Raymond Newton Preston III (born June 12, 1982, in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He was drafted by the

in the fourth round of the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Early years

Preston graduated from Mt. Carmel High School in

, where he practiced football and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

College career

Preston accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Illinois 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 ...

. He was a three-year starter at center and only allowed one sack in his last two seasons. He started 35 straight games.

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Preston was selected by the

in the fourth round (122nd overall) of the

. He competed for the starting position to help fill the void left with the departure of

Trey Teague Fred Everette Teague III or Trey Teague (born December 27, 1974 in Jackson, Tennessee) is a former American football Center (American football), center. Teague was a seventh round pick out of the University of Tennessee in the 1998 NFL Draft by ...

. As a rookie, he played in all 16 games, starting one game for the injured

Chris Villarrial Chris Villarrial (born June 9, 1973) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania. He played professionally as an offensive guard with the Chicago Bear ...

, while playing on

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 substitu ...

. He was also named to The Sporting News All-Rookie Team. In 2006, Preston appeared in all 16 games for the Bills while starting in 8 of the contests. In 2007, Preston failed to start in any games for the Bills, but made appearances in 13 of the club's 16 games. In 2008, Preston started a career-high 11 games, all at center, sharing time with

Melvin Fowler Melvin Thaddeus Fowler, Jr. (born March 31, 1979) is a former American football center. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Maryland. Fowler has been a member of the Minne ...

. He has also played some guard and right tackle for the Bills making appearances in 15 of the teams 16 contests. During the four years Preston spent with the Bills, he appeared in 59 of the teams 64 contests while getting a starting nod in 20 of them. After the 2008 season, Preston became an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. In 2009, Preston and Fowler were replaced by

Geoff Hangartner Geoffrey Thomas Hangartner (born April 22, 1982) is a former American football guard for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Panthers in the fifth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college footb ...

Green Bay Packers

On March 30, 2009, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. He was released on August 25.

Dallas Cowboys

On August 26, 2009, he signed with the

, declining offers from the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

and

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. He was released on October 10, to make room for

Chauncey Washington Chauncey Jamal Tolbert Washington (born April 29, 1985) is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the New York Jets, St. Louis Rams, and Dallas Cowboys. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sevent ...

who was signed from the

practice 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, ...

. He was re-signed on October 12, after Washington was waived. He was declared inactive in 15 regular season games and 2 playoff games. On May 8, 2010, Preston announced his retirement from professional football.

Personal life

His father, Ray Preston, was a standout football player at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, and had a nine-year NFL career with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. He has one sister Casie currently living and teaching in Indianapolis. After football, he earned a master's degree in Christian Education from the

Dallas Theological Seminary Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) is an evangelical theology, theological seminary in Dallas, Texas. It is known for popularizing the theological system dispensationalism. DTS has campuses in Dallas, Houston, and Washington, D.C., as well as cont ...

. In 2013, he was hired as the program director for the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

's Student Welfare and Development. In 2015, he was hired by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

as the team's director of player engagement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, Duke 1982 births Living people Players of American football from San Diego American football offensive guards American football centers Illinois Fighting Illini football players Buffalo Bills players Dallas Cowboys players Dallas Theological Seminary alumni University of Notre Dame faculty