Perry Tuttle (born August 2, 1959) 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 ...

wide receiver. He was a Clemson football standout in the early 1980s. His career continued into 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 ...

(NFL) (

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. ...

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 ...

, and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

) and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) (

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

). Now, he is known for his inspirational speaking, sports marketing, and

sports ministry A sports ministry is a religious-sponsored organization that use sport to promote links between the religion and the broader population. Notable sports ministries include Athletes in Action (a ministry of Cru) and Fellowship of Christian Athlet ...

Early life

Perry Warren Tuttle was born on August 2, 1959 in

Lexington, North Carolina Lexington is the county seat of Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 18,931. It is located in central North Carolina, south of Winston-Salem. Major highways include I-85, I-85B, U ...

to Russell Samuel and Betty Mae Tuttle. He attended

North Davidson High School North Davidson High School (commonly referred to as "NDHS," or simply "North") is a public high school in Welcome, North Carolina (near Lexington). It was established in 1952 and is located along Old US Highway 52 in northern Davidson County. T ...

and was a standout player throughout his high school career. His successes in high school led to his recruitment by

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

College life

The prime of Tuttle's football career was during his three seasons (1978-1981) at Clemson University. As of the 2018 season, Tuttle ranks ninth all-time in school history for touchdown receptions with 17, sixth all-time for receiving yards with 2,534, and tenth all-time for receptions with 150. Tuttle caught the winning touchdown pass in the

1982 Orange Bowl The 1982 Orange Bowl was the 48th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Friday, January 1. Part of the 1981–82 bowl game season, it matched the top-ranked and undefeated Clemson Tigers o ...

, which secured the national championship for the Tigers. His celebration after the touchdown catch in the third quarter, arms outstretched above his head with ball in hand, made the cover of the January 11, 1982 edition of

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

with the caption, “Orange Bowl Hero Perry Tuttle of Clemson.” In 1991, Clemson added Tuttle to their Hall of Fame, and in 1996, he was named as a member of Clemson’s Centennial team. Later, in 1999, he was ranked by a panel of historians as the fourteenth-best player in Clemson football history.

NFL career

On April 27, 1982, Tuttle was selected in the first round (19th overall) of the

NFL draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

by the Buffalo Bills. Tuttle spent two seasons with the Bills, producing 24 receptions for 368 yards and three touchdowns. After his two seasons in with the Bills, his career in the NFL took a major decline; while in Atlanta, he only played in five games which led to only minimal stat production, one reception for seven yards.

CFL career

In 1986, Tuttle began his six-season career in the Canadian Football League with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Throughout his time with the Bombers, he caught 321 passes for 5,817 yards and 41 touchdowns. On November 25, 1990 at

BC Place Stadium BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located at the north side of False Creek, it is owned and operated by the BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), a crown corporation of the province. The venue is currently ...

in Vancouver, the Bombers defeated the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

50-11 to win the Grey Cup. In the third quarter of the game, Tuttle caught a 60-yard pass that later led to a five-yard touchdown catch. Two seasons after the Blue Bombers' championship win, Tuttle ended his football career and moved back to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

(Charlotte). A few years after his retirement, Tuttle was once again recognized for his outstanding football talent with an induction into the Winnipeg Blue Bomber Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Tuttle's nephew Shy Tuttle plays in the NFL for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

as a Defensive Tackle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuttle, Perry 1959 births Living people American football wide receivers Clemson Tigers football players Buffalo Bills players Atlanta Falcons players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players People from Lexington, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina