Former guard now fights his battles in courtroomBy RICK HERRIN

[CrazyCowboy]

THEN & NOW

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Former guard now fights his battles in courtroom
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By RICK HERRIN
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Star-Telegram Staff Writer
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Blaine Nye has found someone more powerful in his life than Tom Landry ever was -- a courtroom judge.

Nye, a former Cowboys guard from 1968-76, is busy these days running the Stanford Consulting Group, which offers expert testimony in court cases involving economic damages.

Nye and his firm make more than 50 court appearances a year. It's a much different lifestyle for the former mainstay on the Cowboys offensive line. He was a member of three Super Bowl teams and ended his career in style by playing in the Pro Bowl.

Why was Tom Landry so tough on his offensive linemen? Tom didn't horse around. That's why we were so light. That's the way he wanted us. We didn't have a choice. He wanted all the guards and centers at 255 pounds. He fined us $100 for every pound over the limit. I made $1,400 a week. I was terrified of coming home with $400. It was financially prohibitive.

Why were offensive linemen so much smaller in your playing days? We dieted all the time to keep our weight down. At 250-270, that's just the way it was. We used to pull and trap and cut and all kinds of stuff, and didn't realize we could have gained 20 pounds and still be mobile.

What was it like playing next to Ring of Honor member Rayfield Wright? If you get a really great tackle, it makes it a lot easier. He was fast as anything and he was just a great tackle. The whole line worked really well together. They don't make them any better than he was.

Who was the nastiest defensive lineman you played against? The hardest-hitting son of a gun was Bob Brown from Green Bay. One time at the Cotton Bowl, when I was stepping to block him, Brown hit me. He was so strong he pushed me back so hard he plowed up the turf with my cleats.

How hard was it to feed your three sons, now all 250 pounds or bigger and former offensive linemen, when they were growing up?He [Zachary] was a kid that wanted sausage for Christmas. He was eating three eggs for breakfast when he was 6.

How was the transition from the field to the courtroom? I have learned judges are more powerful than head football coaches.

IN THE KNOW

Blaine Nye

Position: Right guard

NFL career: Cowboys, 1968-76

Highlights: Earned All-Pro honors in 1972. ... Two-time Pro Bowler (1974, 1976). ... Voted All-NFC in 1976. ... Started from 1970-76 and started in three Super Bowls. ... On teams that reached playoffs every year except one (1974). ... Fifth-round draft pick in 1968 out of Stanford. ... First-team All-Pac 8 selection.

Age: 59

Residence: Menlo Park, Calif.

Occupation: President of Stanford Consulting Group

Family: Wife, Anabelle; sons, Blaine (35), Zachary (26), Matt (24); daughter, Melissa (37)

Notable: Started Stanford Consulting in 1981. ... Last game he played was the Pro Bowl. ... Earned his MBA from Stanford in 1974 and his Ph.D. in financial economics from Stanford. ... Son Blaine played at Air Force and Zachary played at Princeton. Both were offensive tackles.

[THUMPER]

Nye was an outstanding OG for us and like many Cowboys underappreciated by the media. It is always nice to read about how the former players are doing, especially if they have been successful since retiring from the NFL.

One thing I find very interesting in each of these types of articles is when they are asked who the toughest guy they faced was, it is almost always someone you didn't think of. There were a lot of great DTs playing against Nye: Merlin Olsen, Joe Greene, Alan Page, etc. but you wouldn't think of Bob brown as the toughest.

Nice article, thanks for posting it.

[burmafrd]

People forget how hard it was for O linemen back then- they did not make much money. Landry emphasized speed and quickness above everything else. I think he is shading a little bit in thinking that he could have been as quick 20 lbs heavier. But he did not have to face many DT's that were bigger then him back then. Very few were 270 or above. And strength means more then size, anyway.
The 71 team had a great O line that has never really been appreciated.

[CrazyCowboy]

This was a nice article......I enjoy reading about our former players and having fond memories of the good old days......however, it makes me realize that I am getting old.....oh well.

[BARRYRAY]

Yea the other thing they emphasized was smarts, this guy is the opposite of some of our more recent o-lineman who have lined the cells of several, oh lets not go there you guys know what I mean.The o-linman of old were the smartest players in the game, it was a different trapping/pulling thinking position..

[Eskimo]

I think centers are still amongst the smartest players in the game according to the Wonderlics.