Jack Dawson 2016 NFF Chapter Leadership Award Recipient

Post date: Oct 24, 2016 9:4:30 PM

The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced the five outstanding recipients of the 2016 Chapter Leadership Awards.  Congratulations to Jack Dawson who will receive this honor during the NFF's Chapter Awards Luncheon on Tuesday, December 6 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

JACK DAWSON

Northeast Region

NFF State of Maine Chapter

For more than 50 years, Jack Dawson has been devoted to the advancement of the game of football in Maine.

After graduating from Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine, Dawson received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Boston College while playing football under College Football Hall of Fame player-turned-coach Mike Holovak. He served as the head football coach at Cheverus and Westbrook high schools for 20 years and later as an ECAC official for 10. His book, “Football’s Backbone Defense,” received national notoriety for its scheme to stop the wishbone offense.

Dawson plays a very active role in the community, having previously served on the Portland City Council for 10 years and as the city’s mayor. In the business world, Dawson is the owner and president of the 110-year-old Dolan Flavoring Company, and his summer camps have been operating for more than 40 years. He has been honored for his community service by Boston College, the B’nai B’rith, the Portland Boys and Girls Club and the Maine Sports Legends.

A founding member of the NFF State of Maine Chapter in 1988, Dawson has served as the emcee for the chapter’s awards dinner for 29 years, and he is a member of the chapter committee. Throughout the years he has also generously donated funds for the chapter’s events and initiatives.

A few years ago, he further expanded the chapter’s prestige and influence by making the historic Fitzpatrick Trophy, which annually honors the top high school football player in the state, part of the chapter’s activities. Dawson has been the chair and emcee of the Fitzpatrick Trophy Dinner for 45 years, and he recognized the value the trophy could add to the State of Maine Chapter. For his service, he received the chapter’s Distinguished American Award in 2007.

“In a sense, football and I have grown and matured together,” said Dawson. “The fact that I believe we have given each other the best we have to offer has been a comforting and driving force in everything I have experienced ever since; and it has been that good fortune that has made my involvement with the chapter so eventful and rewarding.

“Perhaps most fulfilling, at this stage, is that football, through its players and coaching colleagues, continues to educate me; and reinforces the work ethic that is so characteristic of the game.”

Previously the dean of admissions at Cheverus High School, he continues to work as a special assistant to the president at the school. Dawson and his wife, Eileen, reside in Portland, Maine, and have five children and nine grandchildren.