More Dan Dawson Milestones

Photo courtesy of Toronto Rock Advanced Media

Article by Gary Groob

Columnist and Co-Host of NLL Lacrosse Talk on Spanglish Sports World and Spanglish World Networks

TORONTO. - Dan Dawson has been a winner on every level, and over this past weekend, he achieved yet another milestone - 1500 career points.  Dan is only the second player in NLL history to achieve this, John Tavares is the other with 1,749 points.

Dawson's Career:

As a junior in 2002, Dan played for the Brampton Excelsiors Jr. A club but jumped to the Brampton Excelsiors Senior A team (MSL) that same year, winning the Mann Cup. He was signed by the Victoria Shamrocks in 2005 and helped lead them to their 8th Mann Cup victory as well. 

All together, Dan won Eight Major Series Lacrosse championships, two Western Lacrosse Association championships, and five Mann Cups in his career.  Dawson also won the Bill Ellison Award as the MVP of the 2005 and 2006 WLA playoffs.

In Field Lacrosse, Dan won one championship with the 2009 Toronto Nationals.

Dawson in the NLL:

Drafted in the sixth round (68th overall) in 2001 by the now defunct Columbus Landsharks, Dan was able to hit the ground running, getting into eleven games that year.  By his second year, Dan was starting to put up solid numbers (28g, 24a, with 51 loose balls).  By the time he was playing with the Arizona Sting (2004-2007), his numbers had almost doubled.

Dawson has won three NLL Championships, two with the Rochester Knighthawks, and one with the Saskatchewan Rush, and is hoping to add one more before he retires.

A first ballot hall of fame vote down the road awaits him whenever he finally decides to hang up his cleats.

International Lacrosse:

Dawson has played for Team Canada since 2004, winning the Heritage Cup.  Dan again joined Team Canada for the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, winning in 2007, 2011, and 2015, while finishing runner-up in 2010.  Dan donned the "C" for the Heritage Cup in 2017 in Hamilton, Ontario, with Team Canada beating the USA handily.

Outside of Lacrosse:

Dawson is a firefighter with the Brampton Fire Services.  There are many similarities in the two careers, from the need to be physically fit – wearing a hundred pounds of firefighting gear helps on the lacrosse floor later – to being part of a team. 

“The two feed each other,” says Dan.

The future:

“I’m year-to-year right now,” said Dawson, adding he really wants one more championship, although even hoisting another trophy might not signal retirement.

“I don’t need to be the guy every night,” he said. “. . . I just need to play at a level consistently.” 

“My family life, my body, and my job. Those are three of the determining factors on how long I’ll continue to play,” said Dawson.  “As soon as one of those things begins to suffer, I’ll need to make that tough decision.  My family loves going to the rink. My boys are involved in lacrosse and love going to games.  It’s all something we revaluate on a yearly basis.  We like to think we can play forever, but I am aware that we can not.   If I can’t maintain that level of play, I’ll have to walk away.”

I wish Dan many more healthy seasons in lacrosse.  When lacrosse finally comes to an end, I'm quite sure a coaching job awaits him somewhere.