************* ..... RIP Dandy Don ..... *************

Here is a link to Townsend's story that ran last year.

http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/112609dnspomeredith.39bdd5f.html
 
Hostile;3735505 said:
Here is a link to Townsend's story that ran last year.

http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/112609dnspomeredith.39bdd5f.html
Click to expand...

I looked for the article, but couldn't find it. Thanks for the link to the story. A cracking read.
 
I think Walt Garrison said yesterday that Don had, to paraphrase, a sense of life, an approach to life that you just don't see.

Some of the following are cribbed from SI articles on the Web, some my recollection:

He apparently went on a tour as a singer, with Roger Miller and Molly Bee on the bill, back in '67 or so. He woke up in a motel somewhere and said "Self, what are you doing here?" ... I would have paid good money to have a few beers with him and Roger Miller. Either one of them would have you laughing nonstop, I can't imagine what happened when they got together.

Walt Garrison told of a Meredith and Don Perkins run of "The Odd Couple" play at a theater in Albuquerque back when, and added they really were the odd couple. Don Perkins was a sportscaster in Dallas right after his retirement and was very precise in person and in speech, the opposite of Don. I recollect Meredith on the "dinner theater" circuit back then, like maybe at "Granny's Dinner Playhouse" over at Olla Podrida (man I feel old writing this thread).

The story of Meredith over in Fort Worth (probably on the Jacksboro Highway) with other Cowboys and dates including a well-known starlet who was dating a player. A little too much fun was had and apparently players were told to get the girl out of the club, she had gotten too wild. I also would have paid good money to be clubbing with Cowboys players on the Jacksboro Highway in 1967. (For out-of-towners, it was the famous Fort Worth honky-tonk district, long gone. It had a dangerous reputation.)

Meredith taking Garrison over to Dewey Groom's Longhorn Ballroom to see Willie Nelson, kind of an unknown in the 60s as a performer. Willie stayed over that night at the Meredith's, and he and Don sang until 5 a.m. while Garrison looked on.

Meredith looked great and was in top storytelling form during that Cowboys quarterback roundtable event five years ago or so. Craig Morton told the story with the cigar better than the SI article. In a training camp meeting, Meredith was playing with his cigar (smoking was OK in meetings back then), twirling the cigar etc. to other players' amusement, while Landry's back was turned. Landry turned around suddenly and Meredith quickly stuck the cigar in his mouth, lit end first. He spit it out so hard it hit the blackboard where Landry was standing, accd. to Morton. I hope KTVT replays the tape of that roundtable. I wonder if Sean Lee lights up a cigarette in defensive meetings nowadays.

There wasn't much to do in Dallas back then. You couldn't even buy a mixed drink in a club or restaurant. Tex-Mex food was the rage and Meredith and other Cowboys hung out at Pete Dominguez' restaurant (Casa Dominguez), El Fenix and such places. Ever since then in Dallas, the old-line Mexican food restaurants have had all the autographed 60s-era Cowboys' "media day" action pictures on the wall, the ones where guys deliver a fake stiff arm while making a cut with their leg way high in the air - a move that would put anyone in traction. In the last decade those pictures are coming down as restaurants modernize for the new generation.

My favorite Meredith game was that comeback at Washington, with the long pass to Reeves for a TD as time ran out on the muddy field. In the SI article, it tells how Meredith broke his ribs in that game but played on - he was in the hospital that night on oxygen and bleeding from the mouth when players came to see him. Tough dude.

Don Meredith lived not far away from me, on Hanover Street. This was 1965 or 66, I was 7 or 8 years old. My brother's bud lived over there and I would hang out sometimes. A kid named Beano Carp was the neighborhood kingpin and had more guts than us other kids. He would take a few of us over and we would ring Meredith's doorbell. Apparently his second wife, Cheryl, (pictured on earlier page in this thread) would answer the door. "Boys, how nice of you to come by." (She didn't know any of us I don't think.) Beano: "Hey Mrs. Meredith, can Don come out and throw the ball?" Mrs. Meredith: "Boys, I am so very sorry. Don is so tarred, he doesn't even want to see a football. Y'all come back though." (I remember her exact words.) ... We did go back every week for awhile, and would get the same speech from Mrs. Meredith. He never came out. I do recollect him in some nice sports car arriving home one afternoon, very exciting. His wife was the most gracious person and very pretty, as we used to say in the old days. OK it wasn't a great story, but I was a kid and the guy was like a god so I savor the memory.
 
From the heart guys at CowboysZone. Thank you for these Meredith threads!
I was 9 years old when the Cowboys started playing.
Don Meredith was one of my boyhood hero's! My Methodist Church Youth Group took me to my very first college game which was seeing Don play for SMU. As soon as he became a Cowboy, he was one of my hero's.

Again- Thanks guys for bringing back the memories and saw some stories, I had never seen before!

RIP Don!
 
igtmfo;3736647 said:
I think Walt Garrison said yesterday that Don had, to paraphrase, a sense of life, an approach to life that you just don't see.

Some of the following are cribbed from SI articles on the Web, some my recollection:

He apparently went on a tour as a singer, with Roger Miller and Molly Bee on the bill, back in '67 or so. He woke up in a motel somewhere and said "Self, what are you doing here?" ... I would have paid good money to have a few beers with him and Roger Miller. Either one of them would have you laughing nonstop, I can't imagine what happened when they got together.

Walt Garrison told of a Meredith and Don Perkins run of "The Odd Couple" play at a theater in Albuquerque back when, and added they really were the odd couple. Don Perkins was a sportscaster in Dallas right after his retirement and was very precise in person and in speech, the opposite of Don. I recollect Meredith on the "dinner theater" circuit back then, like maybe at "Granny's Dinner Playhouse" over at Olla Podrida (man I feel old writing this thread).

The story of Meredith over in Fort Worth (probably on the Jacksboro Highway) with other Cowboys and dates including a well-known starlet who was dating a player. A little too much fun was had and apparently players were told to get the girl out of the club, she had gotten too wild. I also would have paid good money to be clubbing with Cowboys players on the Jacksboro Highway in 1967. (For out-of-towners, it was the famous Fort Worth honky-tonk district, long gone. It had a dangerous reputation.)

Meredith taking Garrison over to Dewey Groom's Longhorn Ballroom to see Willie Nelson, kind of an unknown in the 60s as a performer. Willie stayed over that night at the Meredith's, and he and Don sang until 5 a.m. while Garrison looked on.

Meredith looked great and was in top storytelling form during that Cowboys quarterback roundtable event five years ago or so. Craig Morton told the story with the cigar better than the SI article. In a training camp meeting, Meredith was playing with his cigar (smoking was OK in meetings back then), twirling the cigar etc. to other players' amusement, while Landry's back was turned. Landry turned around suddenly and Meredith quickly stuck the cigar in his mouth, lit end first. He spit it out so hard it hit the blackboard where Landry was standing, accd. to Morton. I hope KTVT replays the tape of that roundtable. I wonder if Sean Lee lights up a cigarette in defensive meetings nowadays.

There wasn't much to do in Dallas back then. You couldn't even buy a mixed drink in a club or restaurant. Tex-Mex food was the rage and Meredith and other Cowboys hung out at Pete Dominguez' restaurant (Casa Dominguez), El Fenix and such places. Ever since then in Dallas, the old-line Mexican food restaurants have had all the autographed 60s-era Cowboys' "media day" action pictures on the wall, the ones where guys deliver a fake stiff arm while making a cut with their leg way high in the air - a move that would put anyone in traction. In the last decade those pictures are coming down as restaurants modernize for the new generation.

My favorite Meredith game was that comeback at Washington, with the long pass to Reeves for a TD as time ran out on the muddy field. In the SI article, it tells how Meredith broke his ribs in that game but played on - he was in the hospital that night on oxygen and bleeding from the mouth when players came to see him. Tough dude.

Don Meredith lived not far away from me, on Hanover Street. This was 1965 or 66, I was 7 or 8 years old. My brother's bud lived over there and I would hang out sometimes. A kid named Beano Carp was the neighborhood kingpin and had more guts than us other kids. He would take a few of us over and we would ring Meredith's doorbell. Apparently his second wife, Cheryl, (pictured on earlier page in this thread) would answer the door. "Boys, how nice of you to come by." (She didn't know any of us I don't think.) Beano: "Hey Mrs. Meredith, can Don come out and throw the ball?" Mrs. Meredith: "Boys, I am so very sorry. Don is so tarred, he doesn't even want to see a football. Y'all come back though." (I remember her exact words.) ... We did go back every week for awhile, and would get the same speech from Mrs. Meredith. He never came out. I do recollect him in some nice sports car arriving home one afternoon, very exciting. His wife was the most gracious person and very pretty, as we used to say in the old days. OK it wasn't a great story, but I was a kid and the guy was like a god so I savor the memory.
Click to expand...
Great post. I love reading this stuff.
 
igtmfo;3736647 said:
I think Walt Garrison said yesterday that Don had, to paraphrase, a sense of life, an approach to life that you just don't see.

Some of the following are cribbed from SI articles on the Web, some my recollection:

He apparently went on a tour as a singer, with Roger Miller and Molly Bee on the bill, back in '67 or so. He woke up in a motel somewhere and said "Self, what are you doing here?" ... I would have paid good money to have a few beers with him and Roger Miller. Either one of them would have you laughing nonstop, I can't imagine what happened when they got together.

Walt Garrison told of a Meredith and Don Perkins run of "The Odd Couple" play at a theater in Albuquerque back when, and added they really were the odd couple. Don Perkins was a sportscaster in Dallas right after his retirement and was very precise in person and in speech, the opposite of Don. I recollect Meredith on the "dinner theater" circuit back then, like maybe at "Granny's Dinner Playhouse" over at Olla Podrida (man I feel old writing this thread).

The story of Meredith over in Fort Worth (probably on the Jacksboro Highway) with other Cowboys and dates including a well-known starlet who was dating a player. A little too much fun was had and apparently players were told to get the girl out of the club, she had gotten too wild. I also would have paid good money to be clubbing with Cowboys players on the Jacksboro Highway in 1967. (For out-of-towners, it was the famous Fort Worth honky-tonk district, long gone. It had a dangerous reputation.)

Meredith taking Garrison over to Dewey Groom's Longhorn Ballroom to see Willie Nelson, kind of an unknown in the 60s as a performer. Willie stayed over that night at the Meredith's, and he and Don sang until 5 a.m. while Garrison looked on.

Meredith looked great and was in top storytelling form during that Cowboys quarterback roundtable event five years ago or so. Craig Morton told the story with the cigar better than the SI article. In a training camp meeting, Meredith was playing with his cigar (smoking was OK in meetings back then), twirling the cigar etc. to other players' amusement, while Landry's back was turned. Landry turned around suddenly and Meredith quickly stuck the cigar in his mouth, lit end first. He spit it out so hard it hit the blackboard where Landry was standing, accd. to Morton. I hope KTVT replays the tape of that roundtable. I wonder if Sean Lee lights up a cigarette in defensive meetings nowadays.

There wasn't much to do in Dallas back then. You couldn't even buy a mixed drink in a club or restaurant. Tex-Mex food was the rage and Meredith and other Cowboys hung out at Pete Dominguez' restaurant (Casa Dominguez), El Fenix and such places. Ever since then in Dallas, the old-line Mexican food restaurants have had all the autographed 60s-era Cowboys' "media day" action pictures on the wall, the ones where guys deliver a fake stiff arm while making a cut with their leg way high in the air - a move that would put anyone in traction. In the last decade those pictures are coming down as restaurants modernize for the new generation.

My favorite Meredith game was that comeback at Washington, with the long pass to Reeves for a TD as time ran out on the muddy field. In the SI article, it tells how Meredith broke his ribs in that game but played on - he was in the hospital that night on oxygen and bleeding from the mouth when players came to see him. Tough dude.

Don Meredith lived not far away from me, on Hanover Street. This was 1965 or 66, I was 7 or 8 years old. My brother's bud lived over there and I would hang out sometimes. A kid named Beano Carp was the neighborhood kingpin and had more guts than us other kids. He would take a few of us over and we would ring Meredith's doorbell. Apparently his second wife, Cheryl, (pictured on earlier page in this thread) would answer the door. "Boys, how nice of you to come by." (She didn't know any of us I don't think.) Beano: "Hey Mrs. Meredith, can Don come out and throw the ball?" Mrs. Meredith: "Boys, I am so very sorry. Don is so tarred, he doesn't even want to see a football. Y'all come back though." (I remember her exact words.) ... We did go back every week for awhile, and would get the same speech from Mrs. Meredith. He never came out. I do recollect him in some nice sports car arriving home one afternoon, very exciting. His wife was the most gracious person and very pretty, as we used to say in the old days. OK it wasn't a great story, but I was a kid and the guy was like a god so I savor the memory.
Click to expand...

Brilliant...........pure brilliance. Post of the year IMO.
 
igtmfo;3736647 said:
I think Walt Garrison said yesterday that Don had, to paraphrase, a sense of life, an approach to life that you just don't see.

Some of the following are cribbed from SI articles on the Web, some my recollection:

He apparently went on a tour as a singer, with Roger Miller and Molly Bee on the bill, back in '67 or so. He woke up in a motel somewhere and said "Self, what are you doing here?" ... I would have paid good money to have a few beers with him and Roger Miller. Either one of them would have you laughing nonstop, I can't imagine what happened when they got together.

Walt Garrison told of a Meredith and Don Perkins run of "The Odd Couple" play at a theater in Albuquerque back when, and added they really were the odd couple. Don Perkins was a sportscaster in Dallas right after his retirement and was very precise in person and in speech, the opposite of Don. I recollect Meredith on the "dinner theater" circuit back then, like maybe at "Granny's Dinner Playhouse" over at Olla Podrida (man I feel old writing this thread).

The story of Meredith over in Fort Worth (probably on the Jacksboro Highway) with other Cowboys and dates including a well-known starlet who was dating a player. A little too much fun was had and apparently players were told to get the girl out of the club, she had gotten too wild. I also would have paid good money to be clubbing with Cowboys players on the Jacksboro Highway in 1967. (For out-of-towners, it was the famous Fort Worth honky-tonk district, long gone. It had a dangerous reputation.)

Meredith taking Garrison over to Dewey Groom's Longhorn Ballroom to see Willie Nelson, kind of an unknown in the 60s as a performer. Willie stayed over that night at the Meredith's, and he and Don sang until 5 a.m. while Garrison looked on.

Meredith looked great and was in top storytelling form during that Cowboys quarterback roundtable event five years ago or so. Craig Morton told the story with the cigar better than the SI article. In a training camp meeting, Meredith was playing with his cigar (smoking was OK in meetings back then), twirling the cigar etc. to other players' amusement, while Landry's back was turned. Landry turned around suddenly and Meredith quickly stuck the cigar in his mouth, lit end first. He spit it out so hard it hit the blackboard where Landry was standing, accd. to Morton. I hope KTVT replays the tape of that roundtable. I wonder if Sean Lee lights up a cigarette in defensive meetings nowadays.

There wasn't much to do in Dallas back then. You couldn't even buy a mixed drink in a club or restaurant. Tex-Mex food was the rage and Meredith and other Cowboys hung out at Pete Dominguez' restaurant (Casa Dominguez), El Fenix and such places. Ever since then in Dallas, the old-line Mexican food restaurants have had all the autographed 60s-era Cowboys' "media day" action pictures on the wall, the ones where guys deliver a fake stiff arm while making a cut with their leg way high in the air - a move that would put anyone in traction. In the last decade those pictures are coming down as restaurants modernize for the new generation.

My favorite Meredith game was that comeback at Washington, with the long pass to Reeves for a TD as time ran out on the muddy field. In the SI article, it tells how Meredith broke his ribs in that game but played on - he was in the hospital that night on oxygen and bleeding from the mouth when players came to see him. Tough dude.

Don Meredith lived not far away from me, on Hanover Street. This was 1965 or 66, I was 7 or 8 years old. My brother's bud lived over there and I would hang out sometimes. A kid named Beano Carp was the neighborhood kingpin and had more guts than us other kids. He would take a few of us over and we would ring Meredith's doorbell. Apparently his second wife, Cheryl, (pictured on earlier page in this thread) would answer the door. "Boys, how nice of you to come by." (She didn't know any of us I don't think.) Beano: "Hey Mrs. Meredith, can Don come out and throw the ball?" Mrs. Meredith: "Boys, I am so very sorry. Don is so tarred, he doesn't even want to see a football. Y'all come back though." (I remember her exact words.) ... We did go back every week for awhile, and would get the same speech from Mrs. Meredith. He never came out. I do recollect him in some nice sports car arriving home one afternoon, very exciting. His wife was the most gracious person and very pretty, as we used to say in the old days. OK it wasn't a great story, but I was a kid and the guy was like a god so I savor the memory.
Click to expand...

thanks for sharing that...I enjoyed it
 
poke;3734028 said:
i cried like a baby when they lost those 2 games to the packers.
cried some more when they lost to cleveland.
cried in disbelief and sadness when he announced his retirement.

40 some odd years later it is no surprise that tears flow again upon hearing of his death.

thanks for posting all the videos of and about Dandy Don, i really appreciate it.

RIP #17
Click to expand...
Dito!!
 
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