How Did Our Fans View Duane Thomas in the Early 1970s?

[Alexander]

Kids these days grew up on crap recaps with Chris Berman, if they were lucky.

We grew up on John Facenda.

 

[cowboyec]

helluva player.
helluva pain in the ***.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Great player.

Marched to the beat of his own drummer.

 

[TexasHillbilly]

Yep.

Tex's strategy was to low ball his stars that didn't have agents like Staubach and Lilly and when the time came to pay other players they'd be like "you can't make more than Staubach!"

Mindsets were different back then. The FO could get away with a lot more.

 

[Redball Express]

Question for some of the older guys that post in here - how did our fan base view Duane Thomas in the early 1970s? I feel like it was one of the biggest wastes of talent in the history of this franchise.

I got around to watching a special on ESPN a few hours ago about the 1971 Cowboys Super Bowl team, and one of the central characters around that season's events was RB Duane Thomas.

A little background, for those unaware:

Duane was drafted in the First Round in 1970 by Landry and Gil Brandt, and there were early comparisons to Jim Brown, which excited everyone in Dallas because he went to Lincoln High School and was eventually a star at West Texas State. Duane had a fantastic rookie season, finishing second in rushing yards in the NFC and averaged a whopping 5.3 YPC (a record which Emmitt Smith eventually tied). He was also the first rookie in NFL history to have back to back 100 yard rushing games in the playoffs, a feat he accomplished against Detroit and San Francisco respectively. Duane Thomas was named Rookie of the Year, and subsequently, his head got a little big also. He more or less demanded a revised contract from Tex Schramm after he won the Rookie of the Year honors, and Tex being Tex wasn't having any of it. Thomas ended up holding out, and also went to the media saying that Tex was cheap and hypocritical and that Landry was a "plastic man", a comment that befuddled teammates. Thomas was eventually traded to New England, but due to his inability to get along with Head Coach John Mazur, New England went to the Commissioner, who in an unprecedented move, voided several aspects of the deal - which subsequently sent Thomas back to Dallas. Thomas remained silent for the entire duration of the season, refusing to speak to teammates, coaching staff, and even the media. Thomas dominated the Dolphins on the ground in Super Bowl VI, and unanimously won the voting in MVP honors, but officials were afraid of how he would act at a banquet in New York, and decided to give the MVP award to Staubach, who only completed 12 passes in that game.

Eventually, Duane was traded to San Diego and bounced around the league after that. He returned to Dallas in 1976, but was not nearly as effective as he was in his prime. High character HOF Cowboys like Staubach and Bob Lilly have been on the record saying that Thomas would have had a HOF career if he would've just gotten his head right, and I believe I read that Landry lamented that he would have beaten the Steelers in Super Bowl X and XIII had he had Thomas on the field.

We were all hard on guys like Taco Charlton when we drafted him, but my question is this - how did our fans deal with these events in the early 1970s? Having Duane around could've possibly changed the trajectory of this franchise in the 70s and we could quite possibly have seven Super Bowl victories. Are Landry and Staubach just out of their minds, and were we just destined to lose to the Steelers anyway? Was Duane Thomas not that special of a RB at all, who just had two fluke seasons?

Interested in hearing from you guys on this subject, as I'm always trying to learn new things about my beloved team.

back then..I was in my teens when Thomas played.

I was young and rebellious and identified with Thomas a lot. Jim Brown was his mentor and I thought Brown was the best player I had ever seen play.

So when Thomas called Landry " a Plastic Man" I understood it and while I loved the Cowboys, Landry was a bit eccentric and he only cared about his flex defense and trying to get Meredith to win.

So I had no issues about his and when it got rough at the SB..that was pretty much the end of the Cowboy story for him.

His running style was gliding and smooth and he could hit up field with power and speed. He also caught screen passes well and moved the sticks. Staubach must have been OK with him as they rode him to 2 SBs and won one.

So others may view him differently. There were other RBs of the day who held up better, but not sure they were better than Thomas.

 

[ClappingCarrot]

back then..I was in my teens when Thomas played.

I was young and rebellious and identified with Thomas a lot. Jim Brown was his mentor and I thought Brown was the best player I had ever seen play.

So when Thomas called Landry " a Plastic Man" I understood it and while I loved the Cowboys, Landry was a bit eccentric and he only cared about his flex defense and trying to get Meredith to win.

So I had no issues about his and when it got rough at the SB..that was pretty much the end of the Cowboy story for him.

His running style was gliding and smooth and he could hit up field with power and speed. He also caught screen passes well and moved the sticks. Staubach must have been OK with him as they rode him to 2 SBs and won one.

So others may view him differently. There were other RBs of the day who held up better, but not sure they were better than Thomas.

Wasn't Meredith already out of the league by this point though?

One of the more bizarre stories of the season is Landry declaring that Dallas had "two starting QB's" in Morton and Staubach, and once they realized how much of a distraction it was, they abandoned that plan.

 

[Redball Express]

Wasn't Meredith already out of the league by this point though?

One of the more bizarre stories of the season is Landry declaring that Dallas had "two starting QB's" in Morton and Staubach, and once they realized how much of a distraction it was, they abandoned that plan.

yeah..

but Landry was still eccentric.

Meredith was an example like Thomas was. Landry did not understand them well at all.

Hollywood Henderson was another one.

 

[CooterBrown]

I watched every Cowboy game Duane Thomas played. He was simply the best running back in the NFL. With Doomsday, Roger, that offensive line and Duane, I thought they were going to win multiple Superbowls. And then, Jim Brown got into Duane’s head. Looking back on it now, I realize the team was not treating the players right, but at the time I blamed it all on Duane Thomas and Jim Brown.
He was a good receiver, a great blocker, and as I said a great ball carrier. That game with Thomas and Hill running from the pro-T offense was awesome.
But, if things had not played out the way they did, Tony Dorsett would have never been a Cowboy.

 

[rags747]

We choked big time in that game literally gave the game to the Colts.
After that game, it just kept the fire burning on the name "Next Years Champions"

Morton was playing with his arm basically hanging off of his body, he was really banged up pretty badly.

 

[landroverking]

Smoothest runner until Dorsett

 

[Redball Express]

I watched every Cowboy game Duane Thomas played. He was simply the best running back in the NFL. With Doomsday, Roger, that offensive line and Duane, I thought they were going to win multiple Superbowls. And then, Jim Brown got into Duane’s head. Looking back on it now, I realize the team was not treating the players right, but at the time I blamed it all on Duane Thomas and Jim Brown.
He was a good receiver, a great blocker, and as I said a great ball carrier. That game with Thomas and Hill running from the pro-T offense was awesome.
But, if things had not played out the way they did, Tony Dorsett would have never been a Cowboy.

True about Dorsett.

That was our talent guys that found Thomas.

Schramm and the others.

I hated it when Hill moved to Washington. Happy later when he came back for Player development.

His son was quite a B-baller.

 

[Fritsch_the_cat]

I just remember being confused as hell about what was going on with him.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Question for some of the older guys that post in here - how did our fan base view Duane Thomas in the early 1970s? I feel like it was one of the biggest wastes of talent in the history of this franchise.

I got around to watching a special on ESPN a few hours ago about the 1971 Cowboys Super Bowl team, and one of the central characters around that season's events was RB Duane Thomas.

A little background, for those unaware:

Duane was drafted in the First Round in 1970 by Landry and Gil Brandt, and there were early comparisons to Jim Brown, which excited everyone in Dallas because he went to Lincoln High School and was eventually a star at West Texas State. Duane had a fantastic rookie season, finishing second in rushing yards in the NFC and averaged a whopping 5.3 YPC (a record which Emmitt Smith eventually tied). He was also the first rookie in NFL history to have back to back 100 yard rushing games in the playoffs, a feat he accomplished against Detroit and San Francisco respectively. Duane Thomas was named Rookie of the Year, and subsequently, his head got a little big also. He more or less demanded a revised contract from Tex Schramm after he won the Rookie of the Year honors, and Tex being Tex wasn't having any of it. Thomas ended up holding out, and also went to the media saying that Tex was cheap and hypocritical and that Landry was a "plastic man", a comment that befuddled teammates. Thomas was eventually traded to New England, but due to his inability to get along with Head Coach John Mazur, New England went to the Commissioner, who in an unprecedented move, voided several aspects of the deal - which subsequently sent Thomas back to Dallas. Thomas remained silent for the entire duration of the season, refusing to speak to teammates, coaching staff, and even the media. Thomas dominated the Dolphins on the ground in Super Bowl VI, and unanimously won the voting in MVP honors, but officials were afraid of how he would act at a banquet in New York, and decided to give the MVP award to Staubach, who only completed 12 passes in that game.

Eventually, Duane was traded to San Diego and bounced around the league after that. He returned to Dallas in 1976, but was not nearly as effective as he was in his prime. High character HOF Cowboys like Staubach and Bob Lilly have been on the record saying that Thomas would have had a HOF career if he would've just gotten his head right, and I believe I read that Landry lamented that he would have beaten the Steelers in Super Bowl X and XIII had he had Thomas on the field.

We were all hard on guys like Taco Charlton when we drafted him, but my question is this - how did our fans deal with these events in the early 1970s? Having Duane around could've possibly changed the trajectory of this franchise in the 70s and we could quite possibly have seven Super Bowl victories. Are Landry and Staubach just out of their minds, and were we just destined to lose to the Steelers anyway? Was Duane Thomas not that special of a RB at all, who just had two fluke seasons?

Interested in hearing from you guys on this subject, as I'm always trying to learn new things about my beloved team.

The fans, most seemingly looked the other way no matter how diva-ish Thomas was. He could have been a millionaire in texas, mate, but is now, maybe, a door greeter in a Louisiana casino.

 

[Redball Express]

I just remember being confused as hell about what was going on with him.

Haha..

So was he.

We never knew if he was our RB or was about to join the Black Panthers or The Symbonese Liberation Army.

But it kept your attention.

 

[GenoT]

A lotta talent...a lotta attitude. That was a tough blend back then.

I liked him.

 

[Bobhaze]

Question for some of the older guys that post in here - how did our fan base view Duane Thomas in the early 1970s? I feel like it was one of the biggest wastes of talent in the history of this franchise.

I got around to watching a special on ESPN a few hours ago about the 1971 Cowboys Super Bowl team, and one of the central characters around that season's events was RB Duane Thomas.

A little background, for those unaware:

Duane was drafted in the First Round in 1970 by Landry and Gil Brandt, and there were early comparisons to Jim Brown, which excited everyone in Dallas because he went to Lincoln High School and was eventually a star at West Texas State. Duane had a fantastic rookie season, finishing second in rushing yards in the NFC and averaged a whopping 5.3 YPC (a record which Emmitt Smith eventually tied). He was also the first rookie in NFL history to have back to back 100 yard rushing games in the playoffs, a feat he accomplished against Detroit and San Francisco respectively. Duane Thomas was named Rookie of the Year, and subsequently, his head got a little big also. He more or less demanded a revised contract from Tex Schramm after he won the Rookie of the Year honors, and Tex being Tex wasn't having any of it. Thomas ended up holding out, and also went to the media saying that Tex was cheap and hypocritical and that Landry was a "plastic man", a comment that befuddled teammates. Thomas was eventually traded to New England, but due to his inability to get along with Head Coach John Mazur, New England went to the Commissioner, who in an unprecedented move, voided several aspects of the deal - which subsequently sent Thomas back to Dallas. Thomas remained silent for the entire duration of the season, refusing to speak to teammates, coaching staff, and even the media. Thomas dominated the Dolphins on the ground in Super Bowl VI, and unanimously won the voting in MVP honors, but officials were afraid of how he would act at a banquet in New York, and decided to give the MVP award to Staubach, who only completed 12 passes in that game.

Eventually, Duane was traded to San Diego and bounced around the league after that. He returned to Dallas in 1976, but was not nearly as effective as he was in his prime. High character HOF Cowboys like Staubach and Bob Lilly have been on the record saying that Thomas would have had a HOF career if he would've just gotten his head right, and I believe I read that Landry lamented that he would have beaten the Steelers in Super Bowl X and XIII had he had Thomas on the field.

We were all hard on guys like Taco Charlton when we drafted him, but my question is this - how did our fans deal with these events in the early 1970s? Having Duane around could've possibly changed the trajectory of this franchise in the 70s and we could quite possibly have seven Super Bowl victories. Are Landry and Staubach just out of their minds, and were we just destined to lose to the Steelers anyway? Was Duane Thomas not that special of a RB at all, who just had two fluke seasons?

Interested in hearing from you guys on this subject, as I'm always trying to learn new things about my beloved team.

I saw every game Duane Thomas played. At least 4-5 in person. He was an incredible talent- a combination of size and speed similar to the great Jim Brown. Had DT been able to keep his head straight, he had HOF talent. If you go back and look at his highlights- take the 1970 game against the KC Chiefs his rookie year for example- he was fantastic.

But sadly DT couldn’t keep his mind engaged. After his rookie season in 1970, he had a contract dispute with Tex Scramm and the team decided they had enough of his weird, detached behavior. He was actually traded in ‘71 before TC started to New England but amazingly, the trade was voided by the commissioner because of some crazy conflict with the pats HC.

So DT goes back to Dallas where he literally went the entire ‘71 season not speaking to anyone. Not just the press- everyone- teammates, coaches, everyone. His talent made Coach Landry give him chance after chance. He led the Cowboys in rushing in ‘71 and was a star on their first SB winning team. He scored THE first TD ever scored in Texas Stadium and had a great run in the playoffs and SB.

But when he showed up for training camp in ‘72 out of shape and still disgruntled, he was traded to San Diego. Amazingly, he refused to show up to the Chargers camp and missed the whole season in ‘72. Eventually he was traded to the deadskins in 73 where he played two seasons without much success. He had one more attempt to come back to Dallas in ‘76 but he was cut before the season started.

It’s really hard to find another former Cowboys player to compare Duane Thomas with. He was an unbelievable talent. Some have made TO comparisons but that one is not very applicable. TO talked too much, and despite that, TO ended up having a much longer and effective career. DT had some kind mental health issues- or perhaps he was just ahead of time by expecting more than what players in those days usually got. BTW, to my knowledge, he did nit have alcohol or drug issues.

Whatever the reasons, Duane Thomas remains one of the biggest enigmas in NFL history. A super talent who could not succeed because of whatever was going on in his mind and heart.
What did Cowboys fans think of him in those days? Well I was 12 his rookie year and I loved him. Most of the older fans in those days didn’t like him. But keep in mind, in those days, there was not nearly as much information about players the way we have today. We have access to so much more info than we did in the early 70s.

I encourage all our younger Cowboys fans to look up DTs highlights on YouTube. For a brief time, he was brilliant.

 

[plasticman]

Some other interesting aspects of Duane's time as a Cowboy. Landry didn't put up with that krap. He didn't
care who youi were, if you gave him attitude, it was next guy in line and you were gone. Landry was so stubborn on that point that they say it cost him the 1972 NFC championship.

Landry had benched future Hall of Famer Herb Adderly for arguing with him. When Charlie Water, his replacement, broke his arm in the NFCC game, Adderly got ready to go in and Landry made him sit. Instead, :Landry replaced Charlie Waters with roolie low draft pick Mark Washington. Just about every Commander score in that NFC championship game was over Washington's head.

So he wasn't going to put up with Thomas for long. Here is another interesting part. As the OP mentioned Duance Thomas was the Cowboys 1st round pick in 1970. They also drafted a RB the year before in 1969 in the first round, Calvin Hill, and he was Rookie of the Year as well as Pro Bowler and 1st team All Pro. And the year before that they dafted a RB in the 2nd round, Claxton Welch. They also had Walt Garrison at FB and Dan Reeves as a player coach and all purpose back. They were stacked and it wasn't very smart at that point for Duane to make demands.

The only reason Duane Thomas played so much in 1970 and 1971 is because Hill was hurt much of the seasons. 1971 was the year that Staubach became a starter but another reason for their great offense was Calvin Hill returning to the field late in the season. That's when they began destroying other teams. They scored 125 points against their last three opponents. The Cowboys offense was ranked #1 in both points and yardage.

Even Roger Staubach contributed to the running game. The running game was so dominant that fans began discussing the possibility of the Cowboys switching to the Wishbone. Landry was having none of that, Besides both WR's and the TE .were future Hall of Famers

Yes, Duane gave the media the silent treatment....except after the Sjuper Bowl when they wished he would have kept silent. They asked him if he was really that fast and he answered, "Evidently". ". Before the game they asked him what it was like to play in the "ultimate game". That's when he gave the historical quote, "If this is the ultimate game then why are they playing it again next year"

Duane Thomas was a discipline problem everywhere he went. He was traded to the Chargers and didn't show up, was suspended the entire season. The Chargers traded him to the Commanders and he demanded a salary increase.after two seasons. when they refused he didn't show up for training camp and was cut. He played a total of 4 NFL seasons.

I think fans regarded him as very talented but absolutely not essential. He was a trouble maker. The next draft after the trade they drafted a RB in the first and second round. That was the Cowboy way. It wouldn't have really mattered. In 1973 the top NFL stars left the league due some crazy contracts given out by the new WFL. Some of the best teams were gutted. The Cowboys lost Calvin Hill that season

 

[DandyDon52]

how did our fan base view Duane Thomas in the early 1970s?

Well back then no one knew, there was no way for fans to discuss except in person.
Duane had a salary of 10 ,000 a year, so I thought he deserved a raise.
2 years ago I read that with bonus's he made 70,000 the first year.
also he had a wife and kid and I think she left him so he was paying her, and spent the money, and was broke.
So he wanted more money. Then ironically Jim brown is the one who got in his ear telling him he deserved more and was the best rb in nfl.

But as a fan I liked him, and felt it was the cowboys fault for being cheap with him at the time.
Had they just gave him a raise , it might have garnered them another ring or 2 but they were cheapo's back then .
most owners and gm's were.
Duane had a long smooth stride, he didnt look like he was running fast, but he was. They would do a pitch play to either side and he would run
in untouched.

Something you might not know, back then if cowboy game did not sell out by friday I think, and it was a home game, it was blacked out in
the dallas area, hometown fans could not watch it on tv lol, and no cable etc, you just missed the game if you didnt go to the game.
That was a real drag let me tell you.

 

[DuncanIso]

His attitude and lack of respect to command cost him....

he probably carried that for a long time.

see it all the time.

people wreck their careers.

 

[pitt33]

Duane Thomas can be best described as an enigma. A very smart guy who simply did things his way. He didn’t conform with the establishment at the time. And it cost him.

I loved what Bob Lilly said about him during America’s Game 1971 edition...not exact quote here but how he was a beautiful runner and how he fully expected him to be in the hall of fame. And he said he could still picture him running.

We as Cowboys fans were only left to wonder what could have been from the original #33.