Pless, a linebacker who played at Kansas from 1982-85, holds the school’s record for career tackles. He retired from the CFL in 1999 as the league’s all-time leading tackler.

A native of Anniston, Ala., and resident of Edmonton, Alberta, Pless said in addition to his wife and their three daughters, more than 40 friends and family members would witness the halftime ceremony.

“We’ve gone through many of these types of deals,” Pless said Thursday night, minutes after receiving a lengthy standing ovation when introduced as the featured speaker at the KU Quarterback Club meeting at the Holidome. “Don’t get me wrong. They’re all important. This one here just feels a little more special. A big university was willing to give a chance to a poor guy from Alabama, a guy most people said was too small to play, wasn’t smart enough to finish school and get a degree, so it’s kind of nice.”

Pless was a 5-foot-10, 190-pound linebacker in high school. By the time Alabama and Auburn came calling, it was too late.

Richard Gwin

“His mother gave her word her son was coming to Kansas,” said Don Fambrough, who enjoyed visiting with Pless on Thursday night. “She faced up to Bear Bryant and Shug Jordan and said, ‘No way, you didn’t want him before, you’re not going to get him now.'”

Pless said he never regretted for a second his college choice.

“Not only did my mother make a promise, but I had also given my word, and I try to be a man of my word,” Pless said. “If I say I’m going to do something, I try everything within my power to do it. After the high school all-star game, which I had a great game, made a lot of tackles, even played a little on offense, made a lot of yardage, now all of the sudden I grew six inches (in the coaches’ eyes). At that time, my mind was made up, and there was no turning back. If I had to do it all over again, same situation, the Kansas Jayhawks would be the team and the school I’d decide to go to.”

Pless remains grateful to Fambrough for seeing the football player, not the height listed next to the football player’s name. In that sense, it’s a fortunate coincidence that Pless should be honored midway through a game in which all eyes will be trained on sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing, bypassed by the powerhouse schools of his home state of Texas because he’s about the same height as Pless.

“I’m looking forward to seeing this guy play,” Pless said of Reesing. “I’ll tell you what, I played against a lot of great quarterbacks, especially in the CFL, and the best quarterback I’ve ever gone up against is Doug Flutie. If you’re talking about size and height and all that stuff, you can throw that stuff out the window. If this guy has that desire and he has the skills to play the game, it’s going to show. So it doesn’t matter how tall, how big, how fast he is.”

Pless, who said he played most of his professional career near 210 pounds, forever battled the too-small label and forever conquered it by leading his league in tackles.

Pless now works in outside sales and public relations for a firm that manufactures “anything and everything that an oil and gas field would need.” He said he hopes to develop business contacts in Kansas so that he can come “home” four or five times a year. Today, his plans call for him to give his three daughters, ranging from 6 to 14 years old, a tour of the school from which their parents graduated. All three are natural athletes, Pless said, and he’s already recruiting them for his alma mater.