Don Doll

Donald LeRoy Doll (August 29, 1926 – September 22, 2010), also known as Don Burnside, was an American football player and coach.

Doll was also named Cal-Hi Sports State Player of the Year for football in 1943.

He is one of only four Sacramento-area players to earn the honor.

Doll played college football for the University of Southern California (1944, 1946–1948) and professional football in the National Football League (NFL) with the Detroit Lions (1949–1953), Washington Redskins (1954) and Los Angeles Rams (1955).

Doll played halfback (both offensive and defensive) for the USC Trojans from 1944 to 1948, though he did not play in 1945 while serving in the military.

He led USC in rushing three times—in 1944, 1947 and 1948.

In July 1944, he joined the Trojans as a 17-year-old freshman halfback.

He played the 1944 season under his birth name, Don Burnside.

In the 1944 season opener against UCLA, Doll had an immediate impact.

He played halfback on both offense and defense (the norm in 1944), intercepting a Bob Waterfield pass and returning it 16 yards to the UCLA 22-yard line.

On the next play, the Trojans again gave the ball to Doll who ran 20 yards to the 2-yard line.

Two plays later, Doll scored on a 1-yard run to give USC a 13-0 lead at halftime.

After the season opener, USC coach Jeff Cravath announced that Doll was being switched to the quarterback position for the second game of the season.

Despite the experiment, Doll played principally at halfback during the 1944 season.

Prior to the final regular season game (a re-match against UCLA), Al Wolf of the Los Angeles Times called him "S.C.'s 18-year-old freshman whiz."

The 1944 Trojans finished the season undefeated with an 8-0-2 record and defeated Tennessee 25-0 in the 1945 Rose Bowl.

Doll played 43 minutes in the Rose Bowl and was the game's leading rusher.

Los Angeles Times sports writer Braven Dyer wrote that Doll "shouldered the ball carrying burden almost single handedly" in the Rose Bowl.

After playing in the Rose Bowl game, Doll was inducted into the United States Marine Corps.

He served aboard the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) and was an eyewitness to the Japanese surrender ceremony on the ship's deck on September 2, 1945.

Doll was honorably discharged from the military in June 1946 and returned to USC in time for summer practice.

In July 1946, Braven Dyer wrote that USC had found "a new backfield star."

Dyer continued, "Fresh out of the Marines, the lad's name is Doll, Don Doll, that is."

Doll had changed his surname from "Burnside" to "Doll" after being discharged from the military.

Doll later explained the reasoning behind his decision:

"My stepfather, Adna Doll, raised me and as soon as I was old enough (and, incidentally, had dough for the legal transfer) I changed my name to his because I was grateful for all Dad had done for me. I thought that if any honors came my way in football, I'd like to be known by his name."

However, Doll recalled that "sports writers had a field day" with his new name: "When I weaved downfield I was the 'Dancing Doll.' If I took too long on a play, I was the 'Mechanical Doll.'"

Doll played at the left halfback position for the 1946 Trojans.

In the final game of the season, a 20-14 victory over Tulane in New Orleans, Doll had a key interception and return for 34 yards.

In 1947, Doll added punting and punt and kickoff return duties to his role as a starting halfback.

In October 1947, he was leading the Pacific Coast Conference with an average of 45 yards per punt; he was also leading the Conference with an average of 20 yards on punt returns.

One of the highlights of the 1947 season for USC was a 32-0 victory in Columbus, Ohio, over a highly touted Ohio State team.

He also led the team in receptions and scoring in 1948.

He tied an NFL record in 1949 with four interceptions in a single game and is the only player in NFL history to have 10 or more interceptions in each of three different seasons (1949, 1950 and 1953).

He was selected to play in each of the first four Pro Bowls and was named the Most Valuable Player in the 1952 season Pro Bowl.

He played safety on the 1952 Detroit Lions team that won the NFL championship.

When he retired at the end of the 1954 season, he was the NFL's all-time leader with 41 interceptions.

After retiring as a player, Doll worked as a football coach for 34 years, serving as the head coach at West Contra Costa Junior College in 1956 and as an assistant coach with the University of Washington (1955), USC (1957–1958), Notre Dame (1959–1962), Detroit Lions (1963–1964), Los Angeles Rams (1965), Washington Redskins (1966–1970), Green Bay Packers (1971–1973), Baltimore Colts (1974), Miami Dolphins (1975–1976), San Francisco 49ers (1977) and Detroit Lions (1978–1988).

During his NFL career, he was associated with the game's legendary coaches, as a player for Curly Lambeau and an assistant coach under Vince Lombardi and Don Shula.

Doll attended Grant Union High School in Sacramento, California, where he was an all-league quarterback.