Duane Thomas: The Cowboys' Rising Star

TexasHillbilly

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Back then..

Especially to be different made you a target.

Thomas was quiet. Then suddenly said too much. Actually he had traits of bi-polar which was unknown back then.

Symptoms are radical mood swings, depression and tendencies toward suicide are frequent.

Thomas having Jim Brown around helped him anchor.

Those days being different was dangerous. Racial prejudice was out of control.

Kent State changed my generation permanently. So Thomas was subject to all sorts of pressure to conform.

Today we should see him as one of our great players who had real life issues going on, too.
I am so feeling nothing but positive vibes from you brother. Thomas was from a different era. The mindset was the opposite of today.
 

Redball Express

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Yeah you can go back on YouTube now and watch the 1970 playoff game vs SF. Craig Morton was QB and Duane was basically the entire offense.
He was.

Calvin Hill was similar for us as far as being alot of our offense.
 

Redball Express

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He was worse than Dez. He actually went a season without talking to teammates. And Dez would celebrate with teammates. Not Duane.
I do not think at the time anybody understood Thomas.

Landry tried. When Thomas called Landry a "Plastic Man" it blew everyone's mind at the time.

But in a nutshell, that was how Thomas reacted to the world around him..no?
 

Doomsday101

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Comparing Duane to Dez simply verifies that America's Cowboy is either a young man in his teens or unaware of our proud history.
Duane was a special talent and chose the road of silence to rebel against cheap and most talented GM Tex Schramm.

There is truth to that but I think it goes beyond that. After all Tex was not running the chargers and Duane attitude was the same there. No doubt Tex was cheap, Cowboys players often were vastly underpaid to their peers on other teams.
 

Redball Express

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Comparing Duane to Dez simply verifies that America's Cowboy is either a young man in his teens or unaware of our proud history.
Duane was a special talent and chose the road of silence to rebel against cheap and most talented GM Tex Schramm.
Ahh..

Brilliant sir..

Very true.
 

OmerV

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Are you sure about that? One thing I noticed when watching old highlights was that TO would always go congratulate the guy who scored while Dez never once did.
My recollection is that Dez often would get very excited when the team scored, even if it wasn't him. I also recall times he pouted when he thought he was open and the ball went the other way. I'm not suggesting he was selfless, just that his actions could go both ways. I think with Thomas it was always one way.
 

RS12

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Comparing Duane to Dez simply verifies that America's Cowboy is either a young man in his teens or unaware of our proud history.
Duane was a special talent and chose the road of silence to rebel against cheap and most talented GM Tex Schramm.
1000 likes pappy
 

Fletch

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Back then..

Especially to be different made you a target.

Thomas was quiet. Then suddenly said too much. Actually he had traits of bi-polar which was unknown back then.

Symptoms are radical mood swings, depression and tendencies toward suicide are frequent.

Thomas having Jim Brown around helped him anchor.

Those days being different was dangerous. Racial prejudice was out of control.

Kent State changed my generation permanently. So Thomas was subject to all sorts of pressure to conform.

Today we should see him as one of our great players who had real life issues going on, too.
Well said.
 

OmerV

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I do not think at the time anybody understood Thomas.

Landry tried. When Thomas called Landry a "Plastic Man" it blew everyone's mind at the time.

But in a nutshell, that was how Thomas reacted to the world around him..no?
Sure that's how he reacted to the world, but knowing that doesn't make it better. Team work, communication and supporting co-workers is necessary for any employee in most professions - and certainly that applies to sports teams. The man didn't even make an effort to be a good teammate, and it led to his downfall.

That's not to say Dez didn't have some similar problems, but being anti-social was not the problem. Being too involved and vocal sometimes was.
 

rags747

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Duane was the man, a true thoroughbred stud of a rb. He was quite fine his rookie year, he wanted a raise as he was only making about $20k per year and he was told no. He was the best rb in the league for the years 70 and 71. Was definitely deserving of big bucks, once he did not get them he said $#@K You. He could catch too, 6’2” 215 and was a real glider and smooth. Best pal on the team was Steve Kiner, I believe a Tenn LB who also liked to partake in the 70’s culture.
 

CooterBrown

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Duane Thomas was a great player in a tough spot. This was before free agency existed in any form. Duane was clearly one of the best running backs in the game but was earning peanuts on his rookie deal. Because there was no free agency, there was no “renegotiate” pressure on teams to pay more than the contract required. And, TV money had not yet skyrocketed, so teams had to pinch pennies. He was worth more money, but couldn’t get it. He knew it, the team knew it. So he sulked and became anti-social. He was the same in San Diego because the only thing that changed was the team, not his paycheck. He only had two choices: take what they would give him or quit. He eventually chose to quit.
Another point I would make is that press coverage was very different then. Reporters were so pro-team that they ignored players salaries and complaints about being the “property” of the team that drafted them. If a player did not toe the team line, he was painted as the problem. The team could do no wrong. As a consequence the average fan invariably blamed the player who took a stand and disrupted the team. (Duane’s silence did not disrupt the team. They won a superbowl during his “silence”.)

Did Duane handle it incorrectly? Yes, but he was young, angry, and ill-advised.

He was a great player, but if things had not played out the way they did, Tony Dorsett would not have been a Cowboy.

And for what it is worth, Duane did not fumble in the Superbowl against the Colts.
 

Doomsday101

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Duane Thomas was a great player in a tough spot. This was before free agency existed in any form. Duane was clearly one of the best running backs in the game but was earning peanuts on his rookie deal. Because there was no free agency, there was no “renegotiate” pressure on teams to pay more than the contract required. And, TV money had not yet skyrocketed, so teams had to pinch pennies. He was worth more money, but couldn’t get it. He knew it, the team knew it. So he sulked and became anti-social. He was the same in San Diego because the only thing that changed was the team, not his paycheck. He only had two choices: take what they would give him or quit. He eventually chose to quit.
Another point I would make is that press coverage was very different then. Reporters were so pro-team that they ignored players salaries and complaints about being the “property” of the team that drafted them. If a player did not toe the team line, he was painted as the problem. The team could do no wrong. As a consequence the average fan invariably blamed the player who took a stand and disrupted the team. (Duane’s silence did not disrupt the team. They won a superbowl during his “silence”.)

Did Duane handle it incorrectly? Yes, but he was young, angry, and ill-advised.

He was a great player, but if things had not played out the way they did, Tony Dorsett would not have been a Cowboy.

And for what it is worth, Duane did not fumble in the Superbowl against the Colts.

Roger Staubach was vastly underpaid, so was Lilly and every Cowboy player on that team. Tex was cheap he did not pay the players like other teams did. Thomas went to the Chargers and his attitude was still poor. I think Thomas had HOF talent but his stand cost him a career by his own choice.
 

viman96

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Dez enjoys life and people. Thomas on the other hand always seemed angry at the world and had issues getting along with people. He is the dude on the porch with a shotgun yelling at air.
 

quickccc

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i didnt realize until just a few years back that Duane Thomas was actually a Dallas born native, ..straight from local Lincoln High School. ..
 

quickccc

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Roger Staubach was vastly underpaid, so was Lilly and every Cowboy player on that team. Tex was cheap he did not pay the players like other teams did. Thomas went to the Chargers and his attitude was still poor. I think Thomas had HOF talent but his stand cost him a career by his own choice.

Yeh, ..Schramm just didn't underpay his players. even his biggest star players. ... he was flat ripping them off. LOL ! :eek:
 

Redball Express

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Had HOF talent but seemed to resent authority. He and Hollywood Henderson were two great wastes of talent in the 70s. The Cowboys were great at finding talent back then.
They were great at talent scquisition.

Still are. Look at the Aldon Smith signing and Gregory returning.

This team gets older but it remains true to its DNA.
 

Doomsday101

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Dez enjoys life and people. Thomas on the other hand always seemed angry at the world and had issues getting along with people. He is the dude on the porch with a shotgun yelling at air.

True but it was also different times in America. Civil rights movement was still taking place, an unpopular war and just overall upheaval within the nation.
 
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