Greg Pruitt, my new buddy in Ohio

A couple of weeks ago, Andre, a local campaign volunteer came into the office here in Cleveland, Ohio and we got to talking about where I was from.  I told him I was from Norman, Oklahoma.  

He said, “Oh, you are a Sooner then?” 

I said, sure.  Andre then told me that he was golfing buddies with a guy named Greg Pruitt. 

I said, a bit skeptically, “really?” 

“What time do you want him to come by?” he said. 

I wasn’t sure if this was for real or not.  But, we set up a time for me to meet the legendary Oklahoma football star here in our political campaign office where I work at Shaker Square.    

I said, of course, that would be great.  Pruitt was a great player of the Switzer era – an All-American running back at the University of Oklahoma in 1971 and 1972. 

One of the stories I had heard about him was that he wore a t-shirt under his uniform that said “Hello” on the front and “Goodbye” on the back.  

He ranks third among Sooners in career all-purpose yards. Pruitt gained 3,122 rushing yards, 491 receiving yards, 139 yards on punt returns and 679 yards returning kickoffs. He scored 41 career touchdowns as a Sooner. 

He was a five-time Pro Bowl selection at running back while playing for the Cleveland Browns and the Los Angeles Raiders from 1973-1984 and played on the winning Super Bowl XVIII  Raiders team.  In 1999 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. 

So, on the appointed day I made sure I was wearing my OU cap – just in case this was really going to happen. 

And, on that day shortly after noon, in my office of campaign signs, posters and buttons, walked in a short guy with a thick build, obvious upper body strength (kind of a Quentin Griffin build, only bigger) and a big smile. 

This was Greg Pruitt, one of the greatest football players ever to carry a football on Owen Field.  

He’s a really nice guy too.  And, funny. 

We shared stories about Norman, Oklahoma.  Greg talked about what it was like back in the 70s when he came to OU to take option pitches from Jack Mildren.  He said Norman was not that big then – a town on the prairie, but with a big university jutting out of nowhere. 

He also had fond memories of Campus Corner, telling me how “the Town Tavern had the best hamburgers ever!”   Of course the Town Tavern is long gone. I only know about it because of what my Dad has told me. 

Pruitt has family back in Oklahoma.  His younger brother lives in Choctaw.  His older brother still lives in Texas where they all grew up.  

I could tell he is fond of telling stories and jokes on his siblings and friends.  He said his older brother telephoned a few months ago very worried when seeing how a tornado had gone through the Oklahoma City metro area near Choctaw.  Greg said he told him not to worry, and joked, “Lil’ brother is probably on the roof tearing off shingles to make an insurance claim.”   

He said he was kidding, of course, but when the two called their sibling on his cell phone he answered from his roof.    

Greg said his little brother later told them he was fixing a gutter. 

Now, it was a lot funnier when Greg was telling it. 

He also told me that Billy Sims absolutely cannot hit a golf ball.  But Greg always gets stuck in Billy’s foursome at golf tournaments in Oklahoma, he said. 

We visited some about living on the east side of Cleveland, where I have been the last year working for the Ohio Democratic Party trying to energize voter participation in the mid-term election on November 2.  

I can tell you this, Cleveland is not home.  But, for Greg it has become home.  He’s invested a lot of his life in the greater Cleveland area since his retirement from the NFL.  His son, Greg, Jr. was a star running back for Shaker Heights High School and later set school rushing records at North Carolina Central University. 

We also talked about this Saturday’s game in Cincinnati when the Sooners come to Ohio to play the Bearcats. 

Greg will be there – he said he’d gotten tickets from some guy named Joe Washington. 

I told him Dad and Hunter will be there.  Unfortunately, it looks like I will not. We have a major door-to-door canvassing campaign operation going on in east Cleveland on Saturday.  I doubt I’ll be able to get to Cincinnati by game time.  But Greg said he’d look out for my Dad in Cincinnati. 

After about 30 minutes chatting with him, he signed my ballcap “Greg Pruit #30”.  He also mentioned that he may swing by my office again some time.  I’m hoping he’ll bring one of those “Hello/Goodbye” t-shirts. 

The following week President Obama came here to Cleveland to speak at a local college.  The night before the speech, we finished helping the White House advance team set up the event site and I was back in Shaker Heights about 10:30 pm where I had to deliver some tickets to volunteers who were going to get to see the President at the invitation-only event. 

I drove to one of the volunteer’s house not far from where I work at Shaker Square and this lady met me outside at the curb to get her tickets.  She was super excited that she would get to see the President in person.  

After I gave her the tickets she went back into her house happy and I began driving back to the office. But as I was driving away I got a call on my cell from the same lady.  I thought, oh no, she probably wants more tickets and now I’m going to have to be the bad guy and tell her no. 

“Now what is your name?” she asked.  I told her, Alex. 

“Are you Alex Duncan?” 

Now, I don’t remember telling her my last name. 

Uh, yes, I said. 

She said, “Hold on, let me put you on speaker phone.” 

And then I heard: 

“Hi, Alex.  This is Greg.  How’s it going?” 

___________________ 

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