David John Pearson (born March 29, 1981) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a center in 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). 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 the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

Early life and college career

Pearson grew up in

Brighton, Michigan Brighton is a city in Livingston County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,446. Brighton forms part of the South Lyon-Howell-Brighton Urban Area. It is one of two incorporated cities in Livingston County ...

and graduated from Brighton High School in 1999. At Brighton High, Pearson played football and basketball with future college teammate Drew Henson and was an honorable ''USA Today'' All-American. At the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, Pearson redshirted the 1999 season on the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the List of NCAA football teams by wins, most all-time wins in college football ...

team. In 2000 and 2001, Pearson played as a reserve

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

. He moved to the offensive line afterwards and was the starting center in 2002 and 2003. Pearson made the All-Big Ten second-team as a senior in 2003. He was also part of two Big Ten championship teams in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Professional career

Pearson first signed with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

as an undrafted free agent on April 30, 2004. He was released after training camp and signed with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

practice squad on October 20. The Falcons released Pearson after the 2005 preseason. On December 1, 2005, the Lions signed Pearson to the practice squad. A week after signing him to the active roster, the Lions allocated Pearson to the Cologne Centurions of

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

on January 9, 2006. Pearson started four games for the Centurions and appeared in the final two games of the 2006 season for the Lions. Pearson signed with the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

on July 31, 2007. After an injury during the preseason, Pearson was released August 28.

Post-football career

After retiring from football, Pearson moved to New York City and became a senior vice president at The Related Companies, a real estate firm founded by fellow Michigan alum

Stephen M. Ross Stephen Michael Ross (born May 10, 1940) is an American real estate developer, philanthropist, and sports team owner. Ross is the chairman of Related Companies, a global real estate development firm he founded in 1972. Related is best known fo ...

References

External links

NFL.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Dave 1981 births Living people American football centers Detroit Lions players Michigan Wolverines football players Cologne Centurions (NFL Europe) players Sportspeople from Brighton, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football defensive tackles American businesspeople in real estate Atlanta Falcons players St. Louis Rams players