He accepted a football scholarship from the University of Tulsa. As a sophomore in 1970, he was the backup quarterback behind John Dobbs. He started four games, making 36 out of 86 completions (41.9%), for 423 passing yards, one touchdown and 5 interceptions.
As a junior in 1971, he was converted into a wide receiver. He was second on the team with 22 receptions for 429 yards. He led the team with an average of 19.5 yards per reception and 3 receiving touchdowns.
As a senior in 1972, he led a run-oriented offense with 33 receptions for 690 yards (20.9 yards per reception) and 5 touchdowns. He finished his college career with 55 receptions for 1,119 yards, 8 touchdowns and a 20.3-yard average per reception.
In 1974, Stowe asked to be traded and Pearson became the full-time starter opposite Golden Richards. He led the team with 62 receptions and 1,087 yards, while also catching 2 touchdowns. He would keep leading the team in receiving until 1978, when Tony Hill took over the number one role at wide receiver.
In 1979, he and Tony Hill—along with Tony Dorsett—helped the Cowboys become the first team in NFL history to have two 1,000-yards wide receivers and a 1,000-yard running back, when he recorded 55 receptions, 1,026 yards and 8 touchdowns. Pearson and Hill also became the first wide receiver tandem in Cowboys history to record 1,000-yard receiving seasons in the same year.
In 1980, he surpassed Bob Hayes' club mark in receptions and was selected by the Cowboys as their nominee for NFL Man of the Year. In the 1981NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers, Pearson almost rendered "The Catch" irrelevant when, in the waning moments of the game, he caught a long pass from Danny White that might’ve gone for a touchdown and won the game for the Cowboys had 49ers cornerbackEric Wright not made a one-handed horse-collar tackle, stopping him just outside field-goal range (White fumbled on the next play, thus preserving victory for the 49ers and putting them in Super Bowl XVI).
In 1982, he delivered a key downfield block during Tony Dorsett's NFL record 99-yard touchdown run.
In 1983, he passed Hayes as the franchise leader in receiving yards.
On March 22, 1984, at 1:30 a.m. Drew fell asleep while driving, and crashed his car against a parked tractor-trailer. Drew's brother Carey was killed; Drew himself sustained a career-ending liver injury in the crash.[6]
Pearson helped the Cowboys to three Super Bowl appearances and a victory in Super Bowl XII in 1978. He also scored a touchdown in Super Bowl X. Pearson was known as "Mr. Clutch" for his numerous clutch catches in game-winning situations, especially the Hail Mary reception from Roger Staubach that sealed the victory over the Vikings in a 1975 playoff game, one of the most infamous plays, made possible by a well timed push against Nate Wright, in NFL history. He also caught the game-sealing touchdown in a 1973 playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams and the game-winning touchdown pass from reserve quarterback Clint Longley in the 1974 Thanksgiving game against the Washington Redskins. All three plays were named among the Top 75 plays in NFL history by NFL Films in 1994. Pearson figured prominently in a fourth play on that list, throwing the final block to clear Tony Dorsett's path to the end zone on his 99-yard touchdown run in 1983. In addition in the 1980 playoff game at Atlanta, Pearson's clutch receptions helped win that game in a comeback by the Cowboys.
He rose to become one of the NFL's greatest wide receivers, earning career records of 489 receptions and 7,822 receiving yards, along with 189 rushing yards, 155 yards returning kickoffs, and 50 touchdowns (48 receiving and two fumble recoveries). Pearson was named one of the Top 20 Pro Football All-Time wide receivers, he was also recognized for his achievements by being named to the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team. Despite this fact, he was the only player from the team to not be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame at the time, including the only one from the offensive first team category.[7]
In 1984, he was named to the Dallas Cowboys' 25th-anniversary team.
In 2009, on the NFL Network show "NFL's Top 10", in the episode titled "Greatest Dallas Cowboys", he is number 10 on the list, although the update in 2016 where Drew was not on the list and was replaced by Randy White as #10 as well.
Pearson was named as a senior finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the Class of 2020 as a part of its "Centennial Slate" of 20 senior finalists. However, he fell just shy of getting inducted. The following year, he was named the lone senior finalist for the class of 2021.[10]
On February 6, 2021, Pearson was named to the 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame class[11] and his bust was sculpted by Scott Myers.
