Damon Dunn

Damon Jerrel Dunn (born March 15, 1976) is an American politician, minister, and retired football player. Dunn was the Republican nominee for California Secretary of State in 2010.

Early life
Dunn was born in 1976 in Fort Worth, Texas to a 16-year-old mother, Ramona Dunn. When Dunn was three years old his father, Texas Longhorns starting wide receiver, Mike Lockett, was killed in a car accident. Dunn grew up in a trailer on his grandparents' farm. Dunn was an honor student in Sam Houston High School in Arlington, Texas and an All-State Texas football player.

College
After high school Dunn attended Stanford University on a football scholarship after being recruited by Bill Walsh. Dunn also ran track at Stanford. At Stanford Dunn was coached by Tyrone Willingham and Dunn has said he viewed him as a father figure, having grown up without a male role model in his life. While at Stanford Dunn set numerous records and was awarded a NCAA Academic Scholarship, All-Pac-10 Honors and Academic All-Pac-10 Honors, and the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Award. During his career at Stanford Dunn participated as a associate pastor in the Jerusalem Baptist Church, where he managed youth ministries.

NFL career
Dunn graduated from Stanford in 1998 with a degree in public policy. He was not picked in the 1998 NFL Draft. The season after he graduated from Stanford, Dunn was on the practice squad of the National Football League team Jacksonville Jaguars. Dunn then played for the Cleveland Browns in 1999. The next year, Dunn played in the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe, the New York Jets of the NFL, and the Browns in 2000. In 2001, Dunn played for the XFL team Los Angeles Xtreme; the XFL folded after that season. Dunn joined Dallas Cowboys training camp before the 2001 NFL season. He left the NFL after being injured there.

Other ventures
After retiring from the NFL, Dunn co-founded a successful real estate company doing work across the country.

Secretary of State candidacy
In 2009, Dunn announced that he would run for California Secretary of State as a Republican, challenging incumbent Democrat Debra Bowen. Additionally, the Los Angeles Sentinel quoted Dunn: "There are a lot of African Americans that are conservative fiscally and socially as well, but we don't have the welcoming face in the Republican Party." In the May 2009 special election, Dunn voted for the first time; he voted against all of the budget propositions 1A through 1E. While playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Dunn registered to vote as a Democrat in 1999; that registration expired in 2005.

The San Francisco Chronicle endorsed Dunn for the June 2010 primary. Ronnie Lott, a Hall of Fame NFL player, endorsed Dunn the following month. In the election, which took place on November 2, 2010, Bowen won with 53.1% of the vote; Dunn finished with 38.6%; Dunn won his home county of Orange, with 54.1% of the vote.

Personal life
While in the NFL, Dunn worked with the Make-a-Wish Foundation visiting kids with terminal diseases. Dunn started the Fighting Giants Ministry that ministers to children with life changing injuries. Dunn has also worked with St. Augustine Soup Kitchen, the Cops-N-Kids program and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Dunn served as president of his local Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter and has spoken nationally at FCA events. Dunn is also a licensed Baptist minister and a member of Antioch Church of Long Beach. He lives in Long Beach, California.