Dawkins attended the United States Military Academy, where he played as halfback on the Army Cadets football team from 1956 to 1958. As a senior in 1958 he won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and was a consensus All-America selection. After graduating from the Military Academy in 1959, he studied at the University of Oxford as Rhodes Scholar. Dawkins served as an officer in the United States Army until he retired in 1983 with the rank of brigadier general.

This Army mini helmet is signed by Dawkins and inscribed "Heisman '58." It includes a JSA sticker and COA.