Former football star dies in hunting accident
Associated Press — Nov. 24, 2002
HELENA, Ark. — A football star at the University of Alabama in the 1960s was killed Sunday in a hunting accident near Helena.
Cecil Dowdy Jr., 57, an All-American offensive lineman who played on two national championship teams at Alabama, was fatally wounded when his 12-gauge shotgun discharged while he was wading into a creek to retrieve a duck that had been shot.
Dowdy was shot in the lower jaw. He was taken to a hospital in Helena, where he was pronounced dead at 11:45 a.m.
Phillips County Coroner Adolph Stephens said Dowdy and two friends were hunting in Lambrook, about 25 miles southwest of Helena, when the accident occurred.
Dowdy played for Alabama's national championship teams in 1964 and 1965. He also was a starter on the undefeated 1966 Crimson Tide team.
Dowdy was an All-America selection in 1966 as a 6-foot, 202-pound offensive tackle. He also earned the Jacobs Trophy, symbolic of the Southeastern Conference's leading blocker, that season.
Dowdy had gained national recognition for his blocking performance against Nebraska All-American Wally Barnes in the Tide's 39-28 Orange Bowl win over the Cornhuskers on Jan. 1, 1966.
Dowdy worked for Randall Publishing Company in Tuscaloosa.
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