Former NFL wide receiver Sean Dawkins dead at 52

Sean Dawkins, a nine-year NFL wide receiver who was an All-American football player at the University of California, died Tuesday. He was 52.

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Dawkins died from cardiac arrest, the university said in a news release. Other details have not been released.

The Colts selected Dawkins 16th overall in the 1993 NFL draft, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. Over six seasons, Dawkins caught 251 passes for 3,511 yards and 12 touchdowns in 69 career games with the Colts. He had five 100-yard games and a career-best 144 yards on eight catches against Dallas in 1993, the Indianapolis Star reported.

Dawkins later played for the New Orleans Saints (1998), Seattle Seahawks (1999-2000) and Jacksonville Jaguars (2001). He finished his career with 445 catches for 6,291 yards and 25 touchdowns, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.

Dawkins was a three-year letter winner (1990-92) who also helped the Bears to victories in the Copper Bowl in 1990 and Citrus Bowl in 1991, according to the university. His 1991 squad tied a school record for victories with a 10-2 overall mark and ranked eighth in the final Associated Press Top 25.

Dawkins was a consensus All-American as a junior in 1992, Sports Illustrated reported. He still holds records at Cal records for most touchdown receptions in a single season (14) and in a career (31), according to Bleacher Report.

Dawkins was inducted into the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005, the university said in a news release.

“His talent was undeniable,” said former teammate Dave Barr, according to Sports Illustrated.

Mike Pawlawski, Cal’s quarterback when the Bears went 17-6-1 in 1991-92, said Dawkins was “crazy talented.”

“His ability to catch anything was amazing, but his confidence is really what made him,” Pawlawski, the longtime analyst on Cal radio broadcasts, told the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday. “He did not believe that there was anybody on a football field anywhere that could cover him. It wasn’t hubris. It wasn’t arrogance. It was just confidence in his ability.”

Colts owner Jim Irsay, who was the team’s general manager when Dawkins was drafted in 1993, tweeted that he was “shocked and saddened” by his death.

Former NFL defensive back and teammate Derwin L. Gray, who was teammates with Dawkins in Indianapolis from 1993 to 1997, also shared his condolences Thursday in a tweet.

“He was elegant, such a marvelous football player,” Gray wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Tough day.”

After his NFL career ended, Dawkins went into real estate in the Sacramento, California, area, the University of California wrote in its news release.

He was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, on Feb. 3, 1971, and raised in Cupertino, California, where he attended and played at Homestead High School.

Dawkins is survived by his wife, Sachiko, twin sons Luke and Kameron, and daughter, Ella, according to the the university.

”Sean was the center of our universe,” Sachiko Dawkins said in a statement. “He was an incredible father and husband.”