From Ivy League to the Gridiron: Celebrating the Legacy of Dartmouth’s Football Stars

Dartmouth is an ivy league college that most of us have heard of and know a bit about. Dartmouth is one of the most prestigious colleges in the country and has been for hundreds of years one of the oldest colleges in the nation. Dartmouth not only offers a fantastic academic program, but it also offers 35 different varsity sports that are part of the Big Green for the college.


In the decades that the college has been in operation, it has produced over 40 college football players that went on to bigger stages and went on to have professional careers. With players like Reggie Williams and Dennis Durkin, we know that Dartmouth can churn out amazing athletes that are top-of-the-line.
Defensive end Niko Lalos was part of the college and made his debut with the New York Giants and played against the professional team that Reggie Williams played for the Cincinnati Bengals. He has had a fantastic career since graduating and has been one of the biggest players in the NFL. Another player that has made a name for himself is Casey Cramer. He played with Dartmouth from 2000 to 2003 and then went on to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the tight end position and then went on to the Carolina Panthers before ultimately settling with the Tennessee Titans.


For those that are looking to learn a bit more about those football players that do more than just play football when they end up graduating. Murray Bowden is a perfect example of this. Bowden was part of the psychology program with Dartmouth and while he was there, he got the Lambert Trophy and when he was part of the team they won 17 out of 18 games.


He went on to co-found the Hanover Company, which is a private real estate company out of Houston and they are very successful. Still, another fantastic player that went on to do more is Dennis Durkin. He was a kicker for the team while he played and he helped his team with a 13 for 13 field goal season. He was part of the First Team All-Ivy and Fist Team AP All-American as well. He also helped to bring the team to the Ivy League Championship in 1990-1991-1992.


Durkin went on to have a business career with an MBA from Harvard. He then went on to get into the entertainment business and was part of Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, and even On Running as a board member. The school has churned out some fantastic players that have made a difference and that have gone on to have stupendous careers after their time at Dartmouth.


With players like Jeff Kemp, Dave Shula, Nick Lowery, Aaron Rodgers and so many more, Dartmouth certainly has a reputation for turning out athletes that are there to go the distance and make a big difference. Dartmouth has long been part of a group of schools that have a fantastic academic side as well as a fantastic sports side and they work so hard to maintain that balance.


Dartmouth is a college that has spent years cultivating its reputation and working to get its athletes ready to go on to professional sports if they want to, but also help them get ready to go on to other things that are outside of the realm of sports if they decide to go another route. Dartmouth is a fantastic college that is going the distance to help its athletes be prepared for their careers after college.