Gib Dawson, 74, Former Green Bay RB
Bill Schenley
Photo: http://www.texassports.com/images/mhoh_mugs/dawson_g.jpg
FROM: The Arizona Republic ~
By Jim Gintonio
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/0804dawsonobit0804.html
In a quiet voice, but trying to rekindle the humor of that moment more
than 50 years ago, Richard Ochoa talked about how his former teammate
at Texas, Gib Dawson, reacted after the two of them made the
All-Southwest Conference football team as running backs.
"He just said, 'That goes to show you how bad all the others were,' "
Ochoa said.
Dawson, 74, one of the greatest athletes to come out of Arizona, died
of a heart attack on Saturday. He was a native of Bisbee who starred
as prep athlete in Douglas, and he lived for many years in central
Phoenix.
He compiled a huge list of honors, including being named by The
Republic as one of Arizona's 100 greatest athletes of the 20th
century. He held numerous records at the University of Texas and is
still tied for 16th on the all-time Longhorns' rushing list. He played
professionally for two years with the Green Bay Packers before being
called into military service.
Dawson was Ochoa's roommate for two years and was the best man at his
wedding. The bond never weakened, Ochoa said, and the two of them
recently spoke about getting together later this year to watch a game
in Austin.
"He was the best back on the team, and we played in the Cotton Bowl
two times," said Ochoa, who lives in El Paso and will be in Phoenix
for Dawson's services. "Everybody else on the team was from Texas, but
he fit in perfectly."
"We were good pals. I will definitely miss him."
One of Dawson's sons, Glenn, said when his father first suffered
symptoms last week, he just shrugged it off as a nagging injury.
"He was from a different era, and he was so tough," he said. "He
attributed everything to football injuries. But when my mom (Marion)
passed away two years ago, he never recovered from that.
"I talked to him every day. My brother Gilbert lives here, too, and we
were all real close. It's like losing a best friend."
He said his father didn't like to talk much about his own exploits,
but when he talked about football, people would listen.
"People were just fascinated about the earlier days of football and
the stories he could tell, and the things he did," Glenn said.
After being named Arizona Player of the Year in 1948, Dawson was
highly recruited - except by the University of Arizona, who told the
then 6-foot, 180-pounder that he was too small to do much on the
football field as a running back.
"The story has it that dad's father would take all the clippings of
him from Texas and mail them to the athletic department at U of A to
show them how wrong they were," Glen Dawson said.
Dawson is survived by three children and six grandchildren.
Visitation is Friday, 5-8 p.m., at Shadow Mountain Mortuary, and
services are Saturday at 10 a.m. at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran
Church.
He will be honored in Douglas before the Aug. 26 football game against
Bisbee, the team he scored his first high school touchdown against in
1945.
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Photo: http://www.phoenixmetrofootball.com/images/gib_dawson.jpg