Background
Jack McDowall was born on June 26, 1905 in Micanopy, Florida to J. W. McDowall and M. D. Younglove.
Jack McDowall was born on June 26, 1905 in Micanopy, Florida to J. W. McDowall and M. D. Younglove.
North Carolina State University. Duke University.
McDowall was recognized as an All-Southern football player in 1927. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975 - becoming the first player from North Carolina State to be inducted. Jack played high school ball in Gainesville, Florida then at Rockingham High School in North Carolina.
He took both schools to appearances in the state championship game.
After having starred at Gainesville, he was deemed too small to ever get a scholarship to the University of Florida even though he was some 6 feet 1 inch tall. At a pool hall a man walked in and offered him the chance to play at Rockingham for $25 a week, eventually leading to his chance to play for North Carolina State.
North Carolina State
= Football He is best known as North Carolina State"s first All-Southern running back, and its first inductee to the College Football Hall of Fame. 1925
He once ran for an 80-yard touchdown against Richmond.
1927
He led the Wolfpack to a 9–1 mark and a Southern Conference championship in 1927 under coach Gus Tebell.
McDowall threw for 14 of the Wolfpack"s 31 touchdowns. The season closed with a convincing defeat of Michigan State. He was selected to play on an All-Southern team which beat an All-Pacific Coast team on Christmas Day in Los Los Angeles
Georgia Technical coach Bill Alexander said of McDowall, "I have talked with a number of persons who know football well and that have seen McDowall play.
They all say he is a wonder at running and passing. We expect much of him when we go to the Pacific Coast for the Christmas charity game."
= Basketball 1927-1928
He was also captain of the basketball team in 1928.
He later coached at Asheville High School, and was athletic director of Rollins College in his native state of Florida for 29 years. In 1952, he successfully ran as a Democrat for Orange County commissioner on a platform consisting of pro-business administration, better roads, country beautification, the Sports Fishermen’s Program, and conservation.
Re-elected in 1956, McDowall held the position until 1960.
McDowall completed a master"s degree in psychology at Duke University. One description of Jack goes as follows: "He wears spectacles, is wiry of build and has been described as looking more like a minister than a football player.".