William Leroy "P. J." Pope Jr. (born February 26, 1984) 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

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

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 ...

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

and was signed by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

as an

undrafted 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 2006. Pope was also a member of 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 ...

and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

Early life

Pope attended Wyoming High School in

Wyoming, Ohio Wyoming is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio. It is a suburb of the neighboring city of Cincinnati. The population was 8,756 at the 2020 census. History Among the earliest European-American settlers in what is now Wyoming was the Pendery family, ...

, where he excelled in

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 ...

and

. During his senior year, Pope ran for 2,230 rushing yards and 36

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s, enough to help him win the "Southern Ohio Player of the Year" Award.

College career

During Pope's career at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

, he managed to become the school's third all-time leading rusher. He became the only player in the school's history to record 3,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards.

Professional career

Chicago Bears (first stint)

The

signed Pope as an

before the 2006 NFL

preseason In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

to compensate for the absence of starting running backs Thomas Jones and

Cedric Benson Cedric Myron Benson (December 28, 1982 – August 17, 2019) was an American professional football player who spent eight years as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packe ...

. The Bears later cut Pope from the team on September 9, but was shortly re-signed onto 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 ...

Green Bay Packers

The

signed Pope from the Bears' practice squad on October 31, 2006. On August 24, 2007, he was cut along with 11 other players from Green Bay.

Chicago Bears (second stint)

Pope was re-signed to the Bears' practice squad in September 2007. He remained there the entire season and spent the 2008 preseason with the team before being waived on August 29.

Denver Broncos

On August 31, 2008, Pope was signed to the

of the

He was released on October 20, only to be re-signed to following day. Pope was promoted to the Broncos active roster on November 4, a day after

s Andre Hall and Michael Pittman were placed on season-ending

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

. Pope became the starter when

Peyton Hillis Peyton Derek Hillis (born January 21, 1986) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks football, Arka ...

also went on

. Pope was waived by the Broncos on February 11, 2009.Broncos Release 5 Players
Yahoo Sports, February 11, 2009

Coaching career

Pope was the 8th grade football coach at Wyoming Middle School. As of 2013 he is a varsity assistant at Shroder High School in Cincinnati.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, P. J. 1984 births Living people Players of American football from Cincinnati American football running backs Bowling Green Falcons football players Chicago Bears players Green Bay Packers players Denver Broncos players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen High school football coaches in Ohio