Earl Dotson
Inducted: 2026
Tackle: 1993-2002
Height: 6-4; Weight: 315
College: Texas A&I, 1991-92
There may be more self-made players among offensive linemen than at any other position in the NFL. After all, it takes a selfless, self-effacing, stickler-for-detail just to survive in their down-and-dirty patches of the field.
But that doesn't mean the best-of-the-best lack special skill sets. And some more than others.
Count Earl Dotson among that group.
"He was a guy with hands and feet," said Larry McCarren, who played center for the Green Bay Packers from 1973-84 before becoming a longtime broadcast analyst for the team. "He didn't have to hold. He did it the textbook way and didn't have to cheat to get it done."
The Packers drafted Dotson in the third round in 1993, and it took him three years to become a starter, partly because of a weight problem and a dislocated right elbow that limited him to four games in his second season.
Then in 1995, Dotson lost 15 pounds, started every game in the regular season plus three more in the playoffs, and received plaudits as the Packers' best run blocker.
"Very seldom did he get beat," offensive line coach Tom Lovat said after that season. "We didn't expect him to be as good as he was. He's got the feet, the strength and the timing. He's our best drive blocker."
Dotson's career took off from there. When the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI to cap the 1996 season, Dotson was generally viewed as their best offensive linemen – period. "He's got great talent," Lovat said at the time. "Everything's easy for Earl."
Arguably, by then, Dotson was the most athletic right tackle in the NFC Central Division.
As a run blocker, he was powerful enough to dominate an opponent. "He comes off the ball with what we call a flat back," Lovat said. "He has a lot of snap."
Dotson was no less effective as a pass blocker. He possessed good balance, strong hands and natural pocket awareness. "He'd punch the lights out of you," Reggie McKenzie, who spent 18 years with the Packers in pro personnel, once said.
The high point of Dotson's career might have been his performance when the Packers beat Carolina, 30-13, in the NFC Championship Game preceding their Super Bowl victory.
He dominated left defensive end Mike Fox in the run game, and nullified future Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Kevin Greene in the passing game. That was no easy feat, considering the 6-foot-8, 285-pound Fox was considered a stout run defender, and Greene had led the NFL in sacks that season.
With the Packers down 7-0 and facing third-and-1 at their own 36-yard line on the final play of the first quarter, running back Dorsey Levens burst through a gaping hole over right tackle for 35 yards, when Dotson drove Fox down the line and the tight end sealed off Greene. On the next play, quarterback Brett Favre connected with Levens on a 29-yard touchdown pass that tied the game as Dotson kept Greene at bay, helping make for a clean pocket on what needed to be a precise throw into the end zone.
When the Packers scored their go-ahead touchdown late in the second quarter, the 15-play, 71-yard drive started with two Edgar Bennett runs over three plays that gained 7 and 8 yards behind Dotson's blocks.
As it turned out, Dotson pitched a shutout against Greene, holding him to zero sacks, and most of the Packers' 201 yards rushing were gained over the right side.
Dotson had another good year in 1997, allowing only 1½ sacks and again serving as Levens' lead bodyguard as he rushed for 1,435 yards, the most by a Packers running back in 35 years. "Earl Dotson is our right tackle and he's as good as they come," Lovat boasted.
From 1995-99, Dotson missed only five regular-season starts over 80 games. But he needed knee surgery immediately after the 1996 season and suffered a bulging disk in his back in a practice five games into the 1997 season.
Still, Dotson played at a high level, although postseason honors alluded him, largely because left tackles got all the recognition.
In 1997, for example, there were 96 votes cast for the two tackle positions on the Associated Press All-Pro team and 70 of those went to future Pro Hall of Fame left tackles Tony Boselli, Jonathan Ogden, Willie Roaf and Gary Zimmerman. Of the 12 votes that went to right tackles, Dotson received three, more than anyone else at his specific position.
By 1999, Dotson was playing in persistent pain. His body was breaking down, and he was becoming increasing guilty of false-start penalties. Thereafter, he missed all but two games in 2000, backed up Mark Tauscher in 2001 and gamely finished his career in 2002 filling in for 11 starts for an injured Tauscher. In July 2003, Dotson announced his retirement.
In 10 seasons with the Packers, Dotson played in 120 regular-season games and started 88. He also played in 15 postseason games, more than any other Packer at the time other than Favre, and started 11.
Given name Earl Christopher Dotson. Born Dec. 17, 1970, in Beaumont, Texas.
