Most Underrated Cowboys of all time

tyke1doe

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Everson Walls
Leon Lett (bonehead plays aside, he was a key component to the Cowboys top-ranked defenses of the 90s)
 

dboyz

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percyhoward said:
1. Howley
Each year in the regular Hall of Fame voting, a player has to make the preliminary list, then the semi-final list, then the final list, then be one of the seven players who get voted in. Howley was probably a better LB than any of these Hall of Famers, and he never made it past the preliminary list in the voting.

Robinson: 1 AP All-Pro, 2 rings
Jackson: 0 AP All-Pro, 0 rings
Tippett: 2 AP All-Pro, 0 rings
Wilcox: 2 AP All-Pro, 0 rings
Howley: 5 AP All-Pro, 1 ring + SBMVP in a loss, all-time leader in SB takeaways

Everyone (coaches, players, media) considered Howley the best at his position during the time he kept making those All-Pro teams. He is the only eligible player who made at least 5 Pro Bowls, was a Super Bowl MVP, and is NOT in the Hall of Fame. You could make a case that he's the most underrated NFL player ever.

2. Martin
A borderline HOF candidate, Martin was a 3-time Pro Bowler, DPOY in 1977 (when he had 23 sacks before it became an official statistic), and one of only five players left on the HOF Selection Committee's All-Decade Team of the 70's who has never been a finalist for the HOF. He's only even made the preliminary list once (2001), which means he went from being considered one of the 45 best players of his era to not even one of the top 150. That's not just "underrated," it's practically "erased from history."

3. Harris
38 of the top 39 vote-getters for the HOF's All-Decade Teams of the 70s and 80s are in the Hall of Fame. The only exception is Harris, who was one of the top 10 vote-getters for the 70s team. Unlike the first two players I listed, Harris was at least a HOF finalist once. Harris' rejection by the HOF committee in 2004 prompted Paul Zimmerman (no afiliation with Cowboys or Harris) to resign from the committee in protest.

4. Woodson
Should have made the All-90's team ahead of Carnell Lake, and was a semi-finalist in the HOF voting this year. John Lynch, another big hitter, made it past him to the final list, but Woodson was a big hitter who could cover.

5. Pearson
The only one of the 22 position players on the All-70's first team who's never been a HOF finalist, and he's never even been a semi-finalist.
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Percy: Great list. I was a kid at the latter part of Harvey Martin's career and I've never understood why he did not get more accolades and consideration for the Hall of Fame. He was without question one of the best pass rushers of his era, had a monster 77 season and a dominant super bowl performance. The only negative perhaps was that his career was not longer.

Chuck Howley is a little before my time, but based on everything I've seen it is a travesty he is not in the hall of fame.

Cliff Harris was one of the best safeties of his era on a great defense and deserves to be in the HOF.

I got to see Woodson throughout and was a really special player. He's a borderline HOFer. The thing that may hold him back is that you had to watch him to see what made him so great. None of his numbers (like interceptions) are that impressive, except perhaps tackles but he was important.

Pearson was terrific and is a borderline HOF player. The thing is I don't know how you can let Swann and Stallworth in the HOF and not let in Pearson.
 

tyke1doe

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ehcrossing said:
He was an amazing player he just had a brain fart on turkey day 93.
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Actually, two brain farts. One in Super Bowl 27 and one on Thanksgiving Day.
But he was responsible for shutting down Thurman Thomas in the second half of Super Bowl 28.
 
percyhoward

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snapper said:
I agree with ehcrossing, PH; all these players received some kind of recognition. Great list, though! What memories.
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My bad, then. I saw Emmitt's name in the thread, and figured "deserve" had something to do with this.

unforgiven1992_3139914b.jpg
 
Bay10

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I thought one of you would have said Bill Bates. I know he wasn't too good but he had heart and was a Cowboy for a minute.
 
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