John Witherspoon McDowall (June 26, 1905 – May 25, 1969), known as "Spindle Legs", was an American football, baseball, basketball player and track athlete at North Carolina State University.

"Shorty" Lawrence, a Floridian coaching in North Carolina, offered him the chance to play at Rockingham for $25 a week.

[3][4] McDowall is the only man to twice win the Norris Cup, and once held the North Carolina state record in the high jump.

[5] He is best known as North Carolina State's first All-Southern running back, and its first inductee to the College Football Hall of Fame.

He later coached at Asheville High School, and was athletic director of Rollins College in his native state of Florida for 29 years.

[9][10] In 1952, he successfully ran as a Democrat for Orange County commissioner on a platform consisting of pro-business administration, better roads, country beautification, the Sports Fishermen's Program, and conservation.