Donald Anthony Perkins (March 4, 1938 – June 9, 2022) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. 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 ...

at the University of New Mexico.

Early years

Born and raised in Waterloo, Iowa, Perkins earned eight letters for Waterloo West High School, four each in

and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

(sprinter). He also played basketball. Perkins captained the

team by the time he was a junior. In 1955, his football team went undefeated and Perkins made the first All-state team as a halfback, while playing both offense and defense. He was president of the student body during his senior year.

College career

Perkins played

at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he played halfback and

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 ...

as a two-way player. He was a three-time All- Skyline selection and the Skyline Sophomore of the Year. In 1958, he led the nation in

kickoff returns A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

. In

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

he received third-team All-American honors. The head coach at New Mexico was future Hall of Famer

Marv Levy Marvin Daniel Levy (; born August 3, 1925) is an American former football coach and executive who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for seventeen seasons. He spent most of his head coaching career with the Buffalo Bills, lea ...

, who has stated in several occasions that Perkins was one of the greatest players he ever coached. He also mentioned him in his Hall of Fame induction speech in

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

. Perkins set 12 records as a three-year halfback starter. The school retired his number (43) when he completed his career – a first in UNM history. He ranks 14th in the Lobos' career rushing list with 2,001 yards. He was inducted into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame and the University of New Mexico Hall of Honor.

Professional career

The Dallas Cowboys franchise was admitted to the league too late to participate in the

1960 NFL draft The 1960 National Football League Draft in which NFL teams take turns selecting amateur college American football players and other first-time eligible players, was held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on November 30, 1959. Many players, in ...

in November 1959, so they signed Perkins to a personal-services contract for a $1,500 bonus and a $10,000 salary. This meant he would play for the Cowboys if and when they received an NFL franchise. Although he was selected in the ninth round of the NFL draft by the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

, the league honored the contract, but made the Cowboys compensate the Colts with a ninth-round draft pick (#116-Roy Walker) in the

1962 NFL draft The 1962 National Football League draft was held on December 4, 1961 at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The Washington Redskins used the first overall pick of the draft to select running back Ernie Davis, then subsequently traded him ...

. Perkins sat out the entire

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

season with a broken foot (fifth metatarsal) he suffered in training camp, so he began playing with the Cowboys in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

as a rookie. He lacked long-distance speed, but made up for it with outstanding quickness and balance. He finished with 815 rushing yards (sixth among league leaders) and 4 touchdowns, earning NFL rookie of the year and Pro Bowl honors. Not only was Perkins considered a superb blocker, he also finished in the NFL's top 10 rushing in each of his eight seasons in the league. On September 24, 1961, he became the first running back in Cowboys' history to run for 100 yards in a game, when he rushed for 108 yards on 17 carries against the expansion Minnesota Vikings. Perkins's best year was in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

, when he rushed for 945 yards and seven touchdowns, becoming the first Cowboy to make the All-Pro team. He was coming off his two best all-around seasons when he decided to retire prior to the

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

season. Even though he played the

position at and , his ten career 100-yard games ranks fourth in club history, he led the Dallas Cowboys in rushing in six of his eight seasons, also led them in touchdowns in four of his eight seasons. He ranks fourth on the Cowboys' all-time rushing yards list (behind

Emmitt Smith Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. Among other accolades, he is the lea ...

, Tony Dorsett, and Ezekiel Elliott), and fifth on the rushing touchdowns list, behind Smith, Dorsett, Marion Barber III, and Elliott. He was selected to six Pro Bowls and to one All-Pro team, while gaining a reputation in the NFL for his courage and resolve on some of worst teams in Dallas Cowboys history. In

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

, he helped end the Cowboys practice of segregating players when traveling to hotels. "Perkins was in the toughest times", Tom Landry once told NFL Films: "The guy was a remarkable runner, a great pass blocker and one of the best players in our history." Walt Garrison, who replaced him in the starting lineup, once said, "Don Perkins was the best fullback the Dallas Cowboys ever had". Perkins retired at the end of 1968 having led all active players in rushing yards since the retirement of Jim Taylor, and was fifth in NFL history with 6,217. He was inducted into the

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...

at Texas Stadium alongside his quarterback Don Meredith in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

. Only Bob Lilly was inducted ahead of them, in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. In 2006, he was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. The

Professional Football Researchers Association The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by writer/hist ...

named Perkins to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2016

Personal life and death

Perkins was a football analyst for CBS Sports, ABC Sports, and other television and radio networks. He was the director of the Work Incentive Program for the State of New Mexico Department of Human Services from 1972 to 1985. He served on both the Executive board of US West and the

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

for University Hospital from 1990 to 1993. He was a member of the Northwest Mesa Branch of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

. A father of four children and grandfather of eleven, Perkins was active in local theater, public speaking, and broadcasting at the local and national levels. He retired in the city of Albuquerque. Perkins died June 9, 2022 at the age of 84.Ring of Honor Member Don Perkins Passes Away
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References

External links