Former Muskogee, Arkansas and NFL player Preston Carpenter was born on January 24, 1934 in Hayti, Missouri.

Carpenter played football, basketball and baseball at Muskogee High School and was an All-State selection at fullback in 1951 and was a member of the 1950 state championship team after transferring from West Memphis, Arkansas following his sophomore season.

Carpenter played collegiately at the University of Arkansas, earning First-Team All-Southwestern Conference honors in 1955. In one of the most famous plays in Razorbacks history, he caught a 66-yard touchdown pass in a nationally televised game as the 7th-ranked Razorbacks defeated No. 5 Ole Miss 6-0 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

In 1955, he played in the Cotton Bowl, the East/West Shrine Game and the College All-Star Game.

In the 1956 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns selected Carpenter with the 13th overall pick. He had a 12-year NFL career with the Browns, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins, catching 305 passes for 4,457 yards and rushing for 884 yards and 24 total touchdowns in his NFL career.

He earned a Pro Bowl spot in 1962 with the Steelers after catching 36 passes for 492 yards and four touchdowns.

In 1992, Carpenter was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and into the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor in 1996. He also received the All-American Football Foundation's All-American Football Legends Award in 2003.

Carpenter passed away in Tulsa in 2011 at the age of 77.