Drew Pearson (American football)
 Pearson in 2012 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | January 12, 1951 South River, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 184 lb (83 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | South River | ||||||||
| College: | Tulsa | ||||||||
| Undrafted: | 1973 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||
Drew Pearson (born January 12, 1951) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. He was elected for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.
Early years
Pearson was born and raised in South River, New Jersey,[1] and began his football career at South River High School as one of the wide receivers of Joe Theismann. As a junior, he succeeded Theismann as the starting quarterback.[2] He also lettered in baseball and basketball, graduating in 1969.
He accepted a football scholarship from the University of Tulsa. As a sophomore in 1970, he was the backup quarterback behind John Dobbs. He started four games, making 36 out of 86 completions (41.9%), for 423 passing yards, one touchdown and 5 interceptions.
As a junior in 1971, he was converted into a wide receiver. He was second on the team with 22 receptions for 429 yards. He led the team with an average of 19.5 yards per reception and 3 receiving touchdowns.
As a senior in 1972, he led a run-oriented offense with 33 receptions for 690 yards (20.9 yards per reception) and 5 touchdowns. He finished his college career with 55 receptions for 1,119 yards, 8 touchdowns and a 20.3-yard average per reception.
In 1985, he was inducted into the Tulsa Athletics Hall of Fame. In 1998, he received the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.[3]
Professional career
In
In 1974, Stowe asked to be traded and Pearson became the full-time starter opposite Golden Richards. He led the team with 62 receptions and 1,087 yards, while also catching 2 touchdowns. He would keep leading the team in receiving until 1978, when Tony Hill took over the number one role at wide receiver.
In
In
In 1982, he delivered a key downfield block during Tony Dorsett's NFL record 99-yard touchdown run.
In 1983, he passed Hayes as the franchise leader in receiving yards.
On March 22, 1984, at 1:30 a.m. Drew fell asleep while driving, and crashed his car against a parked tractor-trailer. Drew's brother Carey was killed; Drew himself sustained a career-ending liver injury in the crash.[6]
Pearson helped the Cowboys to three
He rose to become one of the NFL's greatest wide receivers, earning career records of 489
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. He was named The Football Digest NFL receiver of the year in 1977. He 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.
In 1984, he was named to the Dallas Cowboys' 25th-anniversary team.
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, although the update in 2016 where Drew was not on the list and was replaced by Randy White as #10 as well.
On August 19, 2011, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced that Pearson had been selected for inclusion into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. Pearson, Charles Haley and Larry Allen were inducted during the half-time show of the Cowboys-Seahawks game on November 6, 2011.[8]
The Professional Football Researchers Association named Pearson to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2010.[9]
Pearson was named as a senior finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the Class of 2020 as a part of its "Centennial Slate" of 20 senior finalists. However, he fell just shy of getting inducted. The following year, he was named the lone senior finalist for the class of 2021.[10]
On February 6, 2021, Pearson was named to the 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame class[11] and his bust was sculpted by Scott Myers.
NFL career statistics
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won the Super Bowl | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1973 | DAL | 14 | 6 | 22 | 388 | 17.6 | 40 | 2 |
| 1974 | DAL | 14 | 14 | 62 | 1,087 | 17.5 | 50 | 2 |
| 1975 | DAL | 14 | 14 | 46 | 822 | 17.9 | 46 | 8 |
| 1976 | DAL | 14 | 14 | 58 | 806 | 13.9 | 40 | 6 |
| 1977 | DAL | 14 | 14 | 48 | 870 | 18.1 | 67 | 2 |
| 1978 | DAL | 16 | 16 | 44 | 714 | 16.2 | 53 | 3 |
| 1979 | DAL | 15 | 14 | 55 | 1,026 | 18.7 | 56 | 8 |
| 1980 | DAL | 16 | 15 | 43 | 568 | 13.2 | 30 | 6 |
| 1981 | DAL | 16 | 15 | 38 | 614 | 16.2 | 42 | 3 |
| 1982 | DAL | 9 | 8 | 26 | 382 | 14.7 | 48 | 3 |
| 1983 | DAL | 14 | 13 | 47 | 545 | 11.6 | 32 | 5 |
| 156 | 143 | 489 | 7,822 | 16.0 | 67 | 48 | ||
Playoffs
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1973 | DAL | 2 | 2 | 4 | 111 | 27.8 | 83 | 2 |
| 1975 | DAL | 3 | 3 | 11 | 196 | 17.8 | 50 | 2 |
| 1976 | DAL | 1 | 1 | 3 | 38 | 12.7 | 22 | 0 |
| 1977 | DAL | 3 | 3 | 7 | 113 | 16.1 | 31 | 0 |
| 1978 | DAL | 3 | 3 | 10 | 167 | 16.7 | 39 | 0 |
| 1979 | DAL | 1 | 1 | 3 | 61 | 20.3 | 29 | 0 |
| 1980 | DAL | 3 | 3 | 11 | 165 | 15.0 | 23 | 3 |
| 1981 | DAL | 2 | 1 | 3 | 52 | 17.3 | 31 | 0 |
| 1982 | DAL | 3 | 3 | 13 | 153 | 11.8 | 35 | 1 |
| 1983 | DAL | 1 | 1 | 2 | 49 | 24.5 | 30 | 0 |
| 22 | 21 | 67 | 1,105 | 16.5 | 83 | 8 | ||
After the NFL
On April 28, 2017, Pearson was selected to announce a pick at the 2017 NFL draft, which took place at Philadelphia. Amidst boos from the Eagles fans in attendance, he announced Chidobe Awuzie as the 60th pick for the Cowboys.[12][13]
Personal life
Pearson is married to Marsha, a daughter of Harlem Globetrotters star Marques Haynes.[14]
References
- ^ The Ultimate New Jersey High School Year Book. 1998.
- ^ "Remembering South River". Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ "All-Time Honors Award Winners". Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- ^ "Stowe Suffers Broken Ankle". Retrieved February 19, 2016.
- ^ "Drew Pearson Is Big Cowboy Find". Retrieved February 19, 2016.
- ^ "Drew Pearson probably won't play for the Cowboys this year". Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ "Spagnola: Pearson's Hall Call Long Overdue".
- ^ Romo’s 2 TD passes lift Cowboys by Seahawks 23-13, Associated Press, published in Yahoo! News, November 6, 2011
- ^ "Hall of Very Good Class of 2010". Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
- ^ Williams, Charean (August 18, 2020). "Drew Pearson selected as senior finalist for Pro Football Hall of Fame". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
- ^ "Spagnola: Pearson's Hall Call Long Overdue".
- ^ "Drew Pearson trolls Philly at 2017 He enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021 Draft". LA Times. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
- ^ "Pearson vs. Akers: Who is the draft's troll king?". NFL. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ Latzke, Jeff (May 13, 2008). "Pearson, Casillas among hall of fame inductees". My Plainview. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
External links
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| National | |
