Peerless LeCross Price (born October 27, 1976) 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

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for nine seasons 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). Price 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

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

and was selected by 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 ...

in the second round of the

1999 NFL draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

. Price also played for 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 ...

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 ...

Early life

Born in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, Price's name was inspired by the name of a local moving company. His mother explained that he was given the name because she liked it, and also because she hoped that her son, growing up in a rough neighborhood, would avoid a life of crime. Price was recruited heavily out of Meadowdale High School in Dayton. He was a high school All-American and was considered a major athlete when he enrolled at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

in 1995 because he was a three sport star in high school. Price played college football under head coach

Phillip Fulmer Phillip Edward Fulmer Sr. (born September 1, 1950) is a former American football player, coach, and athletic director at the University of Tennessee. He served as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1992 to 2008, compiling ...

College career

1995 season

As a freshman in the 1995 season, Price had six receptions for 71 receiving yards in a backup role in the Volunteers' 11–1 season.

1996 season

During his 1996 sophomore campaign, Price recorded 32 receptions for three

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 and 609 yards in Tennessee's 10–2 season. He excelled in a 35–29 loss to the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

with seven receptions for 161 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. In addition to gaining attention for his play on the field, Price was named to the Academic All- SEC team.

1997 season

When Joey Kent left following the 1996 season, Price stepped into the starting lineup full-time as a junior, where

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the In ...

found Price to be a dependable target. In the 1997 season, he started every game and emerged as a legitimate deep threat. He finished with 48 receptions, netting 698 yards and six touchdowns and helped guide the Volunteers to an SEC Championship. He was, for the second consecutive year, named an Academic All-SEC pick.

1998 season

After Marcus Nash graduated, Price stepped into the top spot on the Volunteers' receiving corps for the 1998 season. In a tight game against

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, Price tied a school record with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that sparked a Volunteers victory and continued their success. Tennessee finished the regular season 11–0 and faced

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

in the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. For its first 32 seasons, the championship game pitted the Eastern Division regular season champion again ...

. With the Vols trailing by four points in the fourth quarter, Price pulled in a pass over the shoulder for a 41-yard touchdown. Tennessee won the game by score of 24–14, and earned a spot in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area since 1971. From its beginning until 2006, the game was hosted at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has be ...

against

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

to decide the national champion for the 1998 season. In the final game of his career with Tennessee, Price recorded four receptions for a total of 199 yards and the deciding 79-yard receiving touchdown en route to a 23–16 victory and the school's first consensus national championship in 47 years. For his performance, Price was named the game's co-MVP with cornerback Dwayne Goodrich.

Professional career

In spite of his successful career in college, Price still fell to the second round of the

, where he was drafted 53rd overall by the

. He was the fifth wide receiver to be selected in the 1999 NFL Draft.

Buffalo Bills (first stint)

Price enjoyed his greatest success as the secondary receiver for the Bills. He made his NFL debut in the Bills' 1999 regular season opener. He had three receptions for 51 receiving yards in the 31–14 loss to the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

. In Week 7, against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

, he had five receptions for 106 receiving yards and a touchdown in the 26–16 loss. In his rookie season, he appeared in all 16 games and had 31 receptions for 393 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. In the 2000 season, Price had his best game in the regular season finale against the

with eight receptions for 132 receiving yards and a touchdown in the 42–23 victory. He finished the 2000 season with 52 receptions for 762 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns in 16 games, which were all starts. In Week 7 of the 2001 season, Price had eight receptions for 151 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in the 27–24 loss to 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 ...

. In Week 10, against the

, he had ten receptions for 138 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown in the 23–20 loss. In the 2001 season, Price had 55 receptions for 895 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns in 16 games, all starts. In the 2002 season, he appeared in and started all 16 games. He had five games going over the 100-yard mark and two games with multiple receiving touchdowns. He caught 94 passes for 1,252 yards and nine touchdowns. His best game came on September 15, 2002, when he caught 13 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns, including a 48-yard score in overtime, during a 45–39 victory against

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. After the season, the Bills used the

Franchise Tag In the National Football League (NFL), the franchise tag is a designation a team may apply to a player scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. The tag binds the player to the team for one year if certain conditions are met. Each team has on ...

to ensure Price stayed with the team. Price was given permission to seek a trade, and the

were willing to give up a first round pick in the

2003 NFL draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

for Price. The Bills used it to select running back

Willis McGahee Willis Andrew McGahee III (born October 21, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, earning consensus All-Americ ...

Atlanta Falcons

In the 2003 season, Price appeared in all 16 games and recorded 64 receptions for 838 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. His best game on the season came in Week 5 against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

, with 12 receptions for 168 receiving yards and a touchdown in the 39–26 loss. In the 2004 season, he finished with 45 receptions for 575 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. In the Divisional Round against 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 ...

, he had a receiving touchdown in the 47–17 victory. He was released during the 2005 offseason.

Dallas Cowboys

In 2005, Price signed a one-year deal with the

to be the third receiver and

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punt (gridiron football), punts and kickoff (gridiron football), kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusivel ...

. Price was also reunited with quarterback

Drew Bledsoe Drew McQueen Bledsoe (born February 14, 1972) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football for Washi ...

, with whom he had shared so much success in Buffalo and who actively lobbied for his signing. He was released on December 3 after catching only six passes for 96 yards, of which one was 58 yards on a single pass play.

Buffalo Bills (second stint)

Price re-signed with the Bills and regained his secondary wide receiver role. In the 2006 season, he caught a game-winning touchdown against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

and a crucial touchdown in a low-scoring game against the

. He finished the 2006 season with 49 receptions for 402 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. Price was placed on the

injured reserve list 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 t ...

on October 19, 2007, after having season-ending neck surgery. He appeared in four games and had seven receptions for 68 yards.

Retirement and post-playing career

On February 14, 2008, the Bills released Price, after which he retired from football. According to Price, he then started coaching his daughter's fourth grade basketball team because they needed a coach. He continued coaching several teams. After a girl asked him if he had a degree, Price returned to college in 2016. In May 2020, Price received his BA degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee in a virtual ceremony due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On February 3, 2021,

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

announced that Price had joined the Tigers football team as a volunteer coach for the spring season.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Collegiate statistics
at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...

Tennessee Volunteers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Peerless 1976 births Living people American football wide receivers Tennessee Volunteers football players Buffalo Bills players Atlanta Falcons players Dallas Cowboys players Players of American football from Dayton, Ohio 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen