View source for Greg Pruitt

{{Short description|American football player (born 1951)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| image       = Greg Pruitt in 1975.jpg
| caption     = Pruitt in 1975
| name        = Greg Pruitt
| number      = 34
| position    = [[Running back]]
| birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1951|8|18}}
| birth_place = [[Houston|Houston, Texas]], U.S.
| death_date  =
| height_ft   = 5
| height_in   = 10
| weight_lbs  = 190
| high_school = [[B.C. Elmore High School|B.C. Elmore (TX)]]
| college     = [[Oklahoma Sooners football|Oklahoma]] (1970–1972)
| draftyear   = 1973
| draftround  = 2
| draftpick   = 30
| pastteams   =
*[[Cleveland Browns]] ({{NFL Year|1973}}–{{NFL Year|1981}})
*[[Los Angeles Raiders]] ({{NFL Year|1982}}–{{NFL Year|1984}})
| highlights  =
*[[Super Bowl champion]] ([[Super Bowl XVIII|XVIII]])
*5× [[Pro Bowl]] ([[1974 Pro Bowl|1973]], [[1975 Pro Bowl|1974]], [[1977 Pro Bowl|1976]], [[1978 Pro Bowl|1977]], [[1984 Pro Bowl|1983]])
*[[Cleveland Browns#Cleveland Browns legends|Cleveland Browns Legends]]
*2× [[List of unanimous All-Americans in college football|Unanimous All-American]] ([[1971 College Football All-America Team|1971]], [[1972 College Football All-America Team|1972]])
* [[Big Eight Conference football#Player of the Year|Big Eight Player of the Year]] (1971)
* 2× First-team All-[[Big Eight Conference|Big Eight]] ([[1971 All-Big Eight Conference football team|1971]], [[1972 All-Big Eight Conference football team|1972]])
| statlabel1  = Rushing yards
| statvalue1  = 5,672
| statlabel2  = Rushing average
| statvalue2  = 4.7
| statlabel3  = [[Touchdowns|Rushing TD]]s
| statvalue3  = 27
| pfr         = PruiGr00
| CollegeHOF  = 1998 
}}

'''Gregory Donald Pruitt''' (born August 18, 1951) is an American former professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[running back]] in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) from 1973 through 1984. He played [[college football]] for the [[Oklahoma Sooners football|Oklahoma Sooners]]. Pruitt was selected to five [[Pro Bowls]], four as a member of the [[Cleveland Browns]] and one as a member of the [[Los Angeles Raiders]], the last one as a [[kick returner]]. He was also part of the Raiders' [[Super Bowl XVIII]] winning team, beating the [[Washington Redskins]].

== College career ==
[[University of Oklahoma]] offensive line coach Bill Michael liked to recruit players from [[B.C. Elmore High School]], where he recruited Pruitt.<ref>Corcoran, Michael. ''The Game of the Century: Nebraska Vs. Oklahoma in College Football's Ultimate Battle''. [[University of Nebraska Press]], September 1, 2005. {{ISBN|0803264623}}, 9780803264625. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ps_t0f5aw2IC&pg=PA96 96].</ref> Pruitt was an [[All-American]] at the University of Oklahoma in [[1971 College Football All-America Team|1971]] and [[1972 College Football All-America Team|1972]], 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]] voting in 1972, and third in 1971.<ref name="PruitHeisman72">[https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/awards/heisman-1972.html 2072 Heisman Trophy Voting] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616233940/http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/awards/heisman-1972.html |date=2013-06-16 }}, Sports Reference LLC, accessed May 10, 2013.</ref><ref name="PruitHeisman71">[https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/awards/heisman-1971.html 1971 Heisman Trophy Voting] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617023414/http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/awards/heisman-1971.html |date=2013-06-17 }}, Sports Reference LLC, accessed May 10, 2013.</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Engster|first=Jim|date=1 August 2016|title=ENGSTER: LSU fully integrated 45 years after last All-White team|url=https://www.tigerrag.com/engster-lsu-fully-integrated-45-years-after-last-all-white-team/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-13|website=|language=en-US}}</ref> Pruitt's performance against [[Southeastern Conference]] schools [[1970 Alabama Crimson Tide football team|Alabama]] and [[1971 Auburn Tigers football team|Auburn]] in the [[1970 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl|1970 Astro-Bluebonnett Bowl]] and [[1972 Sugar Bowl (January)|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)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.brownsnation.com/greg-pruitt/|title = The Life and Career of Browns RB Greg Pruitt (Complete Story)|date = 3 October 2020}}</ref> 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]].  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 [[Super Bowl XVIII]].  Pruitt finished his career with 5,672 rushing yards, 3,069 receiving yards, 47 total touchdowns, and 13,262 all-purpose yards.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/PruiGr00.htm|title = Greg Pruitt Stats| website=[[Pro-Football-Reference.com]] }}</ref>

In 1979, Pruitt won [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s [[Superstars (American TV program)|Superstars]], an all-around sports competition that pits elite athletes from different sports against one another in a series of athletic events resembling a [[decathlon]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Medler|first=James|date=2012|title=The Superstars|url=http://www.thesuperstars.org/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-13|website=www.thesuperstars.org}}</ref>

In 1991, Pruitt competed in the [[Sports entertainment|sports-entertainment]] TV game show, [[American Gladiators (1989 TV series)|American Gladiators.]] [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096532/characters/nm1484222 9]

=== Legacy ===
In 1999, he was inducted to the [[College Football Hall of Fame]].

The "Greg Pruitt rule" established tear-away jerseys as illegal.<ref name="espn">{{cite book | title=23 Ways to Get to First Base: The ESPN Uncyclopedia | publisher=ESPN | author=Belsky, Gary | year=2007 | pages=49 | isbn=978-1-933060-10-1}}</ref>

==NFL career statistics==
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2"| Legend
|-
| style="background:#afe6ba; width:3em;"|
| [[Super Bowl]] champion
|-
| style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"|
| Led the league
|-
| '''Bold'''
| Career high
|}
{| class= "wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team
! colspan="2"| Games
! colspan="6"| Rushing
! colspan="5"| Receiving
! colspan="2"| Fumbles
|-
! GP !! GS !! Att !! Yds !! Avg !! Y/G !! Lng !! TD !! Rec !! Yds !! Avg !! Lng !! TD !! Fum !! FR
|-
! [[1973 NFL season|1973]] || [[1973 Cleveland Browns season|CLE]]
| 13 || 0 || 61 || 369 || '''6.0''' || 28.4 || 65 || 4 || 9 || 110 || 12.2 || 42 || 1 || 7 || 2
|-
! [[1974 NFL season|1974]] || [[1974 Cleveland Browns season|CLE]]
| 14 || 9 || 126 || 540 || 4.3 || 38.6 || 54 || 3 || 21 || 274 || 13.0 || 43 || 1 || 10 || 2
|-
! [[1975 NFL season|1975]] || [[1975 Cleveland Browns season|CLE]]
| 14 || '''14''' || 217 || 1,067 || 4.9 || 76.2 || 50 || '''8''' || 44 || 299 || 6.8 || 48 || 1 || 10 || 2
|-
! [[1976 NFL season|1976]] || [[1976 Cleveland Browns season|CLE]]
| 14 || 13 || 209 || 1,000 || 4.8 || 71.4 || 64 || 4 || 45 || 341 || 7.6 || 27 || 1 || 7 || 0
|-
! [[1977 NFL season|1977]] || [[1977 Cleveland Browns season|CLE]]
| 14 || '''14''' || '''236''' || '''1,086''' || 4.6 || 77.6 || '''78''' || 3 || 37 || 471 || 12.7 || '''60''' || 1 || 8 || 3
|-
! [[1978 NFL season|1978]] || [[1978 Cleveland Browns season|CLE]]
| 12 || 12 || 176 || 960 || 5.5 || '''80.0''' || 70 || 3 || 38 || 292 || 7.7 || 26 || 2 || style="background:#cfecec;"|'''12''' || 1
|-
! [[1979 NFL season|1979]] || [[1979 Cleveland Browns season|CLE]]
| 6 || 6 || 62 || 233 || 3.8 || 38.8 || 27 || 0 || 14 || 155 || 11.1 || 27 || 1 || 1 || 1
|-
! [[1980 NFL season|1980]] || [[1980 Cleveland Browns season|CLE]]
| '''16''' || 9 || 40 || 117 || 2.9 || 7.3 || 19 || 0 || 50 || 444 || 8.9 || 43 || '''5''' || 1 || 0
|-
! [[1981 NFL season|1981]] || [[1981 Cleveland Browns season|CLE]]
| 15 || 6 || 31 || 124 || 4.0 || 8.3 || 15 || 0 || '''65''' || '''636''' || 9.8 || 33 || 4 || 3 || 0
|-
! [[1982 NFL season|1982]] || [[1982 Los Angeles Raiders season|RAI]]
| 9 || 0 || 4 || 22 || 5.5 || 2.4 || 13 || 0 || 2 || 29 || '''14.5''' || 23 || 1 || 5 || style="background:#cfecec;"|4
|-
! [[1983 NFL season|1983]] || style="background:#afe6ba;"|[[1983 Los Angeles Raiders season|RAI]]
| '''16''' || 0 || 26 || 154 || 5.9 || 9.6 || 18 || 2 || 1 || 6 || 6.0 || 6 || 0 || 10 || style="background:#cfecec;"|'''7'''
|-
! [[1984 NFL season|1984]] || [[1984 Los Angeles Raiders season|RAI]]
| 15 || 0 || 8 || 0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 12 || 6.0 || 8 || 0 || 9 || 2
|-
! colspan="2"|[https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/PruiGr00.htm Career] || 158 || 83 || 1,196 || 5,672 || 4.7 || 35.9 || 78 || 27 || 328 || 3,069 || 9.4 || 60 || 18 || 83 || 24
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{College Football HoF|1998}}
* {{Footballstats |nfl=greg-pruitt-2 |espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |si= |pfr=P/PruiGr00 |rotoworld= }}

{{1971 NCAA Division I FBS College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1972 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{Browns1973DraftPicks}}
{{Cleveland Browns Legends}}
{{Super Bowl XVIII}}
{{NFL punt return yards leaders}}
{{Superstars}}

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