Cowboys’ ‘original 88’ Pearson savors hall nod
DALLAS (AP) – Drew Pearson celebrated his entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame with all three members of the first ballot of the class of 2021: Peyton Manning, Calvin Johnson and Charles Woodson.
The “Original 88” of the Dallas Cowboys didn’t care that he had to wait almost 40 years.
“I had to look over these first ballot guys and see if they were happier than me,” Pearson said. “You weren’t happier when I got in. You’re the first ballot, I’m 38 years later and I’m just as happy as you are, you are just as happy as me.”
A year earlier, Pearson wasn’t very happy at all.
The recipient, who caught the Hail Mary from Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach, was a finalist for the special 13-person centenary in 2020 and invited family, friends, and television cameras to his house for the announcement.
When he failed, Pearson tried to hide his anger and disappointment, but failed. He was alone a year later when it was revealed that he was the only finalist in the senior category, which was almost a guarantee that Pearson would be there.
Pearson wasn’t upset that it took longer than he thought it should be, recipient Terrell Owens avoided the inauguration ceremony in Canton three years ago. Pearson will be there for his on Sunday.
“You saw raw emotion, raw disappointment, raw heartache,” Pearson said of his 2020 reaction. “Thirty minutes later, I was fine. I wasn’t mad at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. How could you be mad at them? I stayed true to my faith and was patient. “
70-year-old Pearson and Cliff Harris, the former Dallas security guard who made the centenary, are the first undrafted cowboys among their 15 players in the Hall of Fame.
Pearson began his college career as a quarterback in Tulsa after replacing Joe Theismann, who later won a Super Bowl with Washington at South River High School in New Jersey.
Pearson, who was expected to start his junior season, asked his coaches to switch to the receiver because he thought this was his best chance to make it to the NFL. They agreed and he caught 55 passes over two seasons.
“It got pretty lonely out there at the wide receiver,” said Pearson. “With the quarterback, you touch the ball on every move. But I knew that if I played professional football it would be my natural position. “
After giving Pearson a $ 150 signature bonus, player HR director Gil Brandt made sure the rookie had an apartment next to the club’s training facility.
Pearson remembers seeing the parking lot from his balcony and making sure what Dustach’s car looked like. Both love to tell the story of all the balls Pearson caught in Staubach that 1973 off-season.
“We’re out there at the beginning and there’s this guy from Tulsa who said he was a former quarterback,” said Staubach, chuckling. “I could see after a few weeks that this guy was going to be a good football player.”
Pearson had 489 catches in the regular season before retiring in 1983, but his most famous was one of his 67 playoff grabs – the Staubach Hail Mary, who defeated Minnesota during the 1975 season.
The 50-yarder in the final seconds of a 17:14 win in the playoff opener – Vikings fans will forever say he ousted cornerback Nate Wright – led to the first of Pearson’s two Super Bowls, a 21:17 Losing to Pittsburgh.
Pearson’s championship came against Denver two years later.
“Drew has made one big game after another in so many games,” said Staubach, who made the hall in 1985 and will introduce Pearson. “Without the hands he had, he wouldn’t have played this game. He almost got it right on the hip. “
Pearson had 7,822 yards and 48 touchdowns over 11 seasons before the NFL became a pass-first division. He’s not in the club’s top 3 for career catches, yards, or touchdowns, but teammates always believed he belonged in the hall with his offensive 1970s teammates Staubach and star running back Tony Dorsett.
“After his career I let him look for wide receivers for me,” said Brandt, who had helped build the first Dallas dynasty with trainer Tom Landry and general manager Tex Schramm and who joined the hall two years ago. “I offered him a full-time job because he was so good at what he was doing. It was like a guy who’s been doing it all his life. “
Pearson isn’t the first “88” cowboy to make it into the hall – that’s Michael Irvin. He may not even be the most famous “88” – that could be Dez Bryant, who holds the club record for touchdown catches at 73.
Pearson isn’t the first in the hall from his high school either – this is South River lineman Alex Wojciechowicz, born in 1968 after 13 seasons with Detroit and Philadelphia from 1938 to 50.
Just like the long wait, none of that matters to Pearson now that he’s at it.
“Every single one of those Hall of Famers that are still with us, Cowboy Hall of Famers, came to me and said, ‘Welcome to the team,’” Pearson said. “Some of them said, ‘It is time.’ A couple of them said, ‘The team has gotten better now that you are back.’ So that’s pretty cool. “
And it’s probably worth the wait in gold, like in a jacket.
___
More AP-NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
[ad_1]