Shawn Dawkins

Shawn Dawkins

Shawn Dawkins in 2038
No. 29 – Honolulu Hahalua
Position:	Safety
Personal information
Born:	(2015-12-31)December 31, 2015 (aged 45) Sydney, Australia
Height:	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:	175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
College:	University of Chicago
ISFL Draft:	2037  / Round: 4 / Pick: 37
DSFL Draft:	2036  / Round: 3 / Pick: 19
Career history
Portland Pythons (2036 (S21)-2037 (S22)) Honolulu Hahalua (2038 (S23)-Present)
Roster status:	Active

Shawn Dawkins (born December 31, 2015) is an American football safety who was drafted in the 4th round (37th overall) by the Honolulu Hahalua in the Season 22 National Simulation Football League Draft. He played college football at the University of Chicago before playing 2 seasons with the Portland Pythons in the Developmental Simulation Football League.

Early years

Born in Australia, Shawn grew up in South West Sydney and played basketball growing up. While he did have an interest in football, opportunities to play were limited. His interest steadily grew once he joined a flag football league when he was 14, playing as a Wide Receiver. He would later join local gridiron team, playing as a wide receiver alongside his duties as the the primary returner and gunner on special teams.

Shawn continued to play basketball throughout high school, playing Point Guard. He garnered interest from NBL teams as a development player before ultimately deciding to go abroad to seek opportunities in the United States, hoping to make it as a walk on for a college program. This lead him to Chicago where he joined a tryout for the University of Chicago's basketball and football teams. When asked why a division he elected to try out for a Division III team, he responded "I grew up as a Chicago Bulls fan and I'd always wanted to visit and catch a game. They're in Chicago and I've heard they're a pretty good economics department too. Also I don't think anyone knows much about me, or that there would be may doors that would be open elsewhere. I was just looking for an opportunity things kinda just lined up."

College career

An unheralded prospect, Shawn traveled to Chicago for a tryout for the University of Chicago. He intended to try out for the school's Basketball and Football teams. During the football tryout, a miscommunication with the coaching staff led to Shawn being grouped with the defensive backs group. Too embarrassed to say anything, he went ahead and completed the drills with the defensive back group. He impressed enough earn a spot on the football team.

Freshman Season

As a freshman, Shawn spent the first few games playing only special teams as the teams primary returner and gunner with the highlight being the 101 yard kickoff return touchdown in his second game for the Maroons. Injuries to the starting corners halfway into the season saw Dawkins take to the field earlier than planned. During his stint as the team's starting corner, Shawn showed progress and steadily improved, flashing glimpses of his potential before moving back to the bench once his teammates were able to return. Further injuries to Chicago's secondary saw Dawkins moved into the lineup as a safety, a role he would keep for the remainder of the season.

Sophomore Season

Entering his second season with the Maroons, Shawn solidified himself as the team's starting safety and continued to play on special teams. His sophomore year was a successful one, amassing 10 total interceptions, 5 pick-sixes to go with a pair of punt and kickoff return touchdowns.

Junior Season

Junior season began as he'd left off, ending the season with 11 total interceptions, 4 pick-sixes and 2 kickoff return touchdowns. He earned Co-Team MVP honors for his efforts.

College career statistics

Dawkins leaves college with 15 interceptions, 27 passes defended, 9 kickoff return and 6 punt return touchdowns.

Career statistics			Tackles				Coverage		Safeties	Touchdowns	Blocks	Kick Returns					Punt Returns
Season	Team	Games	Tck	TFL	FF/FR	Sck	Int	PD	Sfty	TD	Blk P/XP/FG	KR	KR Yds	KR Avg	KR Lg	KR TD	PR	PR Yds	PR Avg	PR Lg	PR TD
2033 (S18)	UChicago	10	23	1	1/0	1	3	8	0	1	0/0/0	22	611	27.70	92	2	19	442	23.26	54	2
2034 (S19)	UChicago	10	47	2	0/1	2	5	11	0	5	0/0/0	19	588	30.59	96	4	19	415	21.84	48	3
2035 (S20)	UChicago	10	41	1	0/3	1	7	8	0	4	0/0/0	24	702	29.25	89	3	15	322	21.47	57	1
Total		30	111	4	1/4	4	15	27	0	10	0/0/0	65	1901	29.25	96	9	53	1179	22.25	57	6

Professional career

Developmental Simulation Football League

Season 21

Shawn Dawkins was selected in the third round (19th overall) in the Season 21 DSFL Draft by the Portland Pythons. Dawkins joined Tyler Oles Jr, Alexander Hamilton II and Zamir Kehla in the revamped secondary for the Pythons. Heading into the preseason, Dawkins was slated to start at strong safety with Kehla lining up at free safety.

Dawkins professional debut would be in the Python’s week 1 matchup at Norfolk against the SeaWolves. He would finish the game with 4 tackles in 31-9 loss. Dawkins would record his first interception win the week 2 matchup against the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers. Portland would lose game 24-17, falling to 0-2 on the season. The only team without a win after 2 games, the Pythons would reshuffle their secondary. Zamir Kehla would move to outside corner, playing on the right with Alexander Hamilton II moving to nickel back. These changes would allow Dawkins to move back to free safety for the majority of their defensive formations.

After starting 0-2, the Pythons would finish the season with a 8-6 record and clinch a playoff spot in the DSFL North. Dawkins would start all 14 games for the Pythons and end the year with 64 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 interception and 3 passes defended as part of the defensive unit that allowed the fewest points in the regular season. Having secured 2nd place in the DSFL North, the Pythons would travel to Kansas City to take on the Coyotes. In his first playoff appearance, Dawkins would finish with 4 tackles and record a sack in what would be a 31-7 loss to the Coyotes, ending the Pythons season.

Season 22

After being drafted by Honolulu in the S22 NSFL Draft, Dawkins remained with the Pythons for a second season. With fellow secondary members Tyler Oles Jr and Zamir Kehla being called up, the retirement of Landon Collins and the absence of Alexander Hamilton II, Dawkins would be the sole returning member in the secondary from Season 21.

After some discussion during the offseason about potentially lining up at cornerback, it was announced by the coaching staff that Dawkins would continue to line up at safety for the upcoming season. It was reported that Dawkins was open to lining up at corner having done so in college. During the preseason, Dawkins would be handed the opportunity to return kickoffs, finishing with 176 yards on 8 attempts for an kick off return average of 22 yards.

In the season opener against Myrtle Beach, Dawkins would record is first career forced fumble. He would finish the game with 5 tackles, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble in 34-0 loss. In the week 5 game at Kansas City, Dawkins would earn defensive player of the game honors recording a career high 14 tackles and recovering a fumble in a tightly contested game that the Pythons would lose 10-9. Playing at home in their week 7 game, Dawkins would record his first interception of the Season 22 campaign in a 26-21 victory over Tijuana. Heading into week 12, Portland sat 4-7 on the season but remained in the playoff hunt, Dawkins received defensive player of the game honors, recording 6 tackles and 2 sacks in a 21-16 victory over Kansas City.

National Simulation Football League

Season 22 Draft Combine

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	40‑yd dash	20‑ss	3‑cone	Vert jump	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	4.30 s	4.09 s	7.06 s	31 in (0.79 m)	10 ft 11.6 in (3.34 m)	18 reps	37

Season 22 National Simulation Football League Draft

Shawn Dawkins was selected by the Honolulu Hahalua in the 4th round (37th overall draft selection) of the S22 NSFL Draft. It was reported that Dawkins was surprised to be selected that early but was excited at the opportunity to join Honolulu. Dawkins would agree to terms with Honolulu management and sign a 3 year contract with a no trade clause shortly after the draft.

Season 23

Dawkins would be called up for Season 23 along with fellow safety Buck Thornton and quarterback turned corner Jim Waters in what was a revamped secondary for the Hahalua. In his debut in Week 1 at Austin, Dawkins would break the team's single game kickoff return yards record by amassing 127 kickoff return yards. In Week 3, Dawkins would claim defensive player of the game honours recording his first sack and interception in the NSFL in the 37-5 victory over San Jose.

Dawkins would be moved to outside corner on the depth chart, switching with Victor Moreno ahead of they Week 8 matchup with the Liberty. This would be the first time since his college days at the University of Chicago that Dawkins would play corner. Against the Liberty, Dawkins would record his first career kickoff return touchdown with 108 yard return in the 4th quarter in a 21-12 win. In Week 14 against San Jose, Dawkins would break the Honolulu single game kickoff return yards record, recording 153 kickoff return yards on the day to go with his second interception of the season. Week 15 would see Honolulu host New Orleans, Dawkins would have his best game at cornerback, finishing the game with two picks in a 23-16 win which kept Honolulu's faint playoff hopes alive.

Honolulu would go on to lose their Week 16 matchup at Arizona. Dawkins had a particularly poor game, arguably his worst of the season having trouble covering Saba Donuts. While it was a particularly disappointing end to the season, Dawkins had a fairly productive rookie season on defense and special teams. His 4 interceptions was the most amongst rookie defensive backs and his 108 yard kickoff return was the longest kickoff return recorded for the season.

Season 24

With the call up of cornerback Ray-Ray Jackson, Dawkins would slide back to the free safety role on defense for Season 24. Eager to prove his worth after signing a 3 year, $9 million extension, Dawkins started the year strong, recording his first career pick six in the season opener in a 28-13 win over the Arizona Outlaws. He followed up with another pick against the New Orleans Second Line in Honolulu's home opener during their Week 2 matchup. In Week 7 at home against the Yellowknife Wraiths, Dawkins would record 2 picks in a 22-7 victory to push his season interception total to 4. During Week 14, Dawkins would break his team record for the most kickoff return yards in a game, returning 4 kickoffs for 168 yards in a 34-20 win over Arizona. Heading into Week 14 against the Sabercats, Honolulu sat at 7-6 and still very much in the playoff race. Dawkins would record a sack on 4th down what would be the Sabercats final drive of the game as the Hahalua ran down the clock in a 22-14 win to improve Honolulu's record to 8-6. Honolulu would drop the final two games of the season and miss the playoffs in what was a tightly contested playoff race in the ASFC.

In his second season, Dawkins improved upon his rookie year both on defense and on special teams. His 5 interceptions on the season would see him tied for 2nd in the league while also finishing tied for 3rd in kickoff return yards with 1,153 yards. The season would see many first, his first pick six, first forced fumble, first fumble recover and first tackle for loss. Continued growth and development was the overarching theme Honolulu's season and this was very much something that applied to Dawkins in his sophomore season.

Season 25

Heading into Season 25 on the back of his 2nd Pro Bowl selection and finishing 3rd for the Safety of the Year award, expectations were high for the upcoming season. With the Hahalua defense losing key pieces with Jack Banks, Mack Arianlacher, Jayson Kearse and Logan Noble Jr departing the team, Honolulu would be relying on rookies to step in and fill those holes. As one of the more experienced players on the team, Dawkins was nominated as one of the captains of the team for Season 25.

With the addition of the talented safety Davriel Lavigne, Dawkins would find himself splitting time between strong safety and free safety during the season. The move would provide more of an opportunity to demonstrate his pass rushing ability, setting a career high in sacks with 5, which was more than his sack totals for the previous two seasons. This move however, saw a dip in his production against the pass with Dawkins setting career lows for interceptions (2) and passes defended (4) compared to his previous two seasons. On special teams, Dawkins would set career highs in kick return yards (1155 yards) and kick return average (28.9 yards) while picking up his second career kickoff return touchdown, recording 106 kick off return on the opening play of the game in Week 4.

While Season 25 would be consider somewhat disappointing compared to his previous seasons, Dawkins did demonstrate growth with his ability to rush the passer. Although the decline in production in the passing game is of some concern, expectations remain high for the Dawkins to put it all together in Season 26.

Season 26

Much like Season 25, Dawkins was slated to spend time at both free safety and strong safety for the up coming season. Hungry for a better performance in Season 27 and put his somewhat lacklustre play from last season behind him, Dawkins was looking to bounce back and help Honolulu secure their first ever playoff appearance. Having a down year in terms of interceptions and passes defended compared to his previous two seasons, Dawkins kicked off his 4th year as pro recording an interception in what was a narrow 27-24 loss against the San Jose Sabercats at home. He wouldn't have to wait long for his second pick as he would go on to record his second interception in the following game at Austin in Week 2.

Heading into Week 4 facing Baltimore at home, Honolulu sat 0-3 and sat firmly in last place. Dawkins would finish the game leading the team in tackles with 8 to go with 2 sacks. It would not be enough as the Hahalua would lose the game 27-17. Heading into Week 8 with a 1-6 record, Honolulu's playoffs hopes were on life support. In their matchup against the Butchers, Dawkins would record his first kickoff return touchdown for the season with a 92 yard return on the opening kickoff. The visiting Hahalua would lose the game 48-39 and fall to 1-7 on the season. Dawkins would have his best game of the season in Week 15, recording 2 interceptions with one returned for a touchdown in 4th quarter to push the game against San Jose into overtime. In what was a rarity this season, Honolulu would come away with the win scoring a touchdown in overtime to win 43-37.

While Dawkins was the league leader in kickoff return yards in the regular season and also tied for second in interceptions, it was a rough season. Honolulu finished the season with the league's worst record having only managed a 3 wins all season. Dawkins has expressed his disappointment at not being able to help the team reach the playoffs but also noted that the season was character building and that he's eager to get to work in the offseason in the hopes of returning as a better player next season in the hopes of helping Honolulu achieve their first ever playoff appearance.

Season 27

Fresh off his 3rd Pro Bowl appearance Dawkins entered his 5th season in the league with looking to help the Hahalua achieve their first ever playoff berth. Opening weekend would see Honolulu on the road take on Philadelphia. Dawkins would record his first interception in close fought game where the Hahalua would fall short, losing 23-26. Week 3 would see the Hahalua take on the Otters where Dawkins would return 3 kicks for 101 yards in a 34-16 win.Heading into Week 9, Honolulu would sit 6-2 and firmly in contention for the playoffs. Travelling to Berlin for a matchup against the Fire Salamanders, Dawkins would earn his first Defensive Player of the Game honours with a 6 tackle, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble in a 30-20 win.

After dropping two straight games, Honolulu would look to bounce back against the Otters at Orange County. Dawkins would earn his second Defensive Player of the Game award with a 7 tackle, 2 sack and 1 interception performance in a 34-28 win. Week 13 would see Honolulu host the Austin Copperheads. Continuing on from his last performance, Dawkins would again earn Defensive Player of the Game honours with 7 tackles and a pick six in a 30-13 victory over the Copperheads.

Honolulu would finish the season with atop of the ASFC securing a bye and the team's first ever playoff appearance. Despite the slow start to the season, Dawkins would pick it up in the second half of the season and would be nominated for Safety of the Year Award for the second straight season.

Season 28

With 4 Pro Bowl selections in 5 seasons, Dawkins was hopeful to add to that tally. Heading into the season, there was some hope that Honolulu would be able to secure a playoff berth to follow on from the strong Season 27 campaign. The season opener would see Honolulu take on the Arizona Outlaws. Dawkins would have solid game, making 3 tackles, forcing a fumble and defending 3 passes in a close fought 17-3 win. Heading into Week 3 at 2-0, Honolulu would take on San Jose and improve to 3-0 with Dawkins making 9 tackles, forcing a fumble while defending 2 passes in a 30-24 win over the Sabercats.

After going 3-0 to start the season, Honolulu would go on to lose their next four games with Dawkins struggling to make an impact on the defensive side of the ball. Honolulu a team that had in previous season been able to force turnovers appeared to struggle as a unit in that regard. At the midpoint of the season, Honolulu would sit at 4-4 and still in the hunt for the playoffs with Dawkins looking to rebound and help put together a strong end to the season.

Honolulu would drop their next 3 games, to sit 4-7 on the season with their playoff hopes now dependant on the results of Austin and New York. Unable to make much of an impact during the 3 game skid, it was announced by the coaching staff that Dawkins would be playing some nickel in 3-3-5 and Nickel formations for the final 5 games of the season. Facing the first place Arizona Outlaws, Dawkins would grab his first pick of the season, helping Honolulu to come away with a much need 19-16 win. Honolulu would finish the season with 5 straight wins to end the season with a 9-7 record and missing the playoffs with Austin having the tiebreaker over Honolulu.

Overall a lacklustre season on defense for Dawkins but his contributions in the return game would see him earn a Pro Bowl selection as one of the returners for the ASFC, having led the league with 344 punt return yards and the third highest average at 11.1 punt return yards.

Season 29

Looking to bounce back after a rather lacklustre campaign in Season 28, Dawkins looked to get back to his previous Pro Bowl form. Speculation that last season was indicative of the beginning of the end for Dawkins as he moved into the twilight of his career, Dawkins was motivated to make an impact in Season 29.

Three games into the seasons, Honolulu would be 0-3 with Dawkins being largely ineffective in the pass protection and just accumulating a handful of tackles. Week 4 would see Honolulu travel to Colorado which would mark Dawkins' best performance of the season, making 5 tackles, defending 4 passes, making 2 interceptions with one being returned for a touchdown in an effort that earned him Defensive Player of the Game honours in a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Yeti. The form would carry onto the next game against the Silverbacks with Dawkins making 3 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass defended and 1 interception performance in another narrow loss.

Sitting at 0-5 it was a season to forget thus far and those pair of performance would be the best of his season. Honolulu would finish 3-13 with the league's worst record with Dawkins failing to make much of an impact on defense and special teams. Dawkins would miss out on Pro Bowl honours and expressed disappointment in his inability to get it done on the field in what was a challenging season for the Honolulu safety. With a pair of substandard seasons back to back, talk about Dawkins being past his best only got louder.

Season 30

When does a slump stop being a slump and start being considered the norm? With back to back seasons with some mediocre play those talks about being past it were gathering momentum. With the loss of Heinrich Kackpoo on defense, a cornerstone of the team since Season 23, Dawkins was one of the last remaining foundation players left remaining on the team. With departures via free agency, Honolulu weren't expected to be in the playoff picture given their losses. Much like the season prior, Honolulu would open the season 0-3 with Dawkins again being somewhat absent from the stat sheet, failing to make much of an impact on defense and on special teams.

Heading into Week 9, Honolulu would sit 3-5 on the season ahead of their matchup against Philadelphia. A decision was was made by coaching staff to switch Dawkins and the rookie Weperom around on defense with Dawkins set to line up at strong safety and Weperom at free safety. This proved to provide a spark for Dawkins who typically wasn't involved in rushing the passer or playing close to the line of scrimmage. Against the Liberty, Dawkins would grab Defensive Player of the Game honours having recorded a pick six in a close fought 27-24 win in Philadelphia. Dawkins' improved play at strong saftey would continue, earning another Defensive Player of the Game honour in Week 14 against the Silverbacks, recording 6 tackles, 3 sacks and a safety.

Honolulu would finish the season 6-10 with a return to form of sorts for Dawkins who managed to put up a solid season having equaled his season best tally for sacks. A hopeful return to form or just a brief spark in the twilight of Dawkins career, only time would tell.

Professional career statistics

Developmental Simulation Football League

Regular Season

Career statistics			Tackles				Coverage		Safeties	Touchdowns	Blocks
Season	Team	Games	Tck	TFL	FF/FR	Sck	Int	PD	Sfty	TD	Blk P/XP/FG
2036 (S21)	Pythons	14	64	0	0/0	3	1	3	0	0	0/0/0
2037 (S22)	Pythons	14	84	0	3/1	3	1	2	0	0	0/0/0
Total		28	148	0	3/1	6	2	5	0	0	0/0/0

Playoffs

Career statistics			Tackles				Coverage		Safeties	Touchdowns	Blocks
Season	Team	Games	Tck	TFL	FF/FR	Sck	Int	PD	Sfty	TD	Blk P/XP/FG
2036 (S21)	Pythons	1	4	0	0/0	1	0	0	0	0	0/0/0
Total		1	4	0	0/0	1	0	0	0	0	0/0/0

National Simulation Football League

Regular Season

Career statistics			Tackles				Coverage		Safeties	Touchdowns	Blocks	Kick Returns					Punt Returns
Season	Team	Games	Tck	TFL	FF/FR	Sck	Int	PD	Sfty	TD	Blk P/XP/FG	KR	KR Yds	KR Avg	KR Lg	KR TD	PR	PR Yds	PR Avg	PR Lg	PR TD
2038 (S23)	Hahalua	16	76	0	0/0	1	4	12	0	0	0/0/0	36	952	26.4	108	1	0	0	0	0	0
2039 (S24)	Hahalua	16	84	1	1/1	2	5	8	0	1	0/0/0	42	1153	27.5	79	0	2	9	4.5	14	0
2040 (S25)	Hahalua	16	85	0	2/1	5	2	4	0	1	0/0/0	40	1155	28.9	106	1	0	0	0	0	0
2041 (S26)	Hahalua	16	89	0	0/0	3	5	13	0	1	0/0/0	49	1404	28.7	92	1	0	0	0	0	0
2042 (S27)	Hahalua	16	67	0	1/0	4	3	12	0	1	0/0/0	22	547	24.9	40	0	28	247	8.8	20	0
2043 (S28)	Hahalua	16	63	0	2/0	2	1	11	0	0	0/0/0	23	596	25.9	41	0	31	344	11.1	91	0
2044 (S29)	Hahalua	16	54	0	1/0	2	3	9	0	1	0/0/0	26	554	21.3	42	0	25	176	7.0	19	0
2045 (S30)	Hahalua	16	64	0	0/0	5	3	9	1	1	0/0/0	23	577	25.1	40	0	19	128	6.7	19	0
Total		128	582	1	7/2	24	26	78	0	6	0/0/0	261	6938	26.6	108	3	105	904	8.6	91	0

Playoffs

Career statistics			Tackles				Coverage		Safeties	Touchdowns	Blocks	Kick Returns					Punt Returns
Season	Team	Games	Tck	TFL	FF/FR	Sck	Int	PD	Sfty	TD	Blk P/XP/FG	KR	KR Yds	KR Avg	KR Lg	KR TD	PR	PR Yds	PR Avg	PR Lg	PR TD
2042 (S27)	Hahalua	1	6	1	0/0	0	0	3	0	0	0/0/0	2	64	32.0	38	0	1	12	12.0	12	0
Total		1	6	1	0/0	0	0	3	0	0	0/0/0	2	64	32.0	38	0	1	12	12.0	12	0

Achievements and records

Individual Awards

• University of Chicago Co-Team MVP (2035)
• ASFC Pro Bowl - Safety (2038, 2039, 2041, 2042)
• ASFC Pro Bowl - Returner (2041,2043)

Award Nominations

• NSFL/ISFL Safety of the Year Nomination (2039, 2041, 2042)
• ISFL Returner of the Year Nomination (2041)

Individual Records

• 2nd most kick return yards in a season (1404 kickoff return yards)
• Tied league record for the longest kickoff return (108 yards)
• Highest kick return average for a rookie (26.4 yards)

Team Records

• Recorded the 1st kickoff return touchdown in Honolulu team history (Week 8, Season 23)
• Longest kickoff return in Honolulu team history (108 yards)
• Honolulu single game record for the most kickoff return tds (1)
• Honolulu record for interceptions in a season (5, Season 24)