plasticman
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 13,401
- Reaction score
- 21,457
On October 3, 1971 I was a 16 years old and my football team was the Dallas Cowboys. They had lost the Super Bowl the previous season in a heart breaker,a last seconds field goal. I was sure they would win it this year.
The Cowboys absolutely dominated their first two games. First was an impressive 49-37 victory over O.J.Simpson's Bills,then a mauling of the Eagles 42-7. That's right, they scored over 40 points in their first two games and next up was the Commanders,a teams against whom they had a six game winning streak.
However, this Commander team was different because the they also had a two game winning streak to open their season and there was a lot of talk about their new Head Coach and how he made a lot of trades for a lot of old guys.
After two games the Cowboys had the leading scoring RB, Calvin Hill who had 5 TD's. The quarterback was Craig Morton and he was the 2nd leading passer in the league with a 121.4 rating. Needless to say,they were the #1 offense in the league.
Craig Morton was that QB landry had been dreaming for ever since the Cowboys drafted Bob Hayes, the Olympic Gold medalist and record holder.....literally the fastest man in the world.
For years Landry had sought a quarterback with enough arm strength that he could throw the ball long enough to where Hayes didn't have to turn around and go back for it. I'm serious. He and Schram even once drafted 3 quarterbacks in the same year, the draft was 17 rounds back then.
Anyway, without looking at a stat sheet for a reference, I remember the shock of watching the Cowboy lose. I remember Craig Morton, with the golden arm, making awful throws. He had three INT's. I remember his backup coming in and playing extremely well. He was different. Instead of staying in the pocket he would run around, sometimes getting yardage like a RB.
However,the game was pretty much out of reach by then. The Cowboys scored a late TD, finally after three field goals, and made the score look close. The Commanders won on defense and some big plays and they celebrated like they won the Super Bowl.
What got me angry the most about the game was the way the Commanders players acted during the 4th quarter and after the game.It was the first time that I could recall a player talking smack about another team after a victory. They were easy to hate.
Many will say the rivalry started way back and reference the Commanders fight song. However,that was a rivalry between franchises that fans never really got involved in. However, the fans really got into it during the George Allen era and Oct 3, 1971 was the day a true rivalry was created.
Later that season, with Roger Staubach now the QB, the Cowboys defeated the Commanders in the capital 13-0 enroute to their first Super Bowl title. The following year it was the Commanders in the Super Bowl.
The Cowboys absolutely dominated their first two games. First was an impressive 49-37 victory over O.J.Simpson's Bills,then a mauling of the Eagles 42-7. That's right, they scored over 40 points in their first two games and next up was the Commanders,a teams against whom they had a six game winning streak.
However, this Commander team was different because the they also had a two game winning streak to open their season and there was a lot of talk about their new Head Coach and how he made a lot of trades for a lot of old guys.
After two games the Cowboys had the leading scoring RB, Calvin Hill who had 5 TD's. The quarterback was Craig Morton and he was the 2nd leading passer in the league with a 121.4 rating. Needless to say,they were the #1 offense in the league.
Craig Morton was that QB landry had been dreaming for ever since the Cowboys drafted Bob Hayes, the Olympic Gold medalist and record holder.....literally the fastest man in the world.
For years Landry had sought a quarterback with enough arm strength that he could throw the ball long enough to where Hayes didn't have to turn around and go back for it. I'm serious. He and Schram even once drafted 3 quarterbacks in the same year, the draft was 17 rounds back then.
Anyway, without looking at a stat sheet for a reference, I remember the shock of watching the Cowboy lose. I remember Craig Morton, with the golden arm, making awful throws. He had three INT's. I remember his backup coming in and playing extremely well. He was different. Instead of staying in the pocket he would run around, sometimes getting yardage like a RB.
However,the game was pretty much out of reach by then. The Cowboys scored a late TD, finally after three field goals, and made the score look close. The Commanders won on defense and some big plays and they celebrated like they won the Super Bowl.
What got me angry the most about the game was the way the Commanders players acted during the 4th quarter and after the game.It was the first time that I could recall a player talking smack about another team after a victory. They were easy to hate.
Many will say the rivalry started way back and reference the Commanders fight song. However,that was a rivalry between franchises that fans never really got involved in. However, the fans really got into it during the George Allen era and Oct 3, 1971 was the day a true rivalry was created.
Later that season, with Roger Staubach now the QB, the Cowboys defeated the Commanders in the capital 13-0 enroute to their first Super Bowl title. The following year it was the Commanders in the Super Bowl.
Great memories
