Gregory Donald Pruitt (born August 18, 1951) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) from 1973 through 1984. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

. Pruitt was selected to five Pro Bowls, four as a member of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

and one as a member of the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural ...

, the last one as a

kick returner 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 positio ...

. He was also part of the Raiders'

Super Bowl XVIII Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XVII champion 1983 Washington Redskins season, Washington Redskins and t ...

winning team, beating the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

College career

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

offensive line coach Bill Michael liked to recruit players from B.C. Elmore High School, where he recruited Pruitt. Pruitt was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

at the University of Oklahoma in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

and

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, and was also named All-Big 8 in 1971 and 1972. He ranks third among Sooners in career all-purpose yards. Pruitt gained 3,122 rushing yards, 491 receiving yards, 139 yards on punt returns and 679 yards returning kickoffs. In total, he scored 41 career touchdowns as a Sooner. He came in second in

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

voting in 1972, and third in 1971.2072 Heisman Trophy Voting
, Sports Reference LLC, accessed May 10, 2013.
, Sports Reference LLC, accessed May 10, 2013. An African-American, Pruitt was one of the first Black Sooners players to achieve All-American status. He established himself as Oklahoma's best player during a time when other Southern Universities had not fully desegregated their Football teams. However, the Big Eight conference (which Oklahoma was a part of) established itself as the best collegiate football conference in the country by the start of the 1970s: each team was fully integrated, and much of their success owed largely to their Black players. Pruitt's performance against

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

schools

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and Auburn in the 1970 Astro-Bluebonnett Bowl and 1972 Sugar Bowls, respectively, helped accelerate each team's integration expanding their recruitment of Black players.

Professional career

Despite his stellar college career, concerns about his lack of size (he entered the draft at just 177 pounds) led to him not being drafted until Cleveland selected him with the 30th pick of the second round. Pruitt played his first nine seasons in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns, leading the team in rushing five times and recording three 1,000 yard seasons. Shortly before the 1982 season, Pruitt was traded to the Los Angeles Raiders for an 11th round draft pick. He played his final three NFL seasons with the Raiders, used mainly as a

return specialist 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 positio ...

. In 1983, he led the league in punt returns (58), punt return yards (666, an NFL record), punt return touchdowns (1), and longest punt return (97 yards) as the team went on to win an NFL championship in

. Pruitt finished his career with 5,672 rushing yards, 3,069 receiving yards, 47 total touchdowns, and 13,262 all-purpose yards. In 1979, Pruitt won

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

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, an all-around sports competition that pits elite athletes from different sports against one another in a series of athletic events resembling a

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

. In 1991, Pruitt competed in the sports-entertainment TV game show, American Gladiators.br>9

Legacy

In 1999, he was inducted to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

. The "Greg Pruitt rule" established tear-away jerseys as illegal.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pruitt, Greg Living people 1951 births All-American college football players American Conference Pro Bowl players American football running backs Cleveland Browns players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Los Angeles Raiders players Oklahoma Sooners football players Oklahoma Sooners men's track and field athletes Players of American football from Houston Players of American football from Shaker Heights, Ohio