The Brian Dowling Mystique: The Power of Talent and Press

(Excerpts from a press release)

High School Memories

In a game for the City title, St. Ignatius trailed by one point with 20 seconds left. In a one-and-one situation, Brian was fouled. He made both shots to win the game. As his coach John Wirtz said, "He's that kind of athlete."

Yale Glory

*He shunned Ohio State University for Yale. As his late father Emmett put it: "Why go cabin class when you can go first class."

The Dowling legend began that freshman season. Back to punt on fourth and 11, Brian saw an opening and ran 20 yards for a first down, but the play was nullified by a penalty. Before play resumed, the freshman coach Harry Jacunski asked Dowling why he had run and Brian responded, "I saw something in their defense I knew I could exploit." Faced now with fourth and 26, Brian ran again, for 35 yards. Mortified, the coach asked him the $64,000 question again. "Well, coach. I saw the same thing again," Brian answered.

*Doing a preseason drill, Brian fell the wrong way and fractured a bone in the wrist of his passing hand.

Dartmouth was the next Yale foe. Two plays in that game typify the Dowling style. One was an incomplete pass, the other a safety. Said Dowling afterwards "Boy, if I had gotten by that one man, I would have had SOME yardage."

*Brian flirted with a basketball for a short time during the winter of his junior year.

*Playing Rugters in a torrential rain, Brian's knee was ripped asunder by a jarring tackle. His knee healed in time for baseball season.

No one likes to remember that fateful Rutgers game in 1966, but the weather on Saturday, October 19, 1968 evoked all sorts of memories. At Princeton in 1967, Yale fans loudly beseeched: "Stop the rain, Brian." Curiously enough, the sun emerged again in the second half.

*A sociology major headed for a career in business, Dowling is also an accomplished and talented musician. He has composed and arranged orchestrations for piano duets.

Brian Thinks

Before he began his sophomore football season, Brian was already being compared to Frank Merriwell, Yale's mythical super-athlete. Dowling shunned the role. "I had never heard of Merriwell until I got here and I still haven't read any of the books about him," Brian said. "But, from what I understand, Frank Merriwell was quite a guy."

Universally Acclaimed

"Neither a great runner nor a great passer but a born winner. He grows on you." -- Yale coach Carm Cozza.

"He's not an impressive passer nor a particularly outstanding runner. And his play selection is sometimes suspect. He is currently being billed as an 'All-American candidate.' His campaign platform is simple: He's a winner." -- Dick Dew, UPI.

"He has the smooth muscles and relaxed carriage of a country club athlete, the dark eyes and black, slightly curly hair of a choir boy, the poise and manner of a ship's purser. He grins a lot. -- Dan Jenkins, Sports Illustrated.

"You know, some folks really toss jibes at his throwing. Let me tell you. This boy can toss bullets." -- Jim Root, University of New Hampshire coach.

"I room with the guy on road trips, and he certainly seems mortal." -- Calvin Hill, a football player.