Clifton Dawson Clifton George Dawson ( born October 8 , 1983 , in Scarborough , Ontario ) was a Canadian gridiron football running back in the National Football League . He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2007 . He played college football at Harvard . Dawson was also been a member of the Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans . Early years . Dawson attended Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute in Toronto , Canada and was a good student and a letterman in football and track . In football , as a senior , he led his team to the Toronto City Championship , was named as the team ' s Most Valuable Player , and was an All - Canada selection . College career . Dawson briefly attended Northwestern University before opting to transfer to Harvard University . During his freshman season at Harvard , he was unanimously selected for the first team All - Ivy League , making him the first offensive player in Ivy League history to earn first team honors as a freshman . Dawson set the league ’ s single - season record for rushing yards by a freshman with 1 , 187 yards and became the first freshman in Ivy League history to rush for more than 1 , 000 yards . Dawson fumbled just once in 215 carries . During his sophomore season , he was again named a unanimous first team All - America selection and was named to the New England Football Writers All - New England team . He placed tenth in the balloting for the Walter Payton Award , which is given to the top player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision . He led the Ivy League in rushing , with and average of 130 . 2 yards per game , making him the highest - ranking sophomore in Division I - AA and one of just three sophomores among the nation ’ s top 25 rushers . He set Harvard ’ s single - season records for rushing yards ( 1 , 302 ) , rushing touchdowns ( 17 ) , total touchdowns ( 18 ) and points ( 108 ) . He rushed for at least 100 yards in seven of the ten games with the Harvard Crimson . In his junior season , Dawson was again a unanimous first team All - Ivy League selection and named to the New England Football Writers All - New England . He attained a total of 1 , 139 yards in the season . He rushed for at least 100 yards in seven of Harvard ’ s ten games . He ended the season by scoring the historic game - winning touchdown in the third overtime period of Harvard ’ s 30 - 24 win against Yale . In his senior season , Dawson became the all - time Ivy League career rushing leader , with 4 , 841 yards . Dawson earned this title on November 11 , 2006 while playing Penn with a 55 - yard run down the left sideline on his second carry of that game . In attaining this title , Dawson broke the long - standing record set by Ed Marinaro of Cornell in 1971 . In addition to this record , Dawson finished his Harvard career as the Ivy League record holder for rushing touchdowns ( 60 ) , career touchdowns ( 66 ) , career points ( 398 ) , and career all - purpose yards ( 6 , 138 ) . He broke every career rushing and scoring record that Harvard keeps and became the only offensive player in Ivy League history to be named a first team All - Ivy selection four times . He was the ninth NCAA Division I player to rush for at least 1 , 000 yards in a season four times . He won the Boston Globe Gold Helmet Award , recognizing the top season - long performance by an FCS player in New England , and finished ninth in the voting for the Walter Payton Award . Dawson led the Division I FCS in scoring ( 13 . 20 points per game ) . He finished his career ranked 16th in NCAA FCS history in rushing and tied for fifth in career rushing touchdowns and fifth in career points . Dawson also ran track and majored in Economics while at Harvard . Professional career . Toronto Argonauts . Though he was not selected during the 2007 NFL Draft , Dawson was drafted in the sixth round of the 2006 Canadian Football League Draft by the Toronto Argonauts . First stint with Colts . He was signed as a free agent by the Indianapolis Colts after the conclusion of the draft . He was one of the team ' s final cuts . Cincinnati Bengals . Dawson subsequently signed with the Cincinnati Bengals . He made his NFL debut on September 16 , 2007 . He played in two games with the Bengals and then , on September 25 , he was released . Second stint with Colts . Two days later , Dawson was re - signed by the Colts . Dawson played in eleven games with Colts during the 2007 - 08 season and remained with the team during the 2008 off - season and training camp . The Colts waived him near the end of the 2008 training camp , but re - signed him the next day . However , he was released again before the final preseason game . Dawson was re - signed by the Colts on October 14 , 2008 . It was during this stint that the scored his first and only NFL touchdown . He was released on March 22 , 2009 . Houston Texans . Dawson signed with the Texans on May 19 , 2009 . He was placed on season - ending injured reserve on August 3 . He was released with an injury settlement on August 7 .