By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com
February is Black History Month and in celebration of the month, FightingIllini.com will be featuring a storytelling series of influential and impactful stories of African American student-athletes and coaches.
Tab Bennett: Trailblazer on Gridiron and Media
Tyra Perry: Big Ten's only African American Softball Head Coach
Believer: NFL Great Preston Pearson Starts with Humble Beginnings
Legacy: Jonelle Polk McCloud: Teaching Life Lessons Through Basketball
The Education of Morris Virgil
Govoner Vaughn: Illinois's Groundbreaking Star
Moe Gardner: Helping Scholars Study the African Diaspora
A former Fighting Illini basketball player is the answer to an intriguing sports trivia question.
Which National Football League star never played college football, yet participated in five Super Bowls?
As fascinating a story as that is, the tale of how Illini hoopster Preston Pearson eventually made it to the University of Illinois and then to the NFL is equally interesting. Young Preston's introduction to sports in Freeport, Illinois was simple and certainly unsophisticated.
"I can remember playing all kinds of sports in our neighborhood," said the former Freeport native who celebrated his 75th birthday on January 17th. "Most of the time we had to make do with whatever we could find. I remember putting up a backboard and hoop on a U.S. Postal Service pole in my front yard. We rolled up socks just to have something that resembled a basketball. I recall us playing golf. We went out and carved up some sticks that had a little hook on it and used rolled up socks (as the ball). We dug a hole somewhere nearby and called it playing golf. We called our team the Third Ward Gang—and the word gang doesn't mean what it does today. It just meant a group of guys in the neighborhood. Shuffleboard, marbles, you name it, we played it."
At Freeport High School, Preston and his older brother, Rufus Jr., were, for most their careers, the only African American student-athletes. Rufus was so talented that then Illini coach Pete Elliott recruited him to play football. Preston tagged along on the recruiting trip down to Champaign-Urbana. Unfortunately, Rufus's grades weren't good enough for entry into the University of Illinois, so he eventually ended up at Southern Illinois University.
A handful of scholarship offers came Pearson's way—including one from Bowling Green who featured Nate Thurmond and Howard Komives—but, alas, not one inquiry came from the Illini. Finally, in an act of desperation to get noticed by Illinois basketball coach Harry Combes, Pearson sent a letter to Champaign and hoped that he'd get a response. A couple of weeks later, his prayers were answered.
"The letter said something to the effect of 'come on down and sit down with us,'" Pearson said. "'We'll see about possibly getting you a half scholarship.' I really wasn't sure what that meant. I got room and board and maybe something else, but I knew it wouldn't be enough."
Totally focused and determined, Preston hit the streets and landed multiple odd jobs.
"I had paper routes, I shoveled snow, and I had a job in the Freeport Park system," he remembered. "I just worked my butt off to make ends meet, but it still wasn't enough."
Occasionally, Illini basketball practices would go long, and the cafeterias would close before Pearson could have his dinner. He frequently found himself going hungry. Understandably, that caused some hard feelings between he and his head coach, sentiments that he still harbors today.
"I was working hard and trying to stay in school but I was starving, and, honestly, I resented that," Pearson said.
On the basketball court, the 6-1, 193-pound defensive specialist embraced his role as the team's 'stopper'. Week after week, game after game, No. 25 was assigned to guard the Illini opponent's top offensive player. Michigan's Cazzie Russell. Purdue's Rick Mount. Indiana's Van Arsdale twins.
A defensive specialist, Preston Pearson was always assigned to the Illini opponent's best offensive scorer.
But it was a play against UCLA superstar Lew Alcindor (aka Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in January of 1967 at old Chicago Stadium that would ultimately provide Preston Pearson with his biggest break.
"It was a few games after the scandal came down (in December of 1966)," he said. "Rich Jones and Ron Dunlap and Steve Kuberski were taken away and that crippled our team. Dave Scholz was 6-7 and he was trying to play Kareem from behind. For some reason or another, I just decided that I was going to block one of Kareem's famous hook shots. I'm not sure if I blocked it slightly from behind, but the bottom line is that I got it!"
Noticing Pearson's amazing jumping ability, an NFL scout's attention decided that the Illini senior's athleticism and toughness might make him a good candidate to play professional football. A few weeks later, Coach Don Shula's Baltimore Colts surprised Pearson by making him their 12th-round pick in the NFL Draft. In pre-season practices, he now had to prove to the Colts that they'd made a wise choice.
"I was scared to death," chuckled Pearson, who hadn't strapped on football pads since his senior year at Freeport High. "Let me tell you, there's a big difference between playing high school football and playing pro football. Anyone who says there isn't a difference is full of $#%!. However, I felt that my athleticism compared to anybody. I was a damn good athlete in any sport I played. If you teach me how to play it, give me some time to practice, I always felt that I could contend with anybody."
Pearson made the Colts' roster initially as a defensive back, but coaches took notice of his massive hands and transformed him into a pass-catching running back and kick returner.
Among the players on the star-laden roster that included future Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore and John Mackey, Pearson said he learned the most from legendary receiver Raymond Berry.
"Raymond was meticulous in everything he did," he said. "He worked on his routes before practice, during practice, and after practice. I caught on to that and did the same thing as I went into my career. He didn't have the greatest physical gifts, but the guy was always into the play book. He put in the work before, during and after practices. He was always taking notes in his playbook. Raymond really set the tone for me. Every once in a while, he would write something in the palm of his hand. He wrote the letters W-B-I-H. I thought it was the call letters for a radio station or something. Later, he told me W-B-I-H stood for Watch Ball Into Hands."
Preston Pearson (26) receives the play from Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry in Super Bowl XII. (Associated Press)
During a 14-year NFL career that included stops with the Colts (1967-69), the Pittsburgh Steelers (1970-74) and Dallas Cowboys, and that saw him gain 3,609 yards as a runner, 3,095 as a receiver and 2,801 as a returner, Pearson joined a truly exclusive club by playing in an incredible five Super Bowls. He won championships rings in Super Bowls IX and X with Pittsburgh, and in Super Bowl XII with Dallas.
"I'm very proud to be the first player in NFL history to play with three different teams in a total of five Super Bowls," Pearson said. "And I played for three of the best coaches (Shula, Chuck Noll with the Steelers, and Tom Landry with the Cowboys). No one else can claim that."
His catch against the Minnesota Vikings in 1976 made the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Pearson appeared on the cover of the Jan. 5, 1976 Sports Illustrated magazine.
Following his retirement from the NFL in 1980, Pearson partnered with promoter Janie Tilford to form Pro-Style Associates, an organization that matched celebrity athletes with corporate events.
In May of 2017, he was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
"That really stoked me," Pearson said. "For me, that's better than being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame."
With his business career now in the rearview mirror, the longtime Dallas resident cherishes the company of his two sons and four grandchildren.
"They're gifted with good looks and great brains," he smiled.
