushing, 167 receiving, 211 in kickoff returns and 84 in punt returns for a total of 1,160.
Dawson was a fourth round draft choice of the Green Bay Packers in 1953, but was in his second year with the Packers when his career was cut short when he was drafted into the U. S. Army. Following his discharge, he entered private business, eventually serving as an executive with the Circle K Corporation prior to his retirement in Arizona, where he and his wife resided in both Tucson and Phoenix.
A high school star in Douglas, AZ, Dawson was a member of the Arizona High School Football Hall of Fame, and was recognized as one of Arizona's 50 Greatest Athletes of all time. His high school jersey was retired in 1979, and he was named to the Texas Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1984.
Dawson's wife of 48 years, Marion, preceded him in death in 2003. He is survived by his three children and their spouses: Gilbert and Karen Dawson, Carolyn Dawson and Mark Stymiest and Glenn and Carol Dawson, as well as six grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Saturday at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Phoenix.
