Al Dorow (2023) - Hall of Fame - Michigan State University Athletics

Al Dorow

Induction:
2023
Class:
1952

Al Dorow
Football (1949-51)
Imlay City, Mich.
MSU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2023

HIGHLIGHTS:
-Led Spartans to a 17-1 record as a two-year starting quarterback, including a 9-0 mark and the school’s first National Championship in 1951 while earning first-team All-America honors
-Named United Press International Midwest Back of the Week for his performance in a 35-0 win over No. 11 Notre Dame on Nov. 10, 1951
-Finished career as Michigan State’s all-time leader in pass completions, pass attempts, passing yards and touchdown passes
-Named MVP of the 1952 Senior Bowl and also played in the 1952 East-West Shrine Game and College All-Star Game
-Third-round NFL Draft pick played seven seasons in the NFL/AFL, including two Pro Bowl appearances, and two seasons in the CFL
-Played football at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., and was voted top player in the Air Force Service in 1954
-Served as assistant coach under Duffy Daugherty at Michigan State from 1965-70

HALL OF FAME FEATURE: CLASS OF 2023

Al Dorow, who passed away at the age of 80 in 2009, took his place among the all-time Spartan greats posthumously as part of the 2023 MSU Athletics Hall of Fame Class.

"Our family is very happy and excited that our father is going into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame," said his daughter, Jill. "He would have loved that honor and it would have meant everything to him. He loved being a Spartan."

Jill, who was born in 1966, remembers going into work with her father at Jenison Field House when he was the team's quarterbacks coach under Duffy Daugherty. She laughed and said whenever they drove by the Spartan statue, Al "made her believe, for entirely too long, that he was the model for Sparty." She also recalls going to games and hanging out with other kids from the coaching staffs, including the Bulloughs and Perles'. She said Al met most of his lifelong friends either when he was playing at Michigan State or coaching.

Jill also recollected standing near the tunnel of the field as a young child when the band marched in on game days, something she still loves to this day going to games at Spartan Stadium.

"Anyone that knew him was going to hear about football, and was going to hear about Michigan State," Jill recalled.

Dorow was Michigan State's starting quarterback on the school's first-ever National Championship team in 1951 under Hall of Fame Coach Clarence "Biggie" Munn. A three-year letterwinner (1949-51), Dorow was 20-3 while playing games at quarterback for the Spartans and compiled a 17-1 record as the team's starting signal caller his last two seasons, including back-to-back Top 10 finishes in 1950-51 (No. 8 AP in 1950, No. 2 AP in 1951). He won his last 15 starts in a row.

Dorow finished his collegiate career as Michigan State's all-time leader in pass completions (125), pass attempts (259), passing yards (1,875) and touchdown passes (19). He accounted for 26 total TDs, including four scoring runs and three TD receptions.

A product of Imlay City, Michigan, Dorow is also a member of the Imlay City Athletics Hall of Fame. A four-sport star who earned 16 letters at Imlay City High School, Dorow actually arrived at Michigan State in 1947 to run track after winning state titles in high hurdles, low hurdles and the pole vault his junior and senior seasons. He was noticed running around the track by backfield coach Forest Evashevski, who convinced him to try out for football, a sport Dorow also excelled in as a halfback at Imlay City. Dorow played on the freshman team in 1947 but a knee injury forced him to miss the entire 1948 season.

Although he never had previously played the position, Dorow was thrust into the starting quarterback role as a sophomore in 1949 due to multiple injuries on the team, and he never looked back. In his first collegiate game at quarterback, he threw a touchdown pass in a 24-0 win over Penn State on Homecoming on Oct. 22, 1949. He played a majority of the time at quarterback the rest of the season, ranking second on the team in passing yards (379) and passing touchdowns (5).

As a junior in 1950, Dorow threw for 654 yards and five scores while leading the Spartans to an 8-1 record, including a 14-7 victory at third-ranked Michigan.

Dorow's strong junior campaign set the stage for Michigan State's first National Championship in 1951, as the Spartans went a perfect 9-0 and were crowed champions by three major selectors while finishing second in the national polls (AP, UPI). He completed 64-of-114 throws for 842 yards and nine TDs and produced wins over three ranked opponents: No. 17 Michigan (25-0 in Ann Arbor), No. 7 Ohio State (24-20 in Columbus) and No. 11 Notre Dame (35-0 in East Lansing).

With the Spartans facing a 20-10 fourth-quarter deficit at No. 7 Ohio State on Oct. 6, Dorow led the way in one of Michigan State's most famed comeback victories, throwing a 3-yard TD pass to Paul Ekker and scoring on a 28-yard reception – known in Spartan lore as the "transcontinental pass" – from Tom Yewcic on a fourth-and-6 play as the Green and White rallied to record their ninth straight win, 24-20.

In a university press release written on Dorow, Hall of Fame Coach Clarence "Biggie" Munn said that "Al was at his best when the chips were down, and was more than great when the club needed that extra lift."

In the win over Notre Dame on Nov. 10, Dorow earned United Press International's Midwest Back of the Week honors after completing 11-of-17 passes for 112 yards and two TDs in MSU's shutout win over the Fighting Irish.

Following the season, Dorow was selected a first-team All-American by the International News Service (INS), becoming the just the second Michigan State quarterback to earn first-team All-America honors.

His distinguished college career earned him spots at numerous all-star games following the season, including the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl. He earned MVP honors at the Senior Bowl after returning an interception 87 yards for a touchdown and also throwing the game-winning TD pass in the fourth quarter. Dorow also played in the annual College All-Star Game in Chicago on Aug. 15 against the NFL Champion Los Angeles Rams.

After graduation, Dorow enlisted in the United States Air Force, and reported to Bolling Air Force Base near Washington, D.C., a week after the College All-Star Game. He played football while in the Air Force, and made the all-service team back-to-back years (1952-53) in addition to helping his team win the 1952 national service football championship.

A third-round draft pick by the Washington Redskins in 1952, Dorow first played for Washington in 1954 following his military service. He played three years for Washington (1954-56), including a Pro Bowl appearance in 1956, and one with Philadelphia (1957) before going to the Canadian Football League for two seasons (Saskatchewan and British Columbia in 1958; Toronto in 1959).

He joined the New York Titans of the newly formed AFL in 1960 and led the league with 26 TD passes, earning second-team All-AFL honors and finishing fifth in the AFL Player of the Year voting. Dorow earned All-Pro honors for the second time in his career in 1961, this time with the Titans, and was also named the team's most outstanding player. Injuries forced Dorow to wrap up his AFL career with Buffalo in 1962.

As a pro, Dorow completed 572-of-1,207 passes (.474) for 7,708 yards and 64 TDs.

Dorow began his coaching career at Hillsdale College in 1963. He returned to his alma mater in 1965 and served as an assistant coach under Duffy Daugherty for six years (1965-70), including the 1965 and 1966 Big Ten and National Championship teams. Two starting quarterbacks under Dorow's tutelage, Steve Juday (1965) and Jimmy Raye (1966), are in the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame. Dorow left Michigan State to become head coach of the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1971.

"Al Dorow was one of the pioneers of Michigan State football along with Lynn Chandnois and Sonny Grandelius, who played during the heyday for 'Biggie' Munn," said the late George Perles, who served as an assistant coach alongside Dorow under Duffy Daugherty from 1967-70, at the time of Dorow's passing in 2009. "Al was involved in one of the most famous plays in Spartan history, catching the transcontinental pass from Tom Yewcic to complete MSU's fourth-quarter comeback against Ohio State in 1951.

"He was simply a great player and a great coach. Al really helped groom those outstanding quarterbacks who played for Duffy Daugherty in the mid-1960s. He was a true Spartan, who touched many lives."