Perry Lee Dunn (January 20, 1941 – October 27, 2018), was a professional

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 wi ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

, for the

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 divi ...

, Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Colts. He played college football at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

Early years

Natchez High School Natchez High School is a public school in Natchez, Mississippi (USA). It is part of the Natchez-Adams School District and serves students in grades nine through twelve. About In 2005, it had 1358 students and 73 teachers. 88% of the students w ...

he started every game at

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

except his first one, only losing 4 games. He also played

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

, returner and punter. He competed in the

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

in track. As a senior, he rushed and passed for 2,609 yards, registered 20 rushing

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s, 14 passing

s and completed 59 percent of his passes. He was named the Big Eight Conference Outstanding Back in 1959. He finished his high school career with 2,895 rushing yards, 46 rushing

s, 2,822 passing yards, 38 passing

s and 1,097 return yards. He also set different school and state records. He received high school All-American, three-time All-Big Eight Conference quarterback, All-Southern and All-State honors.

College career

Dunn accepted a football scholarship from the

as a quarterback. In 1962, as a junior, he was moved to fullback because of the play of

Glynn Griffing Wilburn Glynn Griffing (born December 1, 1940 in Bentonia, Mississippi) is a former American football quarterback who played one season for the New York Giants in the National Football League. He played college football at the University of M ...

. The team would go on to have the only undefeated season in school history and shared the national championship with the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. He posted 262 rushing yards, 4 rushing

s, 41 receiving yards and averaged 36.8 yards punting. As a senior, he was named the starting

, registering 820 passing yards with 9

s and 5 interceptions in 8 games. He also led the team to an SEC title and received second-team All-SEC honors. He finished his college career with 1,820 all-purpose yards, 1,121 passing yards, 16 passing touchdowns, 563 rushing yards, 2 rushing touchdowns and 8 receptions for 97 yards.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Dunn was selected by the

in the fourth round (45th overall) of the

1964 NFL Draft The 1964 National Football League draft was held in Chicago, Illinois, at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers on Monday, December 2, 1963. The first overall pick was Dave Parks, an end from Texas Tech, selected by the San Francisco 49ers. The AFL ...

and by the San Diego Chargers in the third round (24th overall) of the 1964 AFL Draft. The Cowboys drafted him as a

, but after having problems playing the position in the

Chicago College All-Star Game The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League (NFL) champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year. It was also known as the ...

, head coach

Tom Landry Thomas Wade Landry (September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American professional football player and coach. He was the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL), a position he held for 29 seasons. Dur ...

decided that it would be best to switch him to halfback. As a rookie, he started the last 2 games of the season because of injuries. In 1965, he started 7 games at halfback.

Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons selected him from the Cowboys roster in the 1966 NFL Expansion Draft and moved him to fullback. He was traded to the Baltimore Colts in exchange for a draft choice (not exercised), before the start of the 1969 season.

Baltimore Colts

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 ...

, Dunn played in 5 games for the Baltimore Colts, before being waived injured on October 20, after he sprained his knee. His career as an active player ended when he was released by the Colts on September 1, 1970.

Personal life

On October 27, 2018, he died after battling an extended illness.

References

External links

Whatever happened to Perry Lee Dunn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Perry Lee 1941 births 2018 deaths Sportspeople from Natchez, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi American football running backs Ole Miss Rebels football players Dallas Cowboys players Atlanta Falcons players Baltimore Colts players