Alexander
What's it going to be then, eh?
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Kids these days grew up on crap recaps with Chris Berman, if they were lucky.
We grew up on John Facenda.
Mindsets were different back then. The FO could get away with a lot more.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!"
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.
Wasn't Meredith already out of the league by this point though?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.
yeah..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.
Morton was playing with his arm basically hanging off of his body, he was really banged up pretty badly.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"
True about Dorsett.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.
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.
Haha..I just remember being confused as hell about what was going on with him.
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.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.
Well back then no one knew, there was no way for fans to discuss except in person.how did our fan base view Duane Thomas in the early 1970s?