By Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
Pettis Burch Norman, former Dallas Cowboys tight end, civil rights activist, and pioneering businessman, passed away on July 7, 2025. He was 86.
Born on January 4, 1939, in Lincolnton, Georgia, Norman was the youngest of ten children raised by Fessor and Elease Norman. After his father's death when Pettis was ten years old, his family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina.
Norman planned to enlist in the Air Force, but his trajectory changed dramatically when he was recruited under remarkable circumstances by Johnson C. Smith University coach Eddie McGirt.
According to a long-told story in Charlotte, McGirt spotted Norman working at a gas station during the summer of 1958 and, on a recommendation from a local worker who pointed across the lot and said, “That guy right there is the best player in the state,” offered him a scholarship without ever having seen him play.
Norman quickly proved the coach right. As a freshman, he was named team MVP at split end and became a two-time All-CIAA selection. He once posted five receptions for 133 yards and two touchdowns in a single game, while also making 14 tackles.
In addition to football, he ran track, clocking a blazing 9.7 seconds in the 100-yard dash. Norman graduated with a degree in physical education and a minor in biology and was named a First Team Courier All-American in 1962.
Despite his collegiate success, Norman went undrafted in the NFL. The Dallas Texans had selected him in the 16th round of the 1962 AFL Draft and circulated rumors that he had already signed with them, leading NFL teams to pass him over. He signed instead with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent.
Wearing number 84, Norman played 12 seasons in the NFL—nine with the Cowboys and three with the San Diego Chargers—earning a reputation as one of the most dependable and unselfish tight ends of his era.
He started nearly a decade at the position, including in the historic 1967 “Ice Bowl” against the Green Bay Packers and in Super Bowl V, a narrow 16–13 loss to the Baltimore Colts. When Hall of Famer Mike Ditka joined the Cowboys in 1969, Norman continued to share the role, providing leadership and grit. He finished his career with 183 receptions for 2,492 yards and 15 touchdowns across 162 games.
During his playing years, he also served in the Texas Army National Guard from 1962 to 1968 and took offseason jobs to prepare for life after football.
He was deeply involved in efforts to dismantle segregation within the Cowboys organization and the broader Dallas community. He led conversations with Coach Tom Landry that ended the team’s practice of assigning hotel rooms based on race.
“I tried to do whatever I could do [to] help change the kinds of things that society had operated under for such a long time,” Norman once said.
In 1971, Norman joined protests when city councilman George Allen was denied the title of Mayor Pro Tem despite assurances he would be appointed—an incident some teammates believe contributed to Norman’s unexpected trade to San Diego.
After retiring from football in 1973 due to a degenerative knee condition, Norman turned his attention to business, where he broke new ground yet again. He became the first Black banking officer in Dallas while working at South Oak Cliff State Bank and later founded PNI Industries.
He was also an early investor in restaurant franchises, including several Burger King locations.
“Pettis owned five different companies and would tell me a good deal about the Burger King restaurants he was invested in. Pettis said it was a bad deal,” recalled his nephew William Norman, who now lives in Transylvania County, North Carolina.
“Pettis being out there in Texas, you know, that’s a long way. So, we didn’t see much of him until there was a family reunion. And the last family reunion we had, Pettis and I had conversations… we took a picture together; we talked about a few things because we were both businessmen.”
Norman was recruited by President Lyndon Johnson to help quell civil unrest in Washington, D.C., following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1969, he broke new ground again as the first Black male athlete featured in a Dr Pepper ad campaign, targeted toward the Black consumer market. In 1993, he founded the Dallas Together Forum, which brought CEOs from major corporations together to increase minority hiring and contracts for women- and minority-owned businesses.
Norman served on boards including the Dallas Urban League, the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Paul Quinn College, the Martin Luther King Center, the Dallas Citizens Council, and many more. He co-hosted the UNCF telethon with Lou Rawls and received hundreds of community honors, including Humanitarian of the Year by Lions Club International and the Liberty Bell Award from the Dallas Bar Association.
He was inducted into the CIAA Hall of Fame in 1977, the Black Sports Hall of Fame in 2010, and was recognized as a Dallas/Fort Worth Black Living Legend in 2017. Johnson C. Smith University’s highest athletic award—the Pettis Norman Male and Female Athlete of the Year—is named in his honor. Norman also authored his memoir: The Pettis Norman Story.
Norman requested to be buried beside his father in Lincolnton, Georgia. His family has planned two funeral services—one in Dallas and another in Lincolnton, Georgia—to honor both the communities he impacted so profoundly.
“A strong oak has fallen,” said Dr. Dorothy Yancy, former president of Johnson C. Smith University and a longtime friend. “He was Johnson C. Smith, is what I’m really trying to say to you. I looked up to him. And I think lots of people did.”
As the Cowboys said in their tribute: “We mourn the passing of former tight end and civil rights advocate Pettis Norman. Known for his selfless leadership, commitment to community, and dedication to creating equal opportunity, we were incredibly proud and grateful to share his remarkable story recently.”
As friends, family, and former teammates gather to remember him in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and beyond, they honor not just an NFL veteran, but a man who quietly shaped history through virtuous and bold perseverance.
