Drew Pearson (American football)

Drew Pearson
No. 88
Position: Wide receiver
Personal information
Date of birth: (1951-01-12) January 12, 1951
Place of birth: South River, New Jersey
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight: 184 lb (83 kg)
Career information
High school: South River (NJ)
College: Tulsa
Undrafted: 1973
Career history
As player:
As coach:
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Receptions: 489
Receiving yards: 7,822
Touchdowns: 48
Player stats at NFL.com

Drew Pearson (born January 12, 1951) is a sportscaster and former American football wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League.

Early years

Pearson was born and raised in South River, New Jersey,[1] and began his football career at South River High School where he succeeded Joe Theismann as quarterback, graduating in 1969.[2]

Pearson attended the University of Tulsa and started four games at quarterback as a sophomore, before being converted to wide receiver prior to the 1971 season. He caught 22 passes for 429 yards and three touchdowns his junior season. As a senior, he led the run-oriented Golden Hurricane with 33 receptions for 690 yards and 3 touchdowns. During his college career he caught 55 passes for 1,119 yards, six touchdowns and had a 20.3 yard average per reception.

Pearson received the university's President's Award as the team's "best spirited and most unselfish" member. In 1985, he was inducted into the Tulsa Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

In 1973, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys, where he rose to become one of the NFL's greatest wide receivers, earning career records of 489 receptions and 7,822 receiving yards, along with 189 rushing yards, 155 yards returning kickoffs, and 50 touchdowns (48 receiving and two fumble recoveries). Pearson was named one of the Top 20 Pro Football All-Time wide receivers, he was also recognized for his achievements by being named to the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team.

Pearson was named All-Pro three times (1974, 1976–77) All-NFC in 1975 and second Team All-NFC in 1978. In addition, Pearson was a Pro Bowler in 1974, 1976 and 1977. Pearson led the National Football Conference (NFC) in pass receptions in 1976 with 58. He served as offensive captain for the Cowboys in 1977, 1978, 1982 and 1983.

He helped the Cowboys to three Super Bowl appearances and a victory in Super Bowl XII in 1978. He also scored a touchdown in Super Bowl X.

In 1979, he and Tony Hill—along with Tony Dorsett—helped the Cowboys become the first team in NFL history to have two 1,000-yards wide receivers and a 1,000-yard running back, when he recorded 55 receptions, 1,026 yards and 8 touchdowns. Pearson and Hill also became the first wide receiver tandem in Cowboys history, to record 1,000-yard receiving seasons in the same year.

In 1980, the Cowboys selected Pearson as their nominee for NFL Man of the Year. Pearson is known as "Mr. Clutch" for his numerous clutch catches in game-winning situations, especially the "Hail Mary" reception from Roger Staubach that sealed the victory in a 1975 playoff game, one of the most famous plays in NFL history. He also caught the game-sealing touchdown in 1973 playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams and the game-winning touchdown pass from reserve quarterback Clint Longley in the 1974 Thanksgiving game against the Washington Redskins. All three of those plays were named among the Top 75 plays in NFL history by NFL Films in 1994. All were included on a video/DVD by that name. In addition in the 1980 playoff game at Atlanta, Pearson's clutch receptions helped win that game in a comeback by the Cowboys. In the 1981 NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers, Pearson almost rendered "The Catch" irrelevant when, in the waning moments of the game, he caught a long pass from Danny White that would've gone for a touchdown and won the game for the Cowboys had 49ers cornerback Eric Wright not made a one-handed tackle, stopping him just outside field-goal range (White fumbled on the next play, thus preserving victory for the 49ers and putting them in Super Bowl XVI). In 2009, on the NFL Network show "NFL's Top 10", in the episode titled "Greatest Dallas Cowboys", he is number 10 on the list.

On March 1984 he fell asleep while driving his Dodge Daytona, causing a crash against a parked tractor-trailer. The accident ended his younger brother’s (Carey Pearson) life and forced him to retire from the internal injuries he suffered.

His career accomplishments left such a mark with the Dallas Cowboys, that his number 88 jersey is reserved for the best talent at wide receiver. Hall of Famer Michael Irvin and Dez Bryant have worn it.

On August 19, 2011 Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced that Pearson had been selected for inclusion into the highly prestigious Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. Pearson, Charles Haley and Larry Allen were inducted during the half-time show of the Cowboys-Seahawks game Sunday, November 6, 2011.[3]Pearson has been snubbed by the "HALL OF FAME" for years; his career numbers surely outshine those of twice Super Bowl opponent Lynn Swann who was voted in to the "HALL" in 2001.

The Professional Football Researchers Association named Pearson to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2010 [4]

After the NFL

References

  1. ↑ Zipay, Steve. "Pearson to Lend Area X-Men / Ex-Cowboys great named NY / NJ general manager", Newsday, August 4, 2000. Accessed March 20, 2011. "[Drew Pearson], who was named vice president and general manager of the yet-unnamed New York/New Jersey XFL franchise that will play five home games in East Rutherford next winter, grew up in South River, a half-hour ride down the Jersey Turnpike."
  2. ↑ The Ultimate New Jersey High School Year Book. 1998.
  3. ↑ Romo’s 2 TD passes lift Cowboys by Seahawks 23-13, Associated Press, published in Yahoo! News, November 6, 2011
  4. ↑ "Hall of Very Good Class of 2010". Retrieved November 23, 2016.
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