Preston Carpenter

Preston Carpenter (January 24, 1934 – June 30, 2011) was an American professional football player who lined up as an end, halfback, tight end, and kick returner over eleven seasons for five different teams in the National Football League and the American Football League. Born in Hayti, Missouri, to Verba Glen Carpenter and Edna Earl Pullam, he graduated from Muskogee Central High School, where he earned Oklahoma All State honors.

Carpenter played college football at the University of Arkansas, serving as a single-wing blocking back and linebacker for the Razorbacks in 1953 and 1954. In 1954, he caught a 66-yard touchdown pass against Ole Miss in one of the most famous plays in Razorbacks history. The following year, in 1955, he was selected All-Southwest Conference as a halfback.

His brother, Lew Carpenter, played and coached in the NFL for more than forty years. Carpenter married Jeanne Etychison, who died in 2019, and the couple had three children: Scott, Bruce, who died in 2015, and Lewis Todd Carpenter. He was a descendant of Thomas "Jack" Carpenter (1740–1803).