For SMU punter, Isaac Pearson, the unlikely path to the Hilltop has had multiple bumps in the road. NBC 5’s Pat Doney shares Pearson’s story.
The Southern Methodist University football team has had a dream season – ranked number 14 in the nation, and with record crowds in attendance to watch the Mustangs each weekend.
Some paths to dreams are more challenging than others, for one SMU football player, this season has been the realization of a long journey from the other side of the globe where he once worked one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
“Hard work is second nature to me. So coming to school and running and lifting every day is fairly easy in my book,” said SMU punter Isaac Pearson.
Pearson grew up in New South Wales, Australia, and began following the family line of work at a young age in the coal mines.
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“I’m a third-generation coal miner. My grandfather, my dad, and my uncle were all coal miners. So when it was time that I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do coming out of high school, my old man encouraged me to apply for an apprenticeship and get some experience in job interviews," Pearson said. "And I don’t know if I was charming or stupid, but I ended up getting the job, and it was full steam ahead from there.”
Full steam ahead, working four years as a coal miner, including completing 18 months of underground assignments. But midway through his coal mining apprenticeship, Isaac discovered an unexpected dream from an unlikely source.
“I knew what the NFL was, but I had no idea what college football was, but we’d get the NFL every Monday morning," said Pearson. "I was playing Madden on the Xbox and I was playing with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the commentator had a predetermined spiel about how Jordan Berry was from Australia. It clicked, I Googled him, did my research and found where he trained – which is ProKick Australia down in Melbourne, and I called them the following day.”
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After his coal mining apprenticeship ended, Pearson began training with the coaches at ProKick Australia and made enough progress to get a scholarship offer to the University of Texas. In his two seasons with the Longhorns, Isaac had just one punt attempt and the dream quickly began to feel like a nightmare when he dropped a punt and the kick he did get off went out of bounds.
“Quite a substantial buildup to essentially a null and void moment. I’m not sure it could’ve gone any worse," he said. "Maybe it brought out something that was a little bit more natural for me, trying to run around and kick around a couple of guys. But I dare say it would’ve been a lot easier than to catch the thing in the first place.”
And while the disappointment of no on-field payoff after years of hard work could have been enough to end the dream, Pearson instead looked back at his roots – and the family that quite literally prides itself on digging deep – and refused to quit.
“My upbringing, my dad, my grandfather, my mother as well – she works her ass off – we’re a blue-collar family in a blue-collar town. I think I owed to myself, but I owed to them as well," he said. "Why would I quit now? I had the opportunity to keep playing and certainly had the drive to do so, not necessarily to prove others wrong but to prove myself right.”
He proved himself right with an opportunity to punt for the SMU Mustangs – while earning a master’s degree on the Hilltop – and in August, took the field for the first time for his new team.
“Still terrifying. I knew it had been two years almost to the day that I had fumbled that and made a mess of that one punt against Louisiana-Monroe. That first time going out there, it was a complete blur. But from that point, it’s been a lot easier going out there,” he said.
A lot easier and a season filled with a lot of success. Isaac has averaged almost 45 yards per punt for SMU in 2024.
“It’s really hard to put into words. It has nothing to do with me. I’m so proud of the people around me. I just love it here. I love my teammates and my coaches here," he said. "It makes it really easy to get up and come to school.”
Making it easy, after a path to a dream that has had nothing easy about it, as Isaac Pearson leans on his hard-working roots based on the other side of the world.
“Just privileged to be here. It’s not lost on me how fortunate I am to be here and to be part of such a great team,” he said.
