John Niland Passes

[GimmeTheBall!]

John Niland is one of my all-time favorite Cowboys. As a boy, I remember big old 76 sweeping out to clear the field for backs like Calvin Hill and Duane Thomas. Since I joined this site, I have placed it under my avatar that he belongs in the Ring Of Honor.

I haven’t seen any news stories posted about this, but I am Facebook friends with him and I just saw this posted on his Facebook page. Mods, I didn’t know how to put this in a format with a link, but you can go to John’s Facebook page to verify the accuracy of this.

This is heartbreaking for me. Another one of my boyhood heroes has gone.

The information below is copied and pasted from Facebook

John Hugh Niland
February 29, 1944 - August 15, 2026

On August 15, 2026 at 7:20am, John Niland of Amityville, New York passed away in his home in McKinney, Texas with his family.

John will become a Legacy Donor, as his brain will be donated to the Boston University CTE Center to be studied and shed light on the affects of professional sports on the human body. You can read and support their amazing work at www.bu.edu/cte/.

In lieu of cards, please email photos, videos, stories and memories to [email protected] so the family can have these things forever.

Thank you to the millions of friends and fans that have supported, cheered on and loved our John just as much as we did.

The Niland family requests privacy at this time. Celebration of Life services to be announced.

R.I.P. sweet prince.

 

[eromeopolk]

John Niland is one of my all-time favorite Cowboys. As a boy, I remember big old 76 sweeping out to clear the field for backs like Calvin Hill and Duane Thomas. Since I joined this site, I have placed it under my avatar that he belongs in the Ring Of Honor.

I haven’t seen any news stories posted about this, but I am Facebook friends with him and I just saw this posted on his Facebook page. Mods, I didn’t know how to put this in a format with a link, but you can go to John’s Facebook page to verify the accuracy of this.

This is heartbreaking for me. Another one of my boyhood heroes has gone.

The information below is copied and pasted from Facebook

John Hugh Niland
February 29, 1944 - August 15, 2026

On August 15, 2026 at 7:20am, John Niland of Amityville, New York passed away in his home in McKinney, Texas with his family.

John will become a Legacy Donor, as his brain will be donated to the Boston University CTE Center to be studied and shed light on the affects of professional sports on the human body. You can read and support their amazing work at www.bu.edu/cte/.

In lieu of cards, please email photos, videos, stories and memories to [email protected] so the family can have these things forever.

Thank you to the millions of friends and fans that have supported, cheered on and loved our John just as much as we did.

The Niland family requests privacy at this time. Celebration of Life services to be announced.

I saw this and he has a legacy of starting the historical tradition of Iowa OL in the NFL. With the Boys he had 6 Pro Bowls, 3 All Pros, and multiple NFL Championship games, Super Bowls, and a Super Bowl Champion.

He was on a OL that is not talked about like the Great Wall or 4 Irishmen and a Scott, but he played on the line with HOF/Pro Bowler Rayfield "Big Cat" Wright, Pro Bowler Dave "Dog" Manders, Pro Bowler Blaine Nye, and Pro Bowler Ralph Neely. He started a tradition of Pro Bowl LG including himself, Herb Scott, Nate Newton, Larry Allen, to Tyler Smith.

Rayfield Wright, Ralph Neely, Dave Manders, Blaine Nye, and John Niland were the foundational pillars of every Great Wall of Dallas.