DJ graduated from Kempsville High School (Virginia Beach, Virginia) in 1983. As a star athlete in both football and baseball, he was selected as the Hertz #1 Award recipient for the Best Athlete in Virginia. He also was honored as the Parade All-American Running Back and after his senior year was drafted by the Detroit Tigers as an outfielder. Mr. Dozier passed on the baseball draft and instead attended Penn State University where he eventually became the first running back in history to lead the team in rushing four consecutive years. After setting numerous records as a freshman, DJ was selected as an All-American his sophomore year before hitting the pinnacle of college football his senior year by winning the National Championship in 1986 versus Miami. He then went on to become the MVP of the Fiesta Bowl and was again selected as an All-American as he rounded out his college career with just under 4,000 total yards and a degree in Sports Management. The Minnesota Vikings were so impressed with DJ's ability they selected him in the 1st round (12th pick) of the NFL Draft in 1987. He played four years with the Vikings and a year with the Detroit Lions while also managing to squeeze in a professional baseball career on the side as he signed as an amateur free agent in 1990 with the New York Mets. He spent 1990 and 1991 in the minor leagues, where he showed good speed (he stole 33 bases with St. Lucie in 1990) and also good pop (in 1990, he hit 13 home runs with St. Lucie). In 1991 he was number 44 on Baseball America's 1991 All-Time Top 100 prospects list. After spending some time in the minors in 1992, he was called up to the Major Leagues and made his debut on May 6, 1992 at the age of 26. DJ wore number 7 and played leftfield for the Mets along with fellow teammates Eddie Murray, Bobby Bonilla, Dwight Gooden, David Cone and Bret Saberhagen. On October 26, 1992, DJ was traded with catcher Raul Casanova and pitcher Wally Whitehurst for shortstop Tony Fernandez and decided to hang up his spikes later that off-season.
After retiring from the NFL and Major League Baseball, DJ spent two seasons coaching High School baseball in Virginia Beach before settling into the financial services industry where he spent the next fifteen years specializing in Commercial Real Estate and Venture Capital Projects. Mr. Dozier also ran the marketing and budgeting division of the Woodward Sports Complex and is a Certified NFL Contract Advisor.
