Was Larry Allen or Bob Lilly the greatest cowboy

[Risen Star]

Not even you believe that. Can't lay your head down and close your eyes with that on bated breath. Thanks for the hard work.

Yes I do.

I don't relic worship the 60's.

 

[Winonesoon]

Yes I do.

I don't relic worship the 60's.

Got nothing to do with a calendar. You know that.

 

[Diehardblues]

If the title Mr. Cowboy extends to every Cowboy, I have only one choice, The Man in the Hat. The only other person to embody what his team meant and to define it was Vince Lombardi, in my mind.

Yep

I only chose Roger cause IMO he’s the greatest player in Cowboys history .

But if we truly chose one person it would be Landry.

 

[CouchCoach]

Greatest ever at his position. Something no other Cowboy can claim so definitively.

No, he wasn't the greatest CB ever because that entails tackling as well.

 

[Risen Star]

Got nothing to do with a calendar. You know that.

Deion Sanders is a better player than anyone who has ever played for this team. It's not even really debatable. The greatest to ever play the position and one of the top 5 defensive players of all time.

The only player who's really comparable to him would be Emmitt.

 

[conner01]

Put it this way, if in their prime, I see Larry Allen, Randy White or Bob Lilly and they are mad? I’m running the other way

Larry Allen could catch you lol

 

[CouchCoach]

Yes I do.

I don't relic worship the 60's.

Because you didn't live through it and every piece of rock music that drifts across your ears was born in the 50's/60's. It was truly a time in music that I cannot adequately describe to anyone that wasn't there. However, that's just one aspect of that era but the only one of importance to me. Unless you count porn in technicolor.

 

[blueblood70]

I know the QB's and a running back or two, maybe even a CB and safety would inter into this discussion, but theses two were world class.

who you got? it's the offseason for us at least.

Discuss.

1960-present, far too many HOFs and great players to name #1 overall. i say form a top 20 can be reordered by debates on fan favorite's..even 20 would be tough but less controversy there..

 

[Diehardblues]

And the crime of crimes committed by Booger was his treatment of the old guard of the Dallas Cowboys and Randy was one of the most vocal ones about how they were treated. It was as if they were all part of the Landry Clan, that he treated with total disrespect when he took over. I think a lot of the Landry guys started off with a chip on their shoulder over that and it never got knocked off.

I got the same vibe from Bob Lilly the times I got to visit the him, which was only two. He said one time the new regime isn't interested in the old Cowboys.

No doubt.

Drew Pearson and Charlie Waters dogged Jethro for years on their radio show for this .

Only one Jethro really embraced was Roger. Because he had to. How the hell do you not embrace the biggest name in Cowboys Football. Even the Idiot knew that.

And when He needed Roger to be the front man for his North Texas Super Bowl committee is when Roger was able to persuade Jethro to induct Bob Hayes and Rayfield Wright into ROH which led to HOF inductions .

 

[CouchCoach]

Larry Allen could catch you lol

He wouldn't stop until he did. "Hey, that's my ball, bring that back here".

 

[conner01]

Very hard to have just 2 all time greats
And that’s a good thing
You could make a good argument for more players than you have fingers on one hand

 

[CouchCoach]

The beauty of this is that we have different candidates, which is one of the main reasons for the Cowboys fandom.

Compadres, we may have fallen on tough times but our history and some of the players to wear that Star gives us something a lot of fans do not have. That laundry really means something and those of us that got to live through that are fortunate for that because we have that to remind ourselves of how and why we became fans.

However, we are not better fans because we have known the good times, the times we mattered. You fans that signed on and didn't experience that know far more about the dedication of a Browns or Lions fan than we do. You have not been rewarded for your fanhood.

 

[OmerV]

Deion Sanders is a better player than anyone who has ever played for this team. It's not even really debatable. The greatest to ever play the position and one of the top 5 defensive players of all time.

The only player who's really comparable to him would be Emmitt.

I understand your point, but of course it is based on your definition of what the "Greatest Cowboy" is. Deion was a great player with great talent. There is no question of that. But others might have another definition that considers things like longevity with the team, whether a player is identified exclusively as a Cowboy or whether he is also strongly tied to other teams, whether a player was the face of the team etc ….

With Deion it's easy to get wide eyed over the pure athleticism and coverage skills, and of. course coverage is the most important skill for a CB, and he was probably the best ever at that. But I think it's reasonable to consider he was not strong helping against the run, and in fact it wasn't uncommon to see him shy away from tackles and just try to slow a player down without having to make hard contact.

As for his time as a Cowboy, that was only 5 out of 14 years - 36% of his career. He spent just as long with the Falcons, and had years with other teams. And only 14 of his 53 career INTs (26%) came as a Cowboy, and all his other statistical credentials were built more on his time with other teams than with Dallas. Like CouchCoach said in an earlier post, he was a mercenary who jumped from team to team.

 

[Winonesoon]

Deion Sanders is a better player than anyone who has ever played for this team. It's not even really debatable. The greatest to ever play the position and one of the top 5 defensive players of all time.

The only player who's really comparable to him would be Emmitt.

We are speaking in terms of high brass. The boat can rock either direction. Good discussion, i enjoy theses.

 

[JohnsKey19]

Of all the players I've watched from '82-present, LA and Emmitt are 1a and 1b.

Deion was great but we only got 3 maybe 4 seasons of Primetime. Several of those years were wasted in Atlanta and SF.

 

[Canada180]

He was the most iconic But Larry was dominate. I really don't think I can choose.

Dominant dagnabbit!!

 

[Whyjerry]

I know the QB's and a running back or two, maybe even a CB and safety would inter into this discussion, but theses two were world class.

who you got? it's the offseason for us at least.

Discuss.

Awesome question. Great dog days topic. Lilly was a little bit before my time so I am biased to Larry Allen. Both guy were pro bowlers for 11 seasons. Both guys played tough positions and were constantly in the middle of the scrum. Both guys played 14 seasons. Both guys were almost always healthy. Allen had 1 season where he got hurt. Lilly literally never got hurt. The guy was a mutant. Oh man such a tough one. I think Lilly would get the nod on reputation. As great as Allen was he was never in the limelight given all the greats on those teams. That said he was the best G I ever saw. I remember him being moved to T a few times because of injuries. He mauled people there too. Just a great player. I am going to give the nod to Larry only because that play in NO was the single most athletic play an offensive lineman has ever made.

Great post.

 

[INCowboysFan]

Lilly was Mr. Cowboy because he was the original Cowboy and he was a Cowboy for his entire career.

Roger would come in 2nd but he was Captain Comeback. And Walt Garrison, the first real cowboy would get consideration.

Allen? Emmitt? No, they played for other teams so they cannot be ever considered Mr. Cowboy, same goes for Dorsett.

Probably not the right way to look at it but they gotta wear the colors to the end. Going to another team is like your girlfriend or wife, or both, wearing a sexy negligee and finding out she modeled that for another man. Oh, the shame.

Not fair to say that they played for other teams so they can't be considered. If there had been FA in Lilly's days you would have seen a ton of movement like we do now. Who knows, maybe even Lilly himself would have tried to hang on for another year or two with another team.

Lilly is an all time great, nobody can argue against that. But being the first Cowboys draft pick is overblown in the big picture. But seeing Larry Allen dominate great DL gives him a slight edge in my book. There is no wrong answer here. Lilly and Allen both have strong arguments for the best DT and best OL to ever play.

 

[cowboybish]

I know the QB's and a running back or two, maybe even a CB and safety would inter into this discussion, but theses two were world class.

who you got? it's the offseason for us at least.

Discuss.[/QUOTE
Let’s line Larry up against Lilly and Larry will win most of the time. My vote is Larry.

I know the QB's and a running back or two, maybe even a CB and safety would inter into this discussion, but theses two were world class.

who you got? it's the offseason for us at least.

Discuss.

 

[Winonesoon]

Dominant dagnabbit!!