71 Cowboys on Americas Game

[RS12]

First of all what a treasure. Second, I really only remember Bob Lilly at the end of his career particularly the Superbowl versus Miami, but what a clinic that guy put on week after week. The most amazing part in watching him is how quick, strong, and athletic he was. This was pre-strength training and pre-steroids. Supposedly their was alot of amphetamine use back then, but that was the extent of the cheating. You want to watch a position played the right way, watch this show. Plus he comes off as a just a "good old boy".

 

[rickwil61]

I saw this too and it was great. What a team! The only thing I hated was the whole issue with Duane Thomas. The guy was so talented and it looked like the team tried to reach out to him but he wouldn't have any of it. I don't know what was eating at him at the time but I regret it for his own sake and for the team's sake. However I thought his one word answer of "evidently" to the guy interviewing him after the game about his speed was classic!

 

[Randy White]

incredible accomplishments, despite the circumstances.

I guarantee you that if that team had the same type of media sophisticated coverage that today's teams get, they wouldn't have made it. Talk about distractions... Whew..

QB controversy, the best RB brewing up a storm ( some of it deserved, by the way ), team devided because of the QB controversy, a GM who was outright lying to the players, fleecing them on their contracts.

I lost a little bit of respect for Tex Schram after watching that piece. There's absolutely no excuse for ripping off players like Bob Lilly the way he did. And Lilly was one of the best ever, so you can imagine how the rest were treated.

 

[Randy White]

The only thing I hated was the whole issue with Duane Thomas. The guy was so talented and it looked like the team tried to reach out to him but he wouldn't have any of it. I don't know what was eating at him at the time but I regret it for his own sake and for the team's sake.

I thought the same way until Bob Lilly outright said that Schram lied to him and to the players. Looking back at it, I don't blame Thomas for doing what he did. His teammates should have backed him because Tex was, basically, ripping them all off.

 

[Aikbach]

Not that the first 10 or so Super Bowls shouldn't count but the game was so different, many players had off season jobs, full time professionalism was not expected; makes the achievements different.

 

[rickwil61]

I thought the same way until Bob Lilly outright said that Schram lied to him and to the players. Looking back at it, I don't blame Thomas for doing what he did. His teammates should have backed him because Tex was, basically, ripping them all off.

I actually missed the first part of the program. If Schram was lying to him then you couldn't blame him. OTOH it looks like he was doing the same thing in San Diego. Perhaps too much cynisim had crept in to be able to trust any football team? What a shame though. I think they said he played his last game when he was 26 or 27. In reality the guy's bust probably should be in Canton right now if all the turmoil hadn't of happened.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I stayed up and watched it until 12:30 this morning! Great show!

Duane Thomas was an incredible player. What a waste of talent. He was really funny in the interviews.

Also, don't you just know we win SB V if Roger was the QB? Morton was horrendous in SB V. What in the world took Landry so long to realize Roger was The Man?!

 

[Ceasaleo88]

I thought part of Duane Thomas' beef was that he was traded earlier in the offseason and for whateva reason it was rescinded and he ended back with the Cowboys. Even without knowing about the Tex Schramm lying thing, I would think that had to hurt his pride.

But the thing that I noticed more than anything was the RB situation and defense. Seems really similar to the present day Boys. They had Duane Thomas, Calvin Hill, and Walt Garrison. We have Felix Jones, Tashard Choice, and Marion Barber. Then on D, I remember Bob Lilly saying something about them having the talent for a couple of years and they just came together cuz they were sick of underperforming. Seems pretty close to what we've had the last couple of seasons, and from all accounts this D has been lookin pretty good so far for the same reason.

I'm not saying, but I'm sayin tho lol

 

[fgoodwin]

Great topic and great thread -- is there a reason this wasn't posted in the History Zone?

 

[robbieruff]

I think Duane Thomas deserves a lot of credit for his stance leading to broader public disclosure of player contracts which completely changed the way contract negotiations were handled...in some ways a man before his time...and WAY too intelligent for the draconian management methods of the past...had to love his comment about getting less of a bonus ($5K) for NFL rookie of the year than some dude on the Cardinals received for being his TEAM's top rookie ($25K)...can you imagine that kind of nonsense happening now?!!

 

[RoadRunner]

I missed it. Luckily, I do have one game from the 1971 season in my collection.

 

[Chief]

Is this going to be shown again, and if so, when and what channel?

 

[big dog cowboy]

Is this going to be shown again, and if so, when and what channel?

It's a regular on NFL Network.

I know of at least a half dozen times it's been on the last month or so.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I was thinking about what happened to that era of Cowboys.

Why did we go from 2 time NFC Champs in '70 and '71 and should have been 2time SB champs in those years (we blew it in the Baltimore game and Staubach should have been playing instead of Morton) to a team that was out of the playoffs by '74? I realized a major reason was the loss of Duane Thomas.

That guy was an incredible player! Lilly said he honestly believed he was watching a young Jim Brown when he saw Duane Thomas play. Look at what happened. We had Thomas in '70 (Rookie of the Year) and made it to SB V and we had him in '71 where we won SB VI. He was traded to San Diego at the beginning of the '72 season and we never made it back to the SB until '75and even then we didn't have a strong running game.

It's really disappointing to look back on that era and realize we had a potential HOF RB but it just didn't work out. I blame Tex to some extent but I believe that even if Tex had been more generous with the $$ Thomas would have found something else to complain about and disrupt the team. The fact is he wasn't happy anywhere. He's just a malcontent. That is his nature and it shows even to this day.

Such a shame. We could have had a run in the early 70's similar to our run in the '90s.

 

[Chief]

I was thinking about what happened to that era of Cowboys.

Why did we go from 2 time NFC Champs in '70 and '71 and should have been 2time SB champs in those years (we blew it in the Baltimore game and Staubach should have been playing instead of Morton) to a team that was out of the playoffs by '74? I realized a major reason was the loss of Duane Thomas.

That was part of it.

As good as Calvin Hill and Walt Garrison were, Duane was a lot better. Hall of Fame ability.

But it wasn't just losing him that caused the crash of '74. Many of the Cowboys' best players had just retired or were about too (Lilly, Hayes, Alworth, Ditka, Edwards, Howley, Adderley, Neely, Andrie), and then factor in the World Football League defections that were coming, and the roster was shredded. Also, there were some key injuries (I think Roger missed games in '74).

Plus, Dallas (Gil Brandt) missed on some guys in the early 1970s. First-rounders Tody Smith, Bill Thomas and Charles Young were busts. I'm sure there were others.

 

[Chief]

It's a regular on NFL Network.

I know of at least a half dozen times it's been on the last month or so.

Thanks, big dog. I'll look for it.