Dan Dwyer '92

Dan Dwyer was not the most talented QB to line up at Williams even when he was on campus, but you would be hard-pressed to find a better competitor taking the snaps in the annals of Williams football.

Maybe it's the tattoo of a tiger's head on his right calf that made Dwyer such a direct, no-nonsense kind of QB, or maybe it's the fact that he may just be the most stubborn of all Irishmen. Or maybe he approached being QB the same way he approached opponents in wrestling -- head-on.

All-American safety Rich Williams '90 offers this insight: "If you yourself can't play the position of QB then you want someone in there who is going to get the job done when it needs to get done. We had complete confidence in Dan; he was going to do whatever was necessary to put points on the board."

Being headstrong cost Dwyer a lot of time behind center at Williams. In consecutive years his season ended in game five with a knee injury requiring surgery when he put his head down to get that extra yard instead of running out of bounds.

Dwyer lifted weights in the off-season with his offensive line so they wouldn't think he was QB just for the glory. He also wanted them to know he was as committed to success as they were.

"Most people think you have to have a great arm to be a QB," noted head coach Dick Farley. "But that's not what I look for. The number one thing for a QB to have in my mind is the respect of his teammates as a leader. I have no doubts that if Dan Dwyer told his offense from the early 90's they could score on the Giants today they would all come out and lineup on Weston Field and go for it. He was a remarkable leader for us."

In the 14 games Dwyer started for Williams the Ephs were 13-1. In the 12 games he started and completed he was either the ECAC-New England or NESCAC Player of the Week seven times. More often than not Dwyer's passing and rushing totals in a game exceeded the other team's totals.

"I'll never forget the one loss, because it ended our win streak at 23," said Dwyer. "I would much rather walk off a field giving credit to an opponent who just flat out beat us than see a referee put a second back on the clock and have the other team win that way. It was still a hell of a game."

The 1991 Trinity game started off quietly and ended with four TDs in the final 2:47. Dwyer put the Ephs on top 20-17 with a QB sneak and Trinity answered. Dwyer then threw a home run bomb to Andre Burrell to put the Ephs back up 27-24 only to see Trinity snatch victory in the final play of the game.

"I will never forget my first start as a sophomore against Tufts at home," said Dwyer. "We had the offense going that day. Late in the second quarter we were up 24-0 and I called five or six waggles in a row and each time I just tucked the ball under my arm and ran. We drove about 60 yards with me running about 300 yards side to side to go forward and I was wiped out so I called timeout."

Dwyer's decision to call timeout was not warmly received by the Williams bench. Head coach Dick Farley demanded to know who called it. "I told him that I did, because I was tired," said Dwyer. "Coach Farley made me run 'Arizonas' all the rest of the year with the linemen so I wouldn't get too tired in a game."

Other memories that Dwyer will never relinquish are of the closeness of the Eph teams on and off the field and of the two Dick Farleys -- in-season and post-season. "In-season Dick Farley is any day he is thinking about football and post-season is when you run into him and he is going to or coming from track practice. Farley's dedication and honesty have won a lot of games for Williams College."

"My dad went to Wesleyan so I knew I would look at the Little Three schools coming out of high school, but I only looked at one," said Dwyer. "I came here in January to watch a wrestling match and I was hooked -- I knew right then and there that I was not going to need to visit Wesleyan and Amherst."

After his senior season, Dwyer was honored by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston as the recipient of the Nason Award. The Nason Award is presented annually to the graduating senior in New England who has overcome injury and adversity to continue to contribute to the success of his team. Each year when he got injured Dwyer became in essence a player-coach at practice and on the sidelines at games, because he just could not walk away from the game and his team.

Dwyer and his wife Stephanie (Salmon), also a Williams grad, live in Glastonbury, CT with their son Bo. Another child is due in April. After graduating from the Quinnipiac University School of Law, Dwyer joined the law firm of Dwyer and Sheridan in Glastonbury where he handles general lawcases -- head on.