Arthur Ray Perkins (born May 1, 1940) is an American former

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

player and coach. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for

North Texas State The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco. It serves as the flagship of the University of North Texas Syst ...

and professionally for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) and the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

and

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL).

Early years

A native of

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, Perkins attended Dunbar High School in that city. He played football, basketball, baseball, and competed in the shot put at Dunbar High. He then played college football at North Texas State in

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...

. In 1958, Perkins and Billy Christie became the first African-American athletes to integrate North Texas State on four-year athletic scholarships. He was known by the nickname "Pearly".

Professional football

Perkins was drafted by the

with the 44th pick in the

1962 NFL draft The 1962 NFL draft was held on December 4, 1961 at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The Washington Redskins used the first overall pick of the draft to select running back Ernie Davis, then subsequently traded him to the Cleveland Bro ...

. He played for the Rams during the 1962 and 1963 seasons, appearing in 26 NFL games. In his second year with the Rams, he was used principally as a blocking back. Perkins later played in the

for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1964–1966), and Edmonton Eskimos (1967–1969). He appeared in 74 CFL games, tallying 2,961 yards, 1,386 receiving yards, and scoring 29 touchdowns. He was known as an excellent receiver who rarely missed a pass, catching 18 of 18 one year and 37 of 37 another.

Coaching career

In 1972, Perkins returned to Los Angeles as

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

for the Los Angeles Mustangs, a semiprofessional football team. After two seasons with the Mustangs, he was hired as an assistant football coach at

Compton College Compton College is a Public college, public community college in Compton, California. From 2006, when it lost its regional accreditation, to 2017, when it regained that accreditation, it operated as a part of El Camino College. Before and after ...

under head coach Aaron Youngblood. Perkins succeeded Youngblood as Compton's head coach in 1978.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Art 1940 births Living people American football fullbacks Compton Tartars football coaches Los Angeles Rams players North Texas Mean Green football players Players of American football from Fort Worth, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas