Former Dallas Cowboys star Player Cha-ron Dorsey Dead at 46

Char-Ron Dorsey, a former FSU and Cowboys tackle, died on March 4 at the age of 46 due to complications from a stroke.

The former lineman played on championship Bolles School teams before going on to win a national championship at Florida State University. He also played two NFL seasons and had a long and successful coaching career in Jacksonville.

His death was verified by Terry Parker High School coach Mike Holloway, who worked under Dorsey.

“I’m at a lost for words thinking about my brother. “He’s had an impact on so many kids who have had the opportunity to advance,” Holloway said, according to the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union.

Dorsey was a defensive tackle at Bolles School in Florida, where he was named First-Team 4A All-State three times.

Dorsey was a standout tackle on both sides of the line before switching to offense in 2000. In 1999, he played for Florida State’s undefeated national championship team, which was led by famed coach Bobby Bowden.

He appeared in 12 games across two seasons after the Dallas Cowboys selected him in the seventh round of the 2001 NFL Draft, first with the Cowboys and then with the Houston Texans in 2002. In his debut season, he appeared in nine games.

After retiring from playing in 2003, he became a high school and middle school coach in Florida, not far from his childhood neighborhood.

Dorsey, according to coach Holloway, was a terrific source of support for the local youngsters.
“That’s what he always told the kids: all you have to do is work hard and you’ll make it. “But you must be willing to go through the fire,” he stated.

Dorsey had gone to Matthew Gilbert Middle School in his teens. He then became a coach at the school, where he helped establish a successful team that remained undefeated for nearly a decade, going 87-5 over ten seasons and winning three titles.

He was later recruited by Parker High School in 2018, after their team had been unsuccessful since 2008, and led them to a long-awaited district championship in 2019.

“He cared about the children. The children were his top priority. He fought hard for them. He set a terrific example as a man. “He could relate to the kids,” says Parker Athletic Director Brad Bernard.

“No kid could approach him and tell him something he didn’t understand. He could relate to them. I believe he saved some kids. … If a child approached him and said they were going through a difficult period, he urged them to persevere because he had been through it himself.

During his father’s tenure at Parker, C.J. Dorsey emerged as a standout player. He currently plays defensive back at Ferris State University in Michigan.