Another honor for ex-Lobo, Cowboy Perkins
Time magazine has its Person of the Year, and People magazine has its annual most beautiful list. Now Bernalillo County commissioners are jumping into the mix, proclaiming 2018 as the Year of Donald A. Perkins.
Perkins — a University of New Mexico football star who went on to play for the Dallas Cowboys — was honored during Tuesday’s County Commission meeting both for his accomplishments on the field and for being a role model and community servant.
“There are very few people that we actually have a year named after, but you are one of those exceptional human beings that really deserve this honor,” said Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins, who presented the proclamation.
Standing with Perkins were several family members and friends.
“I’ll defer, since I’m a person of very few words, to my son here Randy who will speak for me,” Perkins said.
“We didn’t know him as Don Perkins the Cowboy,” Randy Perkins said. “... We knew him as Don Perkins the servant dad who gave back to the community that gave him so much.”
Born in Waterloo, Iowa, in 1938, Don Perkins moved to Bernalillo County in 1956 to play football for the Lobos. He set 12 school records, led the nation in kickoff return yardage in 1959, earned All-American Honors and went on to an eight-year career with the Dallas Cowboys. He earned six Pro
Bowl honors with the Cowboys, and when he retired in 1968 had the fifth most rushing yards in NFL history. The proclamation states that Don Perkins was also instrumental in changing the Cowboys’ segregation policies.
He moved back to New Mexico to raise his family after leaving the NFL. Perkins retired from both the state and the city after more than 25 years of combined service. He has also dedicated his time to community groups and causes such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the NAACP and the Albuquerque Police Department’s gang prevention initiatives.
“Mr. Perkins has consistently represented the best values of our community through his willingness to put others first and work hard,” the proclamation states.