Raymond Newton Preston III (born June 12, 1982) 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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. He was selected by the

in the fourth round of the

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005 NFL season, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on E ...

. 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 ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Early life

Preston graduated from Mt. Carmel High School in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, where he practiced football and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

College career

Preston accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

. He was a three-year starter at center and only allowed one sack in his last two seasons. He started 35 straight games.

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Preston was selected by the

in the fourth round (122nd overall) of the

. He competed for the starting position to help fill the void left with the departure of Trey Teague. As a rookie, he played in all 16 games, starting one game for the injured

Chris Villarrial Chris Villarrial (born June 9, 1973) is an American football coach and former player. He is the current head football coach at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania. He played professionally as an offensive guard with the Chicago Be ...

, while playing on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. He was also named to The Sporting News All-Rookie Team. In 2006, Preston appeared in all 16 games for the Bills while starting in 8 of the contests. In 2007, Preston failed to start in any games for the Bills, but made appearances in 13 of the club's 16 games. In 2008, Preston started a career-high 11 games, all at center, sharing time with Melvin Fowler. He has also played some guard and right tackle for the Bills making appearances in 15 of the teams 16 contests. During the four years Preston spent with the Bills, he appeared in 59 of the teams 64 contests while getting a starting nod in 20 of them. After the 2008 season, Preston became an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. In 2009, Preston and Fowler were replaced by Geoff Hangartner.

Green Bay Packers

On March 30, 2009, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

. He was released on August 25.

Dallas Cowboys

On August 26, 2009, he signed with the

, declining offers from the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

and

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. He was released on October 10, to make room for Chauncey Washington who was signed from the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

. He was re-signed on October 12, after Washington was waived. He was declared inactive in 15 regular season games and 2 playoff games. On May 8, 2010, Preston announced his retirement from professional football.

Personal life

His father, Ray Preston, was a standout football player at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, and had a nine-year NFL career with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. He has one sister Casie currently living and teaching in Indianapolis. After football, he earned a master's degree in Christian Education from the

Dallas Theological Seminary Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) is an evangelical theological seminary in Dallas, Texas. It is known for popularizing the theological system of dispensationalism. DTS has campuses in Dallas, Houston, and Washington, D.C., as well as extension ...

. In 2013, he was hired as the program director for the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

's Student Welfare and Development. In 2015, he was hired by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

as the team's director of player engagement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, Duke 1982 births Living people Players of American football from San Diego American football offensive guards American football centers Illinois Fighting Illini football players Buffalo Bills players Dallas Cowboys players Dallas Theological Seminary alumni University of Notre Dame faculty