News: DMN: The 10 greatest draft steals in Dallas Cowboys history

[darthseinfeld]

My first thought was where is Tony Dorsett on that list. But we stole him via a trade with Seattle to get the 2nd pick overall in that draft. Then realized it was about where they were drafted.
TB took RB Ricky Bell, we took Tony D. Wow, wonder what would have happened if that was the other way around.

Isnt also kinda funny that Blair Thomas went 2nd overall the year we drafted Emmitt and wound up backing him up 4 years later

 

[Reverend Conehead]

It's tough to call a first-rounder a "draft steal," but I will call the drafting of Randy White a trade/draft steal. The Cowboys traded Craig Morton to the New York Giants for their number one pick then used that pick to draft Randy White. In other words, we got White with a pick we would not otherwise have had. It was one of the best deals in team history.

And, btw, of course the team drafted Herschel Walker. We used a draft choice on him. The fact that he didn't play for the team immediately due to his USFL commitment is immaterial. It's nearly the same situation as Roger Staubach. We drafted him, but he didn't play for the team right away due to another commitment (the Navy).

 

[TwoDeep3]

http://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/teams/cowboys

So, was Elway drafted by the Colts? This draft site states he was. But he never played for the Colts.

http://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/years/1983

So drafted, and showing up to play are two separate things, evidently.

 

[Plankton]

Drew Pearson also wasn't drafted.

As weren't Cliff Harris, Everson Walls and Michael Downs.

 

[Plankton]

Half of Seattle's team was from ex-Cowboys from the 1st year and up through the 3rd or 4th year or even 5th year of their existence. Jim Zorn was released by Dallas, as well as what seemed like half of their team over that time span.

Their first coach was Jack Patera, who was a LB on the original expansion Cowboys.

 

[Plankton]

Had Tampa drafted Dorsett he may have had a short NFL life can't imagine he would have had near the success with the Bucs. They wanted the bigger back in Bell which turned into a huge break for Dorsett and the Cowboys.

I think John McKay's history with Ricky Bell, having coached him at USC, had a lot to do with wanting to take him over Dorsett.

 

[KJJ]

I think John McKay's history with Ricky Bell, having coached him at USC, had a lot to do with wanting to take him over Dorsett.

That had something to do with it but there was a lot of concern about Dorsett's size and the Bucs preferred a bigger back. There were those who weren't that sold that Dorsett at his size could flourish in the NFL. I heard he showed up at the Cowboys training camp as a rookie weighing only 175 pounds. Drew Pearson said he was somewhat shocked at how small Dorsett looked. Everyone knew he had blazing speed but his size and the concerns about his durability worried a lot of teams including the Cowboys. Even Landry said he was careful with Dorsett to try and prolong his career due to his size.

 

[tyke1doe]

The Cowboys drafting Walker in the 5th round of the 85 draft to secure his rights was exactly what the team did with Roger Staubach in the 1964 draft. When the Cowboys saw Staubach was still available in the 10th round they drafted him to secure his rights until he fulfilled his military commitment. He like Walker had no choice but to play for the Cowboys once they drafted him unless they wanted to play in Canada. It's pretty simple to understand that once a team drafts a player they have to play for that team unless that team trades their rights.

Or unless that player sits out the year he's eligible to join the team who drafted him, right?

 

[tyke1doe]

Everyone knew he had blazing speed but his size and the concerns about his durability worried a lot of teams including the Cowboys. Even Landry said he was careful with Dorsett to try and prolong his career due to his size.

And that cost us a Super Bowl 13 victory over the Steelers, who couldn't stop Dorsett and said Dallas would have beaten them if we kept feeding him the rock.

It was scary how fast Dorsett was when he hit a hole in full stride. He's the reason I'm a Cowboys fan today.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

C'mon, Herschel was a 5th rounder, and was the backbone of the 92-95 Super Bowl champs. Can't get much more value than that.

 

[KJJ]

Or unless that player sits out the year he's eligible to join the team who drafted him, right?

I believe if you draft a player and they sit out the year they can re enter the draft the following year. I'm pretty sure that's the current rule but don't quote me on it because I don't have time to look it up. Not sure what the rules were in 64 when the Cowboys drafted Staubach and when they drafted Walker in 85 but they both had other obligations they had to fulfill before joining the Cowboys. Staubach had to fulfill his 4 year military commitment before he could join the Cowboys and Walker was stuck in the USFL until he was either released or the league folded.

Neither Staubach or Walker had any other options but the CFL if they didn't want to play for the Cowboys. The Cowboys took a flier on Chad Hennings in 1988 drafting him in the 11th round with no indication of an early out with the Air Force. The team did the same thing with Hennings they did with Staubach drafting him to secure his rights. It was 4 years before Hennings was able to join the Cowboys.

 

[Plankton]

I believe if you draft a player and they sit out the year they can re enter the draft the following year. I'm pretty sure that's the current rule but don't quote me on it because I don't have time to look it up. Not sure what the rules were in 64 when the Cowboys drafted Staubach and when they drafted Walker in 85 but they both had other obligations they had to fulfill before joining the Cowboys. Staubach had to fulfill his 4 year military commitment before he could join the Cowboys and Walker was stuck in the USFL until he was either released or the league folded.

Neither Staubach or Walker had any other options but the CFL if they didn't want to play for the Cowboys. The Cowboys took a flier on Chad Hennings in 1988 drafting him in the 11th round with no indication of an early out with the Air Force. The team did the same thing with Hennings they did with Staubach drafting him to secure his rights. It was 4 years before Hennings was able to join the Cowboys.

Staubach was actually under contract with the Cowboys from 1964 onward - they paid him a monthly stipend, in effect, for the whole time that he was in the Navy over in Vietnam. Staubach even came over during one of his leaves from Vietnam to take part in Cowboy workouts in 1968.

After the judgment in the USFL vs. NFL anti-trust trial, the Cowboys had until 10am on August 13, 1986 to reach an agreement with Walker free of any dealings with Donald Trump - Walker had signed a personal services agreement with Trump, which was fully guaranteed. He had already received his salary for the 1986 season from the Generals before signing with the Cowboys. If they didn't beat that deadline, then they would have had to pay off Trump to get the rights to Walker. Tex Schramm and Walker's agent, Peter Johnson, reportedly negotiated 19 hours straight to hammer out the deal.

 

[KJJ]

And that cost us a Super Bowl 13 victory over the Steelers, who couldn't stop Dorsett and said Dallas would have beaten them if we kept feeding him the rock.

It was scary how fast Dorsett was when he hit a hole in full stride. He's the reason I'm a Cowboys fan today.

There were a number of things that helped cost the Cowboys that SB. On their first drive Dorsett was running all over the Steelers but the Cowboys decided to get cute with a reverse that turned into a fumble and Steelers recovery. The Cowboys were moving virtually uncontested down the field and that fumble completely killed the momentum they had going. The Steelers promptly took advantage and scored it was a HUGE momentum switch. Some of what took the Cowboys away from the running game was their inability to stop the Steelers passing attack. We were playing from behind from the second quarter on and with Bradshaw tossing 4 TD's we had to try and stay with them.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Neither Staubach or Walker had any other options but the CFL if they didn't want to play for the Cowboys.

Actually, Staubach had the option of playing for the Kansas City Chiefs. At the time the NFL and AFL drafts competed head-to-head, and the Chiefs drafted him.

 

[KJJ]

Actually, Staubach had the option of playing for the Kansas City Chiefs. At the time the NFL and AFL drafts competed head-to-head, and the Chiefs drafted him.

I was going to mention he was also drafted by the Chiefs of the AFL in 64. Glad Staubach took the option of playing with the stronger league.

 

[plasticman]

Drew Pearson also wasn't drafted.

And dont forget Everson Walls, Michael Downs, Bill Bates,

http://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/teams/cowboys

So, was Elway drafted by the Colts? This draft site states he was. But he never played for the Colts.

http://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/years/1983

So drafted, and showing up to play are two separate things, evidently.

He was drafted by the Colts and then traded to the Broncos. I believe it had something to do with a college football feud between his dad and the HC of the Colts at the time.

 

[Silver N Blue]

Wasn't drafted by us.

Hugh thought he was while he was in the usfl...

 

[jobberone]

Hugh thought he was while he was in the usfl...

Slightly being nitpicky but it is important esp in the days of selecting someone in the draft and actually drafting them. We did eventually get Walker so I see his point.

 

[Plankton]

Slightly being nitpicky but it is important esp in the days of selecting someone in the draft and actually drafting them. We did eventually get Walker so I see his point.

It's not nitpicky at all - Herschel Walker was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. No other team in the NFL drafted him. There's no ambiguity as to this whatsoever.

 

[jazzcat22]

Walker was compelled to work for the Cowboys because they "drafted" him securing his rights. If he didn't want to play for the Cowboys he was stuck unless they traded his rights.

Right, Walker was drafted by us, and in case the USFL folded. So we had the rights to negotiate a contract with him.
However his contract was a personal services contract with Donald Trump who owned the NJ Generals. So if Trump did not want Walker to work for anyone but him, he would have paid Walker like 1 million dollars for doing nothing, or drive him around if that's what he wanted.

However, Trump was not going to do that to keep Walker from playing football, so he released him from his contract, therefore allowing him to sign with Dallas.