Former Cleveland Browns' Greg Pruitt watches from the sidelines in the second half of an NFL football game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Browns, Monday, Nov. 30, 2015, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard)

The 56th Curbstone Coaches Hall of Fame banquet is set for May 4 with Greg Pruitt, former Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Raiders and Oklahoma Sooners running back to serve as the guest speaker.

Sponsored by Briarfield Health Care Centers and Ed and Diane Reese, the event will induct 12 new members at Mr. Anthony’s Banquet Center, 740 South Avenue, Boardman.

This year’s honorees include John Butera (sports media), Tony Congemi (football), Roland Commings (boxing), Tim Gleason (contribution to sports), Brian Gorby (track and field and cross country), Bob Jenkins (track and field), Doug Kuberski (bowling), Steve Leslie (contribution to sports), James W. Morrison (contribution to sports), Mike Pavlansky (football), Robb Schmidt (sports media) and Jim Vivo (football).

Born August 18, 1951, in Houston, Texas, Pruitt attended B.C. Elmore High School and upon graduation, earned a scholarship to Oklahoma University, where he played under head coach Chuck Fairbanks from 1970-72.

A gifted ball carrier, he helped the Sooners to a 7-4-1 overall mark and a 5-2 ledger in the Big Eight Conference as a sophomore in 1970 – freshmen were ineligible to compete until a 1972 NCAA ruling permitted them to play – then back-to-back 11-1-0 overall and 6-1 conference marks his final two collegiate seasons.

Oklahoma played in three consecutive bowl games during his time with the crimson and cream, posting a 28-6-1 overall mark and 17-4 mark in conference play as they tied Alabama (24-24) in the 1970 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, and defeated Auburn (40-22) and Penn State (14-0), respectively, in the 1971 and 1972 Sugar Bowls.

A two-time, unanimous All-American (1971 and 1972) and All-Big 8 Conference selection his final two years, the Touchdown Club of Washington D.C. honored him as its “Player of the Year” from the 1972 season.

1971, he led the nation in yards per attempt, carrying the ball 9.4 yards every time he placed his hands on the ball.

As a collegian, he averaged 7.6 yards on 375 carries, with his biggest games coming against Kansas State (294 yards), Texas (216) and Southern California (205), all occurring during the 1971 season.

He also averaged 13.9 yards on punt returns and 19.9 yards on kickoff returns, scoring 38 touchdowns in 33 regular season games. In the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, he rushed eight times for 97 yards, returned three kickoffs for 71 yards and posted touchdown runs of 58 and 25 yards en route to game Most Valuable Player laurels.

As polished as he was on the gridiron, he was just as accomplished in the classroom, where he was named Academic All-Conference in the Big Eight in 1972.

He ranks third among Sooners in career all-purpose yards, gaining 3,122 yards on the ground, posting 491 receiving yards, 139 yards on punt returns and 679 yards returning kickoffs, scoring 41 career touchdowns.

In the 1972 Heisman Trophy race, he finished second to wide receiver Johnny Rodgers of Nebraska, while in 1971 he was third overall to Auburn quarterback Pat Sullivan and Cornell running back Ed Marinaro, the runner-up.

As one of the Sooners’ first Black players to earn All-American plaudits, he established himself as OU’s best player during a time when other southern universities had not fully desegregated their football teams.

The Big Eight conference at that time, however, had established itself as the best collegiate football conference in the country by the start of the 1970s, with each team fully integrated and much of their success owed in large part to their Black players.

His play against Southeastern Conference schools, and Alabama and Auburn in the 1970 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl and 1972 Sugar Bowl, respectively, helped accelerate each team’s integration as they expanded their recruitment of Black players.

Standing just 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing 177 pounds at the time of his college graduation, many in the NFL felt that he was too small to have an impact on the professional game, but he proved them all wrong. The Cleveland Browns drafted him with the 30th pick of the second round of the 1973 NFL Draft.

Pruitt played 12 years in the National Football League with the Browns (1973-81) and Raiders (1982-84), leading the Browns in rushing five times while recording three 1,000 yard seasons.

Prior to the 1982 season, he was traded for an 11th-round draft pick to the Los Angeles Raiders, where he was used primarily as a return specialist.

In 1983, he led the league in punt returns (58), punt return yards (666, an NFL record), punt return touchdowns (one) and longest punt return (97 yards) as the team went on to win Super Bowl Super Bowl XVIII, dominating the Washington Redskins, 38-9 in Tampa, Fla.

He finished his NFL career with 5,672 rushing yards, 3,069 receiving yards, 47 total touchdowns and 13,262 all-purpose yards.

A shifty runner who dodged enemy defenders with ease, the NFL adopted the “Greg Pruitt Rule” in 1979, which outlawed the usage of tear-away jerseys.

In 1979, he won ABC’s Superstars, an all-around sports competition that pits elite athletes from different sports against one another in a series of athletic events resembling a decathlon, and in 1991, he competed in the sports-entertainment TV Game Show “American Gladiators.”

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

Doors open at 4 p.m. for the banquet, dinner will be served at 5 p.m. with the program set to commence at 6 p.m.

Individual tickets are $60 each, tables of eight are $480. Further information can be obtained by calling 3305066774 or by visiting the Curbstone Coaches’ website at www.thecurbstonecoaches.org.