Some programs are defined by one player, no matter how many titles or award winners jam the trophy case (Boston College and Doug Flutie come to mind). Plymouth State, a Division III school tucked away in north-central New Hampshire (about a 45-minute drive from my place) is defined by running back Joe Dudek, who in 1985 broke Walter Payton's all-time NCAA touchdown record and became a bit of a nine-days-wonder after he famously received a Heisman Trophy endorsement from Sports Illustrated. C'mon, you remember the cover if you grew up in the 1980s.
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| Yup, that cover. |
You can read more about Dudek, his unlikely brush with national fame, and the aftermath here.
Like the Bates uniform we profiled earlier, Plymouth State's uniform used to have gold (closer to yellow) accents before giving way to black some time down the road. Actually, this uniform resembled what Vermont might have used had the Catamounts kept football. Hmmm ... Note the blank helmets, which were unusual by the 1980s.
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| The one and only, from PSU's The Conning Tower yearbook. |
Recent times have not been kind to the Panthers following their off-and-on New England D-III dominance in the 1980s and '90s, but hopefully the glory days of Dudek can make a comeback.
It's time for vacation, but in a couple weeks, we'll wrap up our profiles of New England D-III teams before we make a return to the D-I ranks.
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