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Preston Pearson
Preston James Pearson (born January 17, 1945) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys. He played college basketball at the University of Illinois. Early years Pearson attended Freeport High School in Freeport, Illinois, where he received All-State honors as the center of the basketball team. He also competed in football and track. After writing a letter to head coach Harry Combes, he walked on at the University of Illinois. In college, he was moved to guard and became a two-year starter. He was known primarily for his tough defense and was one of the few players who ever blocked a " skyhook" shot by Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Although he possessed the athletic and leaping ability, he never developed his offensive game, finishing his career with a 6.7 point average in 47 games. As a senior, he was named a starter at guard, averaging 8.7 points and 6.0 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Running Back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense, rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and Blocking (American football), block. There are usually one or two running backs on the field for a given play, depending on the offensive formation. A running back may be a Halfback (American football), halfback (in certain contexts also referred to as a "tailback" — see #Halfback/tailback, below), a wingback (American football), wingback or a Fullback (American football), fullback. A running back will sometimes be called a "feature back" if he is the team's starting running back. Halfback/tailback The halfback (HB) or tailback (TB) position is responsible for carrying the ball on the majority of running plays, and may frequently be used as a receiver on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Illinois At Urbana–Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University of Illinois system and was founded in 1867. Enrolling over 56,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the University of Illinois is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the country. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". In fiscal year 2019, research expenditures at Illinois totaled $652 million. The campus library system possesses the second-largest university library in the United States by holdings after Harvard University. The university also hosts the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and is home to the fastest supercomputer on a university campus. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Teams
In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitutions", meaning that they may change any number of players during any "dead ball" situation. This has resulted in the development of three task-specific "platoons" of players within any single team: the offense (the team with possession of the ball, which is trying to score), the defense (the team trying to prevent the other team from scoring, and to take the ball from them), and the so-called 'special teams' (who play in all kicking situations). Within these three separate "platoons", various positions exist depending on the jobs that the players are doing. Offense In American football, the offense is the team that has possession of the ball and is advancing toward the opponent's end zone to score points. The eleven players of the offen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxi Squad
In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scout team by emulating an upcoming opponent's play style. Because the players on the practice squad are familiar with the team's plays and formations, the practice squad serves as a way to develop inexperienced players for promotion to the main roster. This is particularly important for professional gridiron football teams, which do not have formal minor league farm team affiliates to train players. In addition, it provides replacement players for the main roster when players are needed as the result of injuries or other roster moves, such as bereavement leave. National Football League History During the 1940s, Cleveland Browns coach Paul Brown invented the "taxi squad," a group of promising scouted players who did no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defensive Back
In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the defensive linemen who play directly on the line of scrimmage, and the linebackers, who play in the middle of the defense, between the defensive line and the defensive backs. Among the defensive backs, there are two main types, cornerbacks, which play nearer the line of scrimmage and the sideline, whose main role is to cover the opposing team's wide receivers, and the Safety (gridiron football position), safeties, who play further back near the center of the field, and who act as the last line of defense. American defensive formations usually includes two of each, a left and right cornerback, as well as a strong safety and a free safety, with the free safety tending to play further back than the strong safety. In Canadian football, which ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virginia. Its newspaper is printed at 37 sites across the United States and at five additional sites internationally. The paper's dynamic design influenced the style of local, regional, and national newspapers worldwide through its use of concise reports, colorized images, Infographic, informational graphics, and inclusion of popular culture stories, among other distinct features. With an average print circulation of 159,233 as of 2022, a digital-only subscriber base of 504,000 as of 2019, and an approximate daily readership of 2.6 million, ''USA Today'' is ranked as the first by circulation on the list of newspapers in the United States. It has been shown to maintain a generally center-left audience, in regards to political persuasion. ''US ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1967 NFL Draft
The 1967 National Football League draft was conducted March 14–15, 1967, at the Gotham Hotel in New York City. It was the first common draft with the AFL, part of the AFL–NFL merger agreement of June 1966. This draft was delayed as new guidelines were established; redshirt (or "future") players were no longer eligible. It began on a Tuesday in mid-March; the previous two years the leagues held their separate drafts on the final Saturday of November, immediately following the college football regular season. The expansion New Orleans Saints were initially awarded the first overall pick of the draft. The Saints traded the pick to the Baltimore Colts, who used it to select defensive end Bubba Smith. Player selections Round one Round two Round three Round four Round five Round six Round seven Round eight Round nine Round ten Round eleven Round twelve Round thirteen Round fourteen Round fifteen Round sixteen Round seventeen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim Abdel Aziz, Egyptian actor * Karim Abdul-Jabbar (later known as Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar), American football player * Prince Karim Aga Khan, Imām of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims * Karim Ansarifard, Iranian football player * Karim Azizou, Moroccan footballer * Karim Bagheri, Iranian footballer * Karim Bangoura, Guinean diplomat * Karim Benounes, Algerian footballer * Karim Benzema, French footballer * Karim Boudiaf, Algerian-Qatari footballer * Karim Dahou, Moroccan footballer * Karim Djeballi, French footballer * Karim Haggui, Tunisian footballer * Karim Garcia, baseball player * Karim Gazzetta (1995–2022), Swiss footballer * Karim Haddad, Lebanese composer * Karim Keïta, Malian politician * Karim Kerkar, Algerian footballer * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hook Shot
In basketball, a hook shot is a play in which the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball with a sweeping motion of the arm farther from the basket in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends over his head. Unlike the jump shot, it is shot with only one hand; the other arm is often used to create space between the shooter and the defensive player. The shot is quite difficult to block, but few players have mastered the shot more than a few feet from the basket. The hook shot was reportedly performed for the first time in official games in Eurobasket 1937 by Pranas Talzūnas, a member of the eventual champions, the Lithuania basketball team. Former Harlem Globetrotter Goose Tatum is often credited with inventing the hook shot; he even shot them without looking at the basket. The hook shot later became a staple of many players in the National Basketball Association (NBA), including notable stars such as George Mikan, Kareem Abdul- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shooting Guard
The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's main objective is to score points for their team and steal the ball on defense. Some teams ask their shooting guards to bring up the ball as well; these players are known colloquially as combo guards. A player who can switch between playing shooting guard and small forward is known as a swingman. In the NBA, shooting guards usually range from to while in the WNBA, shooting guards tend to be between and . Characteristics and styles of play ''The Basketball Handbook'' by Lee Rose describes a shooting guard as a player whose primary role is to score points. As the name suggests, most shooting guards are good long-range shooters, typically averaging 35–40 percent from three-point range. Many shooting guards are also strong and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walk-on (sports)
A walk-on, in American and Canadian college athletics, is an athlete who becomes part of a team without being recruited and awarded an athletic scholarship. A team's walk-on players are normally the weakest players and relegated to the scout team, and may not even be placed on the official depth chart or traveling team, while the scholarship players are the team's main players. However, a walk-on player occasionally becomes a noted member of the team. General parameters *Because of scholarship limits instituted by the NCAA, many football teams do not offer scholarships to their punters, long snappers and kickers until they have become established producers. *Sometimes injury or outside issues can ravage the depth chart of a particular position, resulting in the elevation of a walk-on to a featured player. *In other situations, a walk-on may so impress the coaching staff with their play on the scout team and in practice that they are rewarded with a scholarship and made a pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Combes
Harry Combes (March 3, 1915 – November 13, 1977), a native of Monticello, Illinois, served as head men's basketball coach at University of Illinois between 1947 and 1967. Biography Combes played high school basketball for Monticello High School, where he led his teams to an overall combined record of 72–9. A three-year letterwinner, Combes was also a star player for the Illini from 1935 to 1937 and helped lead Illinois to both its Big Ten titles in the 1930s. Combes began coaching basketball at Champaign High School, where he posted an astounding 254–46 record, including winning the state title in 1946. Beyond the single championship, Combes led Champaign Central to seven state tournament appearances in nine years from 1939 to 1947. During that time the ''Maroons'' captured fourth place in 1940 and 1944 before starting three years of amazing runs to the championship game where they finished second in 1945, first in 1946, and second in 1947. In 2007, the Illinois High S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
