Barry Pearson

{{Short description|American football player (born 1950)}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Barry Pearson

| image =

| position = Wide receiver

| number = 83, 85

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|2|4}}

| birth_place = Geneseo, Illinois, U.S.

| death_date =

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 11

| weight_lbs = 185

| high_school = Geneseo

| undraftedyear = 1972

| college = Northwestern

| teams =

• Pittsburgh Steelers ({{NFL Year|1972}}–{{NFL Year|1973}})
• Kansas City Chiefs ({{NFL Year|1974}}–{{NFL Year|1976}})

| highlights =

• 2× First-team All-Big Ten (1970, 1971)

| statlabel1 = Receptions

| statvalue1 = 86

| statlabel2 = Receiving yards

| statvalue2 = 1312

| statlabel3 = Touchdowns

| statvalue3 = 7

| pfr = PearBa00

}}

Barry Lynn Pearson (born February 4, 1950) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for four seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers (1972–1973){{cite web |url=http://news.steelers.com/MediaContent/2008/08/07/08/All-Time_Roster_Number_92994.pdf |title=Steelers All-Time Jersey Numbers |accessdate=2009-03-10 |publisher=steelers.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031090705/http://news.steelers.com/MediaContent/2008/08/07/08/All-Time_Roster_Number_92994.pdf |archivedate=2008-10-31 }} and Kansas City Chiefs (1974–1976) of the National Football League (NFL).{{cite web|url=http://www.kcchiefs.com/media/misc/all_time_numerical_roster.pdf |title=Chiefs All-Time Numerical Roster |accessdate=2009-03-10 |publisher=kcchiefs.com |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011090113/http://www.kcchiefs.com/media/misc/all_time_numerical_roster.pdf |archivedate=October 11, 2007 }} He played college football for the Northwestern Wildcats.

In 1972, making his pro football debut, Pearson was on the field for the Immaculate Reception and was the receiver for whom the play was designed, but Terry Bradshaw was flushed from the pocket and threw toward Frenchy Fuqua instead.[http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/steelers-receiver-barry-pearson-came-away-from-the-play-with-a-great-story-to-tell-657505/ Paul Zeise, "Steelers receiver Barry Pearson came away from 'The Play' with a great story to tell"], Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 14, 2012