Re: Hill Watch...116 days!!!

South Carolina Highway 116, known as Laurel Bay Road, is a 3.40 mile state highway in Beaufort County that runs from the west end in Laurel Bay to the east end at US 21 at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort facility. Laurel Bay has a military housing development.

The Marine Corp Air Station Beaufort is a 6,900 acre United States Marine Corps air base about 3 miles northwest of Beaufort, South Carolina. The base has about 4,700 personnel and four F/A-18 Hornet fighter-attack squadrons and an F-35B Lightning II training squadron. The base was activated in June of 1943 as Naval Air Station Beaufort for anti-submarine training operations in World War II, deactivated in 1946, and reactivated in 1956. It became Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in 1960. The base formerly ran F-8 Crusader and F-4 Phantom II operations, but now has all the F/A-18 operations on the east coast. The aircraft and squadrons are assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 31 (MAG-31, good number). A bi-annual air show open to the public is hosted by MCAS Beaufort.

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116 - St Louis Cardinals Select K.D. Dunn with Pick 116 in 1985 NFL Draft

May 7, 2024, 6:33 AM

Before Clemson:

Before arriving at Clemson, TE Keldrick “K.D.” Dunn (1981-1984) grew up in a military family who moved around a bit. He even spent some time in Germany. That’s where he discovered football – even if it were not the sport he envisioned playing as an adult.

According to this excellent interview with K. D. Dunn from a SportsShop27 Podcast, Dunn originally played soccer. He wasn’t even interested in playing football. That changed when he was in the 6th Grade and his dad grew tired of seeing him “in and out of the refrigerator doing nothing.” As Dunn described his first days playing football, “I was horrible at the beginning. They used to beat me up.”

When Dunn returned to the U.S. for high school, he began playing TE and LB. As Dunn put it “If I had stayed playing outside linebacker, I would have been First Round!”

He actually had other plans that did not include football, however. In high school, Dunn envisioned himself playing basketball in college. That dream continued until his high school basketball coach explained to him in no uncertain terms that he really needed to consider another option for his collegiate career. That coach, however, also recommended that Dunn should consider football for his collegiate plans. Sounds like Dunn benefitted from a wise coach who was willing to be real with him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdGBU_5nTyE

Excellent advice, Coach! Even if it wasn’t fully appreciated at the time!

If interested, the entire interview (see link above) is about a half hour or so. Kudos to the SportsShop27 Podcast folks because the interview is very well done!

While at Clemson:

When K.D. Dunn arrived at Clemson he experienced winning a national championship his freshman year! What an outstanding start to a collegiate career!!

According to SportsReference.com, K.D. Dunn registered the following statistics at Clemson:

K.D. Dunn (1981-1984):
- 47 Receptions for 519 Yards (11.0 Average)
- 9 Receiving Touchdowns
- 1 Kick Return for 0 Yards

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/kd-dunn-1.html

During Dunn’s time at Clemson, Dunn commented that he came to Clemson with William “The Refrigerator” Perry. Dunn said “I am glad he was a nose guard, and I was a tight end. He was on the other side…When he gets in a mood, when he gets in a mindset that he wasn’t going to be blocked – it’s over.” Clemson coaches had to stop practices sometimes when the Fridge decided he wasn’t going to be blocked. The coaches told Fridge to sit on the sidelines so that the team could keep practicing. (Starts at 10:30 mark of the video)

Here is Dunn with a key touchdown reception in Chapel Hill during Clemson’s 16-3 win over UNC. It was the only touchdown of the game:

(Note: Special thanks to TNetter jtiger1 for this gif of Dunn’s touchdown. I found the gif on one of his former posts.)

After Clemson:

The St. Louis Cardinals selected K.D. Dunn with the 116th pick (5th Round) of the 1985 NFL Draft. He was picked up by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, however, where is where he played in 1985 and 1986. He then played one season for the Washington Redskins in 1987, followed by two seasons in New York with he Jets in 1988 and 1989. According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, he registered the following stats in his five NFL seasons:

K.D. Dunn (1985-1989: Buccaneers, Redskins, Jets):
- 33 Games
- 11 Receptions for 163 Yards (14.8 Average)

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/D/DunnKD00.htm

As Dunn explained in the video cited above:
While playing in the NFL, Dunn heard several players make plans to take great trips during the offseason. As he prepared for an off-season, his dad asked him about his off season plans. K.D. told his father that he planned to work out and train. That’s when his dad explained to him that he needed to get back to Clemson during the off season and finish his degree. Again: K.D. Dunn received wise advice from a person who cared enough to be real with him!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdGBU_5nTyE

Excellent advice, Dad! Even if it wasn’t fully appreciated at the time!

Dunn then played two seasons with the Montreal Machine of the World League of American Football (WLAF). FWIW: As David Letterman once said, the World League’s slogan should have been:
“WLAF: You can’t spell Waffle without us!”

Dunn later stayed in the game by becoming a High School football coach in Georgia. He previously coached New Manchester in the Atlanta area. According to Wikipedia, Dunn has also served as the head coach for Redan High School in Lithonia, Georgia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._D._Dunn

K.D. Dunn also mentioned in the above video that in addition to coaching, he was/is also involved in minor league football. Dunn was/is the Vice President of Game Day Operations for the minor league team “Georgia Warriors” in the Atlanta area. If interested the Georgia Warriors do have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GeorgiaWarriorsMFL/about.

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Clemson: Academic Excellence! Athletic Excellence!

Hill Watch...116 days!!!