Former Robeson High School Football Standout And Chicago Bears Player Mickey Pruitt Now Leading CPS Sports Programs That Enriched His Life Decades Ago
CHICAGO (CBS) -- From a teen growing up in the city to a top job with the Chicago Public Schools and a stop in the NFL along the way, Mickey Pruitt returns to the football field to share his story with CBS 2's Jim Williams.
Pruitt's playing days are decades in the past, but the lessons he learned on the football field nearly 40 years ago shape his work today as Director of Sports for the Chicago Public Schools.
"You can understand how to be a good winner. You can understand how to be a good loser. But eventually everybody's a winner, because they're on the field playing," he said.
Pruitt oversees 23 sports, with tens of thousands of CPS athletes; guiding the very program that enriched his life as a teenager in Chicago.
"My family is basketball players," Pruitt said. "I'm the outlier."
And what an outlier he's been. Pruitt was an all-state halfback and safety at Robeson High School in Englewood. He fielded lots of scholarship offers before choosing to play at the University of Colorado.
"Going there, looking at the mountains; sunny. It was beautiful," he said.
After a stellar college career, the NFL came calling. Pruitt was thrilled to play for the Chicago Bears for three seasons.
"Coming out of Chicago, playing with the Chicago Bears, coming out the tunnel the first time. Unbelievable," he said.
He later won a Super Bowl with the 1992 Dallas Cowboys.
In 1999, Pruitt was living and coaching in Hawaii. He left the year-round warm temperature to return to Chicago, convinced he could make a big impact in his hometown, earning the respect of veteran coaches like Ernest Radcliffe.
"He's an absolute role model to everybody," Radcliffe said. "He really wanted to be here to share his knowledge and give everybody an inspiration to be the next Mickey Pruitt."
This month, Pruitt earned another accolade, when he was inducted into the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame.
"I just said wow. It's a great feeling. It's a great honor," Pruitt said.
These days, Pruitt begins his day with one goal: "Get up every morning to help kids. To find a way to make it better."
Pruitt's parents were educators. He's married with two kids of his own.