[1][2] He was a part of Houston's Yates High School football team when it won the 1985 5A state championship.

Dotson played college football for the Baylor Bears, earning unanimous All-American honors in 1991.

He was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round of the 1992 NFL draft.

[3] He won the 1992 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as he registered 10 sacks and then played in two Super Bowls with the Green Bay Packers.

Santana Dotson also has a nephew, Alonzo Dotson, who played for the Oklahoma Sooners, then was picked up as a free agent by the Washington Redskins, whom now in his 4th season with the New York Jets as a College Area Scout (South East) after spending 5 seasons with the Green Bay Packers as an area Scout.