Dallas Cowboys legend Drew Pearson awaits 2021 Hall of Fame vote with guarded optimism
There should not be a viral disappointment video from Drew Pearson on Saturday.
Although he is most likely going to be overjoyed with excitement over finally being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame — he is the only candidate from the Senior Committee — the former Dallas Cowboys receiver has learned his lesson.
“I’m still nervous but I am not as hyped up as I was last time,” said Pearson, who flew to Tampa on Friday to be on hand for the unveiling of the Hall of Fame Class of 2021 at the site of Super Bowl LV. “I’m still just as excited. But I am being cautious. I am not taking anything for granted.”
Last January, Pearson, 70, invited family and friends, as well as a television crew, to his home in Plano to watch as the 15-person centennial slate for the class of 2020 was unveiled.
A Super Bowl champion and member of the 1970’s All-Decade Team, Pearson just knew his long wait for the Hall of Fame was finally over.
But when his name was not called, he lost it.
“They broke my heart,” a teary-eyed Pearson wailed in a video that nearly broke the internet. “They broke my heart. And they did it like this! They strung it out like this.”
There is no big party this time.
It will be just Pearson and his grandson, Kavika Pittman II, who is traveling to Tampa with him, waiting in his hotel room for the announcement.
Nothing is guaranteed but there are legitimate reasons for real confidence this time.
He is the only candidate on the ballot submitted by the Hall of Fame’s Senior Committee. Normally, those candidates are rubber-stamp selections, though Cowboys legend Bob Hayes was once denied as a senior candidate before eventually being inducted.
“I feel good,” Pearson said. “They only let you bring one guest and will be pretty much confined to the hotel room. They told us not to hang in the bar, lobby or restaurant due to the COVID precautions.”
Pearson has had his first COVID-19 vaccine shot. And he and his grandson have taken COVID tests as required by the NFL.
Pearson was with the Cowboys from 1973-1983. He played in 156 games, catching 489 passes for 7,822 yards and 48 touchdowns. He appeared in the Super Bowl three times, winning Super Bowl XII in 1978.
He’s the only member on the offense of the 1970s all-decade team not in the Hall of Fame.
He was the team’s all-time leader in pass receptions when he retired and still remains associated with some of the biggest plays in franchise history.
Pearson caught the famed “Hail Mary” from Roger Staubach to beat the Minnesota Vikings in the divisional playoff game in 1975.
Pearson, who was inducted in the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor in 2011, is worthy of the Hall of Fame.
That should come Saturday.
If it does, it will fittingly allow him to go into the Hall of Fame with safety Cliff Harris, a former Cowboys teammate and member of the 1970s All-Decade team who was selected last January when Pearson was turned away.
The 2020 Hall of Fame ceremony was canceled because of the pandemic. The Hall of Fame plans to have a joint celebration with both classes in 2021.
“Cliff and I were real close in our career because we were both undrafted rookie free agents,” Pearson said. “He was so disappointed when I didn’t get in. It’s crazy a year later I am having the opportunity to maybe get in and get inducted the same weekend as Cliff Harris. We are excited about it. We are happy for each other.”
For now, Pearson waits, albeit with guarded optimism.
