| No. 52 | |||||||
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| Position | Linebacker | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | (1965-01-10)January 10, 1965 (age 61) Bamberg, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||
| Listed weight | 206 lb (93 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school | Robeson(Chicago, Illinois) | ||||||
| College | Colorado | ||||||
| NFL draft | 1988: undrafted | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
Playing | |||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||
Coaching | |||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Mickey Pruitt (born January 10, 1965) is an American former professionalfootball player who was alinebacker in theNational Football League (NFL) for theChicago Bears andDallas Cowboys, winning aSuper Bowl ring with the Cowboys inSuper Bowl XXVII over theBuffalo Bills.[1] He playedcollege football for theColorado Buffaloes.
Pruitt attendedChicago'sPaul Robeson High School, where his father George was an assistant football coach.[2] He played as arunning back andfree safety. He also played atwide receiver.
In his senior season, he rushed for over 1,000 yards, scored 18touchdowns and made 7 interceptions. He was part of a team that had 14 of the 26 players playing both ways, while finishing second in the state of Illinois, the best showing ever by a Public League team.
He finished his high school career with more than 2,000 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns. He was named All-state once and All-city twice. He also practicedbasketball.
Pruitt accepted a football scholarship from theUniversity of Colorado Boulder, becoming a part ofBill McCartney's first recruiting class. He was named a starter (8 starts) atstrong safety as a redshirt freshman and would not relinquish the position for the rest of his college career. The next year, he posted 63 tackles, after missing two games because of injuries.
As a junior, he registered 106 tackles (73 solo), 5 forced fumbles and 13 passes defensed (second in school history). As a senior, he set a school mark for tackles by adefensive back with 116. He had 5 interceptions, including one returned 18 yards for a keytouchdown in the 26–17 againstWashington State University.
Pruitt finished ranked as school's All-time tackler (340 tackles) amongdefensive backs and third inBig Eight Conference history fordefensive backs. He registered 41 starts.
In 1989, he was named to the University of Colorado All-Century football team and to theBig Eight Conference All-Decade team.[3]
Pruitt was signed as anundrafted free agent by theChicago Bears after the1988 NFL draft. He was not selected because he was considered slow for adefensive back and not big enough to be alinebacker.
As a rookie, he was converted into anoutside linebacker. He was a backup toJim Morrissey, playing mostly onspecial teams and on passing downs. He started in 3 games and suffered a sprained ankle that forced him to miss 2 contests.In the 20–12 playoff win against thePhiladelphia Eagles, popularly known as the "Fog Bowl" for the nearly unseeable conditions during the game, he made an important interception ofquarterbackRandall Cunningham.[4] Pruitt also received theBrian Piccolo Award, given annually to a Bears rookie and a veteran who best exemplify courage, loyalty, teamwork and dedication.
On November 14,1990, he broke his left hand in a fight with teammateMark Bortz during a practice, but didn't miss any games.[5] On August 26,1991, he was waived after being passed on the depth chart byMike Stonebreaker.[6]
On August 27,1991, he was claimed off waivers by theDallas Cowboys, to improve thelinebackers depth and help onspecial teams.[7] On September 10, he was placed on theinjured reserve list with a pulled left hamstring, but was re-activate on October 11.[8] He appeared in 12 contests, starting atstrongside linebacker in the twelfth game against theNew York Giants, posting a single-game career-high 9 tackles.
On September 1,1992, he was released to make room forlinebackerBobby Abrams.[9] He was re-signed on November 18. He appeared in the last 6 games, registering 5special teams tackles. He was a part of the winningSuper Bowl XXVII team. He was cut on August 29,1993.[10]
On July 20,1994, he was signed as afree agent by thePhiladelphia Eagles.[11] He was released on August 23.[12]
From 1995 to 1996, he was a football graduate assistant for the University of Colorado. From 1997 to 1999, Pruitt joined theUniversity of Hawaii Warriors football team as an assistant football coach.[13] In 1999, he was a part of the Chicago Bears player personnel department. In 2012, Pruitt became the director of theChicago Bears Youth Football Camps.[14]