GREEN BAY – Earl Dotson may have come a long way from his home state of Texas to play pro football, but as a small-town guy, he never felt out of place in Green Bay.
As such, he was glad he never had to go anywhere else in his 10-year NFL career.
Dotson, announced this week as one of two 2026 Packers Hall of Fame inductees along with Tramon Williams, grew up in Beaumont, Texas, went to Tyler Junior College, and then to Texas A&I (now known as Texas A&M-Kingsville).
So getting drafted in the third round by Green Bay, the NFL's smallest market, made his transition to the pros perhaps a little easier than it otherwise might've been. He settled in, became a starter by his third season, and never left.
"The No. 1 thing is I was able to play my whole career with one team, Green Bay," Dotson said of what he's most proud of in his career. "Not a lot of players can say that nowadays. It's the loyalty factor of it.
"Going to Green Bay felt like home, another small town. I think that's why I felt so comfortable there. I was grateful Green Bay wanted me enough to keep me there my whole career."
The stalwart at right tackle started 99 of 135 games played, including the postseason, highlighted by starts in back-to-back Super Bowls (XXXI & XXXII).
He's the second starter from those Super Bowl offensive lines, along with center Frank Winters, to be honored with a Packers Hall of Fame induction. At the official ceremony and dinner next July, he'll also join his college teammate at Texas A&I, cornerback Al Harris, in the Packers Hall of Fame.
His other offensive linemates in those Super Bowls included guards Aaron Taylor and Adam Timmerman, plus emergency left tackle Bruce Wilkerson for the 1996 playoff run and rookie Ross Verba in '97.
"To be honest, I think our offensive line was a little, uh – what's the word I'm looking for – overlooked a lot of times," he said. "We had a really good offensive line. We had some talent and I was just glad to be part of it.
"We were family. We had guys come in and out, but those teams we had in the '90s, to this day we are still close. If you can come together as a family, which we did, and you play for the guy alongside of you, you're going to win games, and we had fun doing it."
Dotson was as tough as they come, battling through injuries at different points in his career, including multiple back surgeries. He was named the team's Ed Block Courage Award winner in 1999.
The Packers' Super Bowl XXXI title was Green Bay's first championship in 29 years, but not winning it again the following year "really did hurt," Dotson said. Losing out on a possible third Super Bowl run in 1998 in San Francisco to the Jerry Rice non-fumble and Terrell Owens last-play TD catch was another regret.
"I really felt that team left a couple Super Bowls on the table," he said. "For the longest, we had to get over that hump of trying to get past Dallas when they had that team they had, and when we finally got that, I felt we could've brought a couple more home. I really do."
Dotson retired following the 2002 season and waited more than two decades to get the call from the Packers Hall of Fame. His reaction?
"What took them so long? No, I'm just joking on that one," he said. "The thing is, it's about legacy.
"My son just had his first son, so he can always take my grandson and say, 'Hey, your grandfather was part of this history of the Green Bay Packers,' and that's what means more to me than anything else."
