Brian Dowling (football player)
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| Brian Dowling | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | April 1, 1947 |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| College | Yale University |
| NFL Draft | 1969 / Round 11 |
| Statistics | |
| Team(s) | |
| 1969 1970-1973 1974-1975 1977 |
Minnesota Vikings (camp) New England Patriots Charlotte Hornets (WFL) Green Bay Packers |
Brian John Dowling was the starting quarterback of the Yale University football team in the late 1960s. He set, and held for decades, a number of Yale passing records. Dowling finished 9th in vote for the 1968 Heisman Trophy.
The 1968 team was undefeated and heavily favored going into The Game against Harvard University, but after trailing 29–13 with less than a minute remaining, Harvard rallied to tie the game, which ended with a score of 29–29. In Cambridge the game is remembered as the greatest Ivy League game ever played,[citation needed] inspiring the Harvard Crimson to print the headline "Harvard Beats Yale, 29-29;" New Haveners, on the other hand continue to harbor some disappointment. Dowling at that point had not lost a game he started since the sixth grade, a streak he was able to preserve, technically, by virtue of the tie.
Dowling played briefly in the National Football League for the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, but cut in training camp. He had two touchdown passes over his three-year professional career.
The character B.D., in the Doonesbury comic strip, was originally based on Dowling, a Yale classmate of cartoonist Garry Trudeau.[1]
