Countdown to 2010 - #29 Lawrence Dawsey

Captain's Memories:

Dawsey was part of the "Fabulous Four" WR group at FSU in the late 80's and early 90's along with receivers Bruce Lasane, Terry Anthony and Ronald Lewis. All four guys made a visit back to FSU for the 2010 spring game in which they appeared in a flag football game featuring former Nole stars at halftime.

This was a joy because I was only about 9 years old when they all exhausted their eligibility and I didn't have much of a recollection of them. Dawsey looked like he could still suit up and be affective even at 42. He never really relied on his athleticism and was more known as a posession receive although he could turn on the jets when needed as evidenced below:



After being drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Dawsey won the Rookie Of The Year award in 1991. Dawsey would stick in the NFL till 1999, last playing for the New Orleans Saints before moving on to WR coach at The University of South Florida.

Dawsey has now entered into this 4th season with the Noles as the WR Coach at his alma mater and is an integral part in a fantastic recruiting class last year, especially at WR. He is officially credited with being the key recruiter for the four 4-star WR's FSU received a commitment from in February 2010 (Kenny Shaw, Christian Green, DeJohsua Johnson, Greg Dent).

If he continues down this successful path with the current FSU coaching staff then I suspect Lawrence Dawsey will be more remembered for his coaching exploits for FSU than his playing career, but he will be remembered.

Finally, a bit more perspective on Mr. Dawsey courtesy of NoleFan.Org: After the 1990 season, Lawrence Dawsey was awarded the Crenshaw award. In 1989 he had been a member of the famous FSU "Fabulous Four" group of wide receivers. After the others had exhausted their eligibility, Dawsey came back for another year. Throughout his senior season, he was not only the team's leading receiver but maintained a major leadership role as well. He was regarded as a "blue-collar receiver" who was not particularly fast but who "got the job done." As a result, at the end of the season, he was an Associated Press and Football Writers Association first team All-American selection and made a number of other all star lists as well in addition to being designated as the Seminole that year "with the biggest heart."

Dawsey went on to play eight years in the NFL, the first five of which were with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 1997, he was inducted into FSU's Athletics Hall of Fame.