Doug English

Bio

Doug English was not a household name at Dallas’s Bryan Adams High School until his senior season. Pat Patterson, defensive line coach at the University of Texas, described English as, “all Adam’s apple and elbows,” but still saw something in the player and recruited him to play football for the Longhorns. Once at Texas, English began to develop skills in the weight room and the practice field by matching up against teammate and future Hall of Famer Jerry Sisemore. Doug helped lead the Longhorns to a Cotton Bowl victory over Alabama his sophomore season. That year the Texas defense held six of its 11 opponents to ten points or less. As a result of his spectacular play, English led the Longhorns to three straight seasons of being ranked 17th or higher and helped claim two Southwest Conference titles. Doug was a force on the Longhorn defense, averaging ten tackles per game. The two-time All-Southwest Conference player received many honors his senior season including being named a first-team All-America in 1974, the UT team MVP, winning the Texas’ George “Hook” McCullough Outstanding Football Player Award, and the D. Harold Byrd Leadership Award. After his playing days in Austin he was inducted into Longhorns Hall of Honor and the Texas High School Sports Hall of Fame. English, the 16th Longhorn player to enter the College Football Hall of Fame, graduated with a degree in history in 1976. A second-round selection in the 1975 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions, he enjoyed a ten-year career in which he played in four Pro Bowls and was named a first-team All-Pro in 1982 and a second-team All-Pro the following season. He started 98-of-131 career contests, recorded 25 total sacks and recorded a career-best 13 sacks in 1983. English set the NFL career record with four safeties.

Career Highlights

• 1974 All-Conference
• 1974 First Team All-America
• 1973 All-Conference