Perfect Storm Brings Pearson Back to Packers
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers re-signed fullback Henry Pearson on Tuesday.
They can thank Hurricane Ernesto for making it possible.
“I was on my way to the airport last night to go to a workout at Cleveland,” Pearson said after practice, “and I got a call from my agent [Robert Roche] and he was like, ‘Hey, the Packers want to sign you. Do you still want to go to this workout?’
“I was like, ‘No, I’d rather just go back to Lambeau.’”
Pearson was supposed to fly to Cleveland on Sunday night, but Ernesto canceled the flight. So, he was able to change directions when Green Bay called on Monday.
“Just overjoyed,” Pearson said. “Put it all in God’s timing. I think it was what it was supposed to be. It wasn’t meant to be in Cleveland; it was meant to be at Lambeau.”
Pearson, who originally signed with the Packers as an undrafted free agent last year, was released by the team on July 30.
For the past three weeks, Pearson worked out at home in hopes of getting another opportunity that he knew might never come his way.
It “definitely” tested him.
“Going into that realm of the unknown and relying on the other teams to take a shot on you is pretty daunting,” Pearson said. “It could be over, it could keep going – you never know – so you have to stay ready.”
Pearson should be able to hit the ground running. He spent all of last season on the practice squad. When Josiah Deguara was injured, he was elevated for two games. So, he knows what he’s doing.
Mostly.
“I need to get a little refresher,” he said with a laugh. “They definitely put some stuff in in the three weeks that I was gone. I’ll catch up on that stuff and hopefully get back to work.”
Pearson has less than a week to show the Packers what he can do. Or, more accurately, remind them what he can do. The Packers held a short practice on Tuesday – he went through individual drills, as usual, with the tight ends – and will hold another on Wednesday before the joint practice against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday.
The Packers will host the Ravens in the preseason finale on Saturday and they will cut the roster to 53 players on Tuesday. The team will fill its practice squad a day later.
“You’ve just got to keep going to work, keep your head down and take every day like it could be the last,” Pearson said. “That’s all you can do, you know?”
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