Sean Dawkins obit

Former Cal Football Star Wide Receiver Sean Dawkins Dies at 52

He was a first-team All-America selection in 1992 before playing nine productive season in the NFL. 

He was not on the list.

Sean Dawkins, one of the most prolific receivers in Cal football history who went on to play nine NFL seasons, died Wednesday. He was 52.

Dawkins was a consensus All-American as a junior in 1992 before being selected 16th in the 1993 NFL draft. He played significant roles on coach Bruce Snyder’s teams of 1990 and ’91 that combined to go 17-6-1 and won two bowl games.

Dawkins was inducted into the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005.

No cause of death was immediately known, but the Cal Athletic department confirmed Dawkins’ passing.

Former Cal quarterback Mike Pawlawski recalled what Dawkins, as a sophomore in 1991, brought to the team that went 10-2 and finished the season at No. 8 in the AP Top-25.

"Sean knew that he was going to beat anybody he lined up against," Pawlawski said. "His personality fit our team perfectly. It wasn’t in a hubris way as much as it was a self-belief.

"He was such a fantastic teammate. I do not have one negative story about Sean Dawkins."

Dawkins, who grew up in the Bay Area community of Sunnyvale, caught 120 passes for 2,028 yards with 31 touchdowns during his three seasons with the Bears. His career TD total and his single-season mark of 14 in ’92 both remain Cal records.

At 6-foot-4 with good speed, he was a tremendous deep threat for Pawlawski (1990-91) and Dave Barr (’92). He caught three touchdowns in a game three times.

Pawlawski helped host Dawkins on his campus recruiting visit. "As soon as he stepped on campus, everybody knew. He was not red-shirting. He was so talented," Pawlawski said.

The ’91 team was Cal’s best in 40 years, featuring not only Pawlawski, the Pac-10 co-Offensive Player of the Year, but running backs Russell White and Lindsay Chapman, receivers Brian Treggs and Mike Caldwell and linebacker Jerrott Willard.

The Bears were unbeaten and ranked No. 6 in the nation when No. 3 Washington came to Memorial Stadium. In front of a sellout crowd of 74,500, Dawkins put the Bears in front 7-0 when he eat future NFL cornerback Dana Hall to score a 59-yard TD pass late in the first quarterl.

 "The whole week he said, `I'll kill Dana Hall,' " Pawlawski recalled Dawkins saying. "He went high-stepping into the end zone and when I ran down there he said, `I told you I'd beat him.' "

Washington got the last word, winning 24-17, but the Bears had one more big moment, beating 13th-ranked Clemson 37-13 in the Florida Citrus Bowl — their first New Year’s Day game in 54 years. Dawkins caught five passes in the game, including a 23-yard touchdown.

Jason Kidd was a freshman on the Cal basketball team when Dawkins was a junior.

Snyder left Cal for Arizona State after the 1991 season and the Bears skidded to a 4-7 record in Dawkins’ final year. But he caught 65 passes for 1,070 yards with 14 touchdowns, earning team MVP honors, first-team All-Pac-10 plaudits and a spot on the All-America team.

The second wide receiver chosen in the ’93 NFL draft, Dawkins played his first five seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. He played one season with the New Orleans Saints, two with the Seattle Seahawks and closed his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2001.

Colts owner Jim Irsay offered this reaction on Twitter:

Dawkins caught at least 50 passes in seven consecutive seasons and finished his NFL career with 445 receptions for 6,291 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Dawkins was preceded in death by his mother, Sharon Ray, who died at age 53 following a long bout with cancer in 1999 while he was playing for the Seahawks.

Sean Russell Dawkins was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, but raised in Sunnyvale, California. He distinguished himself as a wide receiver at Homestead High School in Cupertino, California.

Dawkins earned an athletic scholarship to attend the University of California, Berkeley, where he played for the California Golden Bears.[citation needed] While at Cal, Dawkins used his speed and size (6 feet 4 inches, 215 pounds) to establish himself as one of the country's most dangerous deep threats. His first two seasons at California were unqualified successes for him personally, as well as his Golden Bear teammates. In 1990, California won their first Bowl Game since 1938, defeating Wyoming in the Copper Bowl. The following season, the Bears dominated nationally ranked Clemson in the Citrus Bowl, which earned them the No. 7 ranking in the final CNN/USA Today Coaches Poll, their highest finish since 1950. It also marked the first time in school history that California won bowl games in consecutive seasons.

Dawkins pursued a career in real estate in Sacramento, California, and later trained to become a police officer in San Jose, California.

 

Career history

 

Indianapolis Colts (1993–1997)

New Orleans Saints (1998)

Seattle Seahawks (1999–2000)

Jacksonville Jaguars (2001)

Minnesota Vikings (2002)*

 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only

 

Career highlights and awards

Consensus All-American (1992)

Career NFL statistics

Games played:            140

Games started:            109

Receptions:            445

Receiving yards:   6,291

Touchdowns:            25