A medical examiner’s report says former Air Force quarterback Dee Dowis had a blood alcohol content level of nearly three times the legal limit when he was killed in an August car crash on I-85 near Buford.
The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that Gwinnett County medical examiner Dr. Carol A. Terry says Dowis died from blunt-force trauma during the crash outside Atlanta.
The report says Dowis was driving the wrong way on Interstate 85 when he entered the median and was hit by another vehicle. The medical examiner says Dowis was not wearing a seat belt and separate blood samples tested for alcohol levels of .210 and .233. The legal limit in Georgia is .08 percent.
The wreck occurred north of the Flowery Branch Road overpass on I-85.
The medical examiner’s report said Dowis’ brain was going to be submitted to the Mayo Clinic Neuropathology Laboratory in Jacksonville, Fla., for neuropathologic evaluation because Dowis had been a football player. The request was made by his family.
Dowis was a standout option quarterback for the Falcons, graduating as the academy’s career leading rusher and finishing sixth in the 1989 Heisman Trophy voting. During that season, Dowis rushed for 1,286 yards and 18 touchdowns while throwing for 1,285 yards and seven touchdowns. He led the Falcons to the Liberty Bowl.
He was inducted into the academy’s athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.