Dallas Cowboys Hall-of-Famer Drew Pearson: 'The Wait is Over!'

“The wait is over! How about that! A tough long journey on the road less traveled,” said Pearson

“The wait is over!”

Drew Pearson, the Dallas Cowboys’ legendary wide receiver and, as he is happy to tell anyone who will listen the "Original No. 88,” could not hide his excitement over finally entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame after waiting for over 30 years.

“The wait is over! How about that! A tough long journey on the road less traveled,” said Pearson, inducted into Canton on Sunday, commemorating a Dallas career that spanned 1973-83 and saw him earn All-Pro three times as well as making the NFL’s 1970s All-Decade Team.

Pearson famously caught QB Roger Staubach’s game-winning touchdown pass in a 1975 playoff game at Minnesota labeled the "Hail Mary.'' But he made almost countless big plays and put up big numbers, too. Pearson was joined by safety Cliff Harris and coach Jimmy Johnson as Cowboys inducted this year.

Pearson's speech included a note about his afro and his skinny legs.

“This confirms it,” Pearson said after noting his bust. “I had the biggest Afro in NFL history.”

And, he said, “Thank you Hall-of Famer Gil Brandt (the long-time scouting boss in Dallas) for your innovative ways and out-of-the-box thinking that led you to Tulsa University, giving a skinny-legged kid, 170 pounds, an opportunity.''

Then the never-shy Pearson, wearing his new gold jacket, walked out in front of the podium and lifted his pants to show off his legs.

“These (skinny) legs,'' the Cowboys icon and new Hall member said, "got me into the Pro Football Hall of Fame!''

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