The legacy of USC’s own ‘Dancing Doll’

What if I told you the man who truly paved the way for the likes of Charles White, O.J. Simpson, Marcus Allen and Reggie Bush never won a Heisman Trophy, a national championship or found himself heading up the backfield for an NFL team?

Would you believe me?

Odds are, unless you knew the history of Trojan football like the back of your hand, the answer would be a confident “no,” accompanied by a half-hearted chuckle.

And who would blame you?

I mean, one look inside the ground floor of Heritage Hall or beneath the peristyles at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and you understand who the main players were that built up the prestigious foundation of this celebrated program.

But getting overlooked is nothing new for 5-foot-10, 180-pound Don Doll.

The legend of this Trojan trailblazer dates back about 60 years, when the Lakers were still in Minnesota, Felix the Cat was a popular comic strip rather than a dealership façade and Carl’s Jr. wasn’t a local mainstay but a national novelty.

At 17, Doll came to campus on the coattails of his high school exploits as a star quarterback from Sacramento.

But at USC, Doll would not become the big man on campus with his arm or his play-calling abilities.

No, then-USC coach Jeff Cravath saw a more useful purpose for the highly touted prospect: to start him on both sides of the football at playmaking positions.

The transformation seemed foolish — a ploy that likely would have warranted a greater amount of uproar from Trojan fans, if the majority of the nation’s time and attention had not been focused on fighting a war overseas.

Just imagine the obnoxious number of Twitter feeds and Facebook statuses that would ensue if Lane Kiffin were to move Matt Barkley to starting linebacker.

Luckily for Cravath and USC, in the opener against UCLA, Doll instantly went from the out-of-position liability to the candid figure plastered on the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times.

An interception of a future first-round draft pick, a 20-yard run up the middle and a touchdown to seal his two minutes of fame later, and the rest was history for Doll.

Following his heroics in the 1945 Rose Bowl, one might expect the now-budding campus icon would rest on the laurels of his spotlight-inducing season.

To really understand the legend of Doll, you first have to understand that what made him such an invaluable piece of Trojan history was more than rushing yards, interceptions, box score snippets and cases full of postseason brass.

For Doll, it was always about playing for the person next to him. Fans loved him for his agility and the effortless quality in his step, and coaches found him endearing because of his eagerness to contribute. But most importantly, his teammates relied on him because of his unrelenting desire to compete, regardless of the size of the fox hole.

“My size is no detriment in football,” he once told Los Angeles Times reporter Jeane Hoffman. “I rate as the number one asset the desire to tackle. And I’ve plenty of that desire.”

It was this quality — one that was often hidden by his reserved and understated persona — that made him an ideal candidate to make the leap from the gridiron to the South Pacific in 1945.

Though Doll rarely discussed his year away at war, one of USC’s most underappreciated history-makers laid witness to one of the more riveting moments in our country’s existence — the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri on Sept. 2, 1945.

And you thought you lived a full life at 18 years of age?

Determined to prove his freshman feats were far from an aberration, Doll returned to USC after an honorable discharge and spent his final three years in cardinal and gold, leaving no doubt that he was more than a one-dimensional force.

For three straight seasons he would lead the team in rushing, a streak that no Trojan in the history of the program had ever achieved.

Although this mark alone deserves attention, the fact that he did so while also serving as USC’s safety, punter and punt returner should have you scrambling through the nearest copy of your 2010 USC Football Guide wondering how you ever skipped over such an acclaimed alumnus.

But this history lesson about the best known Trojan you’ve never heard of gets much better.

Doll didn’t just play his part on special teams; he excelled at it, leading the conference in punting yards and punt return average in 1947 while also being named as the West team’s punter in the 1948 East-West Shrine Game.

The in-your-face caveat to this vastly untold tale remains that during Doll’s tenure at USC there were no signing day media spectacles, scholarships weren’t given out left and right, and, frankly, it was the norm to play several positions.

Before you close the book on Doll, like every professional team did for the first 66 picks of the 1948 NFL draft, don’t neglect his ability to play on the element of surprise.

Six years is typically not a great sample to gauge the long-term impact of an NFL player, but for Doll, there was no time table when it came to rewriting the league’s history books.

As a rookie safety in 1949, he led the league with an astounding 11 interceptions (the most by any first year player), four of which came in a single game (also a record that still stands today).

After his Pro Bowl rookie campaign Doll would again lead the league with 12 intercepted passes in 1950, en route to a second-straight appearance in the NFL All-Star game. In 1952, despite a down year individually, the former-USC playmaker helped anchor a top-notch Detroit secondary to NFL supremacy, as the Lions captured the NFL championship  — an achievement they have failed to repeat since.

During his final year with the Lions in 1953 — his last of four trips to the Pro Bowl — Doll again topped the leader board in interceptions with 10.

He would become the only player ever to end three seasons with 10 or more interceptions.

Yes, before Primetime and Revis Island, Doll was the crème de la crème of defensive backs in the NFL, minus the high-stepping and contract disputes.

And although I admit it is easy to be reverential about a man whose impact can only be witnessed through press clippings, aging photos and faded film footage, the story of Doll, whose dance steps came to a final conclusion last week at the age of 84, is in many ways a university treasure.

He lacked the strength of O.J. Simpson, never had the flair of Reggie Bush or the quick step of Marcus Allen, but to those who watched Doll — running back/punter/safety extraordinaire — he was an ageless wonder.

Although your next trip to some of USC athletics’ finest landmarks and historical points likely won’t lead you to distinct recollections of his contributions to the program, just know he belongs with the greats.

For as long as you keep his legacy alive, Doll will continue to dance in the annals of Trojan lure.

“For The Love Of The Game” runs Wednesdays. To comment on this article, visit dailytrojan.com or e-mail Dave at [email protected].