Cowboys' Best Money Players Of All Time

Definition: a money player is a player who repeatedly comes through in the clutch, a playmaker, in big games, in playoffs/and/or Super Bowl,whose offensive talent could not be stopped or whose defense stuffed the opposition and/or wrecked the opposing offensive

I limit the nominations to
QB
Two WR's
One RB
One FB
One TE
Two DT's
Two DE's
3 LB's
Two safeties
Two CB's

These are my choices. I respect others' reasonable opinions.

QB ROGER STAUBACH Immediate super impact player, he took a 4-3 team to 10 straight wins and the first Super Bowl win. Captain America, Roger the Dodger, with running back skills, a great leader. Took team to 4 Super Bowls.

Two WR's Two #88's, Drew Pearson and Michael Irvin. No one else deserves to be on list other than these two. Drew: The Hail Mary, breaking the Falcons; backs in the playoffs, clutch catch after clutch catch. Always got open for Roger and Danny White. The U's Michael Irvin, the real playmaker who intimidated DB's by always getting open, always making the tough 3rd down catch and almost always pulling down those 50-50 balls. An inspiring, fiery leader, who inspired his teammates to greater heights. Two TD's in 1993 Super Bowl 1st half set the tone.

One RB #22 EMMITT, no one else, no fumbles, tough, always getting the yards. Durable, great teammate.

One FB The Moose, D Johnston, always plowed open holes for Emmitt, great pass blocker and good at receiving the ball in the flat. Tough as a MOOSE!!!

One TE Jason Witten for his longevity and his continued greatness and toughness for so many years; Honorable metions for Billy Joe Dupree, 73-83 and Jay Novacek, both of them superior players.

Two DT's Bob Lilly and Randy White, end of discussion. Lilly with his 29 yard sack in 1972 Super Bowl and sheer domination for so long. Randy White, the Manster, Hall of Famer. He destroyed the Broncos in the 1978 Super Bowl.

Two DE's HARVEY MARTIN, 73-83 and TOO TALL JONES 74-89

3 LB's Chuck Howley, a 4.6 40 LB with 3 INT's in 71 and 72 Super Bowls; Ken Norton, who destroyed in the Bills in the 1993 Super Bowl and led Boys as therir best LB in consecutive Super Bowl wins; got 3rd straight with Whiners; Lee Roy Jordan: sideline to sideline tackling machine for more than a decade, 32 INT's; On November 4, 1973, he intercepted three passes in the first quarter from the Bengals' Ken Anderson.

Two safeties Charlie Waters, as solid as any safety can be; Charlie had 412 career INT's,s eemed to as clutch as they come; also blocked many punts. Darren Woodson, the perfect safety, who never got beat deep and it seemed he never missed a tackle, clean upper echelon player his whole career.
Two CB's Two Hall of Famers: Mel Renfro and Deion Sanders; Renfro was a world class athlete who was originaly a RB, converted to safety, then to CB. No one threw the ball to his side. 52 INT's.
Deion had 53 INT's, fastest player on field, would outrun ball, tease QB's; teams would throw to the other side, except Michael Irvin who owned him.

☆Roger Staubach,QB
☆Drew Pearson,WR
☆Michael Irvin,WR
☆Emmitt Smith,RB
☆Robert Newhouse,FB
☆Billy Joe Dupree,TE
☆Bob Lilly,DT
☆Randy White,DT
☆Ed "too tall" Jones,DE
☆Harvey Martin,DE
☆Chuck Howley,LB
☆Lee Roy Jordan,LB
☆Mike Hegman,LB
☆Mel Renfro,CB
☆Everson Walls,CB
☆Cliff Harris,S
☆Charlie Waters,S

and if forced to pick ONLY 1...regardless of position...
QB ROGER STAUBACH

Going by the "clutch" criteria, I'm not sure Emmitt belongs on the list. He got stuffed twice on 4th-and-1 in Philadelphia in 1995, which led to Dallas losing. He also failed to pick up a first down on 4th-and-1 against the Niners late in the fourth quarter in the 1992 NFC title game, a no-gain rush which could have easily cost the Cowboys the game (but Aikman later saved the day with that long slant to Harper.)

Also, in Super Bowl XXX against the Steelers, Emmitt had one long run in the first quarter but then rushed for just 26 yards on 17 carries the rest of the day - an anemic rushing performance which helped put Dallas' offense into precarious situations and posed a danger of letting Pittsburgh come back to win.

The guy was durable and a warrior, no doubt. (1993 season finale against the Giants, for instance.) But there were many times when he got stuffed on important yardage situations.

Novacek >> Witten when it comes to being a money player

The most clutch player in Dallas history is Drew Pearson.

The all-time greatest Cowboy is Bob "Mr. Cowboy" Lilly.
A very close 2nd is Roger "Captain America" Staubach.

QB- Roger Staubach- one of the most clutch players in NFL history. Won 12 playoff games at QB!
Two WR's- Drew Pearson- caught 8 TDs in the playoffs! Including the “Hail Mary”
Michael Irvin- also big in playoff games
One RB- Emmitt Smith- SB 28 MVP- countless clutch plays
One FB- Moose Johnston- made a ton of big plays including STs.
One TE- Billy Joe DuPree- Witten was great, but DuPree was big in several playoff games.
Two DT's- Bob Lily- his 29 yard sack of Bob Griese in SB VI- iconic.
Randy White- always consistently awesome even in big games.Co- MVP of SB 12.
Two DE's- Charles Haley- Big when we needed him.
Harvey Martin- co- MVP of SB 12.
3 LB's- Chuck Howley- MVP of SB V
Ken Norton- played very well in back to back SBs
Hollywood Henderson- had a pick 6 to seal NFC championship
Two safeties- Cliff Harris- played in 14 playoff victories! Let that sink in!
James Washington- huge play in SB 28 turned game around
Two CB's- Mel Renfro- HOFer made huge plays in playoffs from 66-77. Played in 4 SBs.
Deion Sanders- almost picked Herb Adderley. Both HOFers.

I picked these guys because they all made huge plays in the playoffs.

12+88=7 said:

The most clutch player in Dallas history is Drew Pearson.

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Truth. Well, second to Roger S.

Bobhaze said:

Truth. Well, second to Roger S.

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When you think of iconic Dallas plays, there's Drew.

Clint Longley on Thanksgiving.
He led Dorsett on the 99 yard run.
Danny's comeback against Atlanta.
The Hail Mary.
If not for a horse collar tackle, he would have answered "the catch".

Through out his career he always showed up, constantly.

P.S. Roger and Drew are my 1 and 1a players in Dallas history, hence my username.

If Deion isn't on your list, you are immediately DISQUALIFIED!

Pearson and Irvin are the obvious choices at WR, but in terms of increased production in big games Alvin Harper was a stud. From 91-94 his stats were:

39.4 yds/game regular season vs 65.5 yds/game playoffs
.28 TDs/game regular season vs .4 TD/game playoffs

Also had 20+ yds per catch avg each year in the playoffs, with 40+ in '92 & '94

WillieBeamen said:

Novacek >> Witten when it comes to being a money player

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Good point. I should have put Novacek ahead of Billy Joe DuPree although BJ was great in the clutch - 4 TDs in the playoffs. But Jay Novacek probably had more clutch plays. Love Witten but he never played in enough big games IMO.

12+88=7 said:

When you think of iconic Dallas plays, there's Drew.

Clint Longley on Thanksgiving.
He led Dorsett on the 99 yard run.
Danny's comeback against Atlanta.
The Hail Mary.
If not for a horse collar tackle, he would have answered "the catch".

Through out his career he always showed up, constantly.

P.S. Roger and Drew are my 1 and 1a players in Dallas history, hence my username.

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I hear ya bro. My mantra as a 10 yr old "Roger to Drew always comes through."

What about "Money" ???

Dan Bailey... I think he scored most of our points at times lol

Here's my List of "Money Players" IMHO :

QB-Roger Staubach 71 Playoff Run,72 SF Comeback for the Ages,75 Hail Mary + Brilliant NFC Championship,77 Playoff Run Aikman is close with his 92,93 + 95 Playoff Runs

RB-Emmitt Smith the best Post Season RB Ever.He Got it Done Every Time.

FB-Daryl Johnston his blocking for Emmitt was a vital part of those Championship Teams. Newhouse and Garrison are Close

WR-Drew Pearson so many brilliant iconic moments,always the go to guy when the Game was on the Line

WR-Michael Irvin the vocal leader of his teams got it done on the field Year after year

TE-Jay Novacek-reliable and important to those teams.DuPree is close for his Playoff Showings and Witten for his Outstanding Career

DT-Bob Lilly the Greatest DT in NFL History Despite being double and triple teamed throughout his career was an unstoppable force who anchored Great Defenses

DT-Randy White the best player on his Defense for most of His Career and always played well in the Playoffs Larry Cole and Leon Lett are honorable mention for their big time moments

DE-George Andre his level of performance come playoff time was raised big time.Look at those 66-71 Playoff Games and Andrie was outstanding

DE-Charles Haley so big to those teams He was disruptive and a force in big games Harvey Martin and Too Tall Jones are right there as well


MLB-Lee Roy Jordan the emotional leader of the Doomsday Defense,his Playoff Games were huge

OLB-Chuck Howley the best LB in Cowboys History,still holds the record for Career takeaways in SB History.The biggest HOF Snub on record Chuck was a brilliant big game player

OLB-Dave Edwards an unsung yet important Player who upped his game in the Playoffs

CB-Mel Renfro the best DB in Cowboys History played his best when needed most

CB-Deion Sanders for his sheer greatness.Everson Walls is close here

S-Darren Woodson an outstanding every down player who was a huge key in those defenses

S-Charlie Waters still at or near the top of Post Season INTS his Playoff career was outstanding James Washington Cornell Green and Cliff Harris are close

Troy Aikman:
He led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl victories in a four-year span in the 1990's, including a 52-17 stomping of the Buffalo Bills in 1992. He threw for 273 yards and four touchdown passes in this game, earning MVP honors. He posted a triple-digit passer rating in nine of his 16 postseason games, all victories.

Aikman lost his first and his final three postseason games. In between, he led the Cowboys to victories in 10 of 11 games.

Aikman's Cowboys have been so dominant in the postseason that all 11 victories have come by 10 or more points. Their five losses have all come by nine or more points, meaning Aikman has never really been involved in an exciting win or heartbreaking loss. He's just been consistent in almost every game.

Doomsday101 said:

Aikman has never really been involved in an exciting win or heartbreaking loss.

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I would challenge this a bit. This is like saying the Chiefs' 31-20 win over the Niners in the Super Bowl wasn't exciting because the final margin ended up being eleven points. Only until near the very end of the game did the margin stretch that far. Late in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs were still trailing by three, then leading by four.

When Aikman and Dallas took on the Niners in the 1992 conference title game, the Cowboys were leading just 24-20 with just four minutes to play. Then, of course, Aikman threw that slant to Harper that greatly boosted Dallas' win prospects. But at that time, with still just four minutes to go, anything could have happened. It was most definitely an exciting, narrow, win.

For sheer money value, you technically can't beat Percy Howard.

The guy caught only one pass in his entire NFL career. But it was one doozy of a pass: A 34-yard touchdown pass from Staubach to him, in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl X against Pittsburgh.

Some interesting stats on “money players” in the playoffs:

• Roger Staubach threw 24 TDs in the playoffs. Troy had 23. Danny White had 15.
• Drew Pearson had 8 playoff TD receptions, same as Michael Irvin.
• Jay Novacek had 6 playoff TD receptions, BillyJoe DuPree had 4. Jason Witten, 1
• Emmitt Smith had 19 rushing TDs in the playoffs! Best all time btw.