// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Lin Dawson a tight end? He's always catching on.
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| No. 87 | |||||||||
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| Position | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | June 24, 1959 Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 240 lb (109 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Kinston (Kinston, North Carolina) | ||||||||
| College | NC State | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1981: 8th round, 212th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
* Offseason or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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James Linwood Dawson, legally changed to Lin Dawson in 1993 (born June 24, 1959), is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He serves as the managing director of The Lin Dawson Organization, LLC.
Lin grew up in Kinston, North Carolina.[1] After graduating from Kinston High School in 1977, he accepted a football scholarship from NC State University. In the 1981 NFL draft, he was selected by the New England Patriots in the eighth round with the 212th overall pick.[2] He played ten years with the Patriots. A starter at tight end, Dawson suffered torn ligaments in his knee on the Patriots’ first offensive play from scrimmage in Super Bowl XX on an incomplete pass thrown to him by quarterback Tony Eason, causing him to miss not only the rest of the Super Bowl but the entire following 1986 season. He was a member of the New England Patriots ‘Team of the Decade-1980's.[citation needed]
During the 1987 NFL players strike, Dawson was the player representative for the New England Patriots.[3]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Former Wolfpack player and wife hosting online camp to help girls 'soar'". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2025.
- ↑ "1981 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
- ↑ Montville, Leigh (October 4, 1987). "Waiting game". Boston Globe. Retrieved June 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
 | This biographical article relating to an American football tight end born in the 1950s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |
- 1959 births
- Living people
- Players of American football from Norfolk, Virginia
- American football tight ends
- NC State Wolfpack football players
- New England Patriots players
- 20th-century American sportsmen
- Kinston High School (North Carolina) alumni
- Players of American football from North Carolina
- Sportspeople from Kinston, North Carolina
- American football tight end, 1950s birth stubs