- 5 hours ago
List could've been better, weird order, aired in 2009
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00:27I think that's fair to do the Cowboys and not the Buccaneers, or the
00:29Bengals.
00:30They are the Dallas Cowboys.
00:33America's team.
00:34Cowboys are definitely deserving of being America's team.
00:38Oh, that's just ridiculous.
00:39America's team would mean that everyone in America would be wearing their jerseys.
00:42Steelers and Eagles, far more purchases of jerseys.
00:46They're empirically not America's team.
00:49We realize not everyone is a Cowboys fan.
00:55There's so much hatred.
00:57Hey, stop!
00:58Like them or not, the Cowboys have a unique lineage of legendary players and personalities.
01:04Well, there's readers and thinkers and double scotch drinkers and soda straw manglers and
01:08bar napkin stranglers and teasers and cryers and high rolling flyers.
01:12Today, we're counting down the top 10 Dallas Cowboys of all time.
01:16If you are from anywhere outside of Dallas, it's going to make you want to puke.
01:21If you're from Dallas, you're thinking one of two things.
01:26You're thinking either, why stop at 10?
01:28Or you're thinking, why not just call it the top 10 greatest NFL players of all time?
01:31Because they'd all be Cowboys, right?
01:33This list is more than just the 10 best athletes who happen to sport silver and blue.
01:39We still have these identifiable players who meant more to us than just the guy who played
01:44well on Sunday.
01:45Guys that had an impact on the organization.
01:48So here are the top 10 men who best define what it means to be a Dallas Cowboy.
01:55The number 10 Cowboy of all time, Drew Pearson.
01:59Nice.
02:01When you think Cowboys of the 70s, Drew Pearson is a big part of it.
02:05You know, he was the original 88 for the Cowboys.
02:08Growing up, I loved Drew Pearson.
02:10At first, I didn't really want to think of, man, why are they giving me this number 88?
02:13That's Drew's number.
02:14But it was an honor.
02:15Once I found out that they give it to you because they think that you'll be the next great.
02:19I was like, oh, this is great.
02:20Going deep for Drew down the sideline.
02:23Touchdown, Dallas Cowboys!
02:25In 1973, Drew Pearson arrived in Dallas with little fanfare.
02:29He's undrafted.
02:30And the story goes that he made the team because of a key block that he threw in the end
02:34of
02:34preseason his rookie year.
02:38I think the thing about Drew that really epitomized his greatness was just the courage
02:43and the intestinal fortitude when the chips were on the line.
02:48Throws into the end zone.
02:49Touchdown for the Dallas Cowboys!
02:51Drew Pearson, number 88.
02:53There were other weapons at the time, but when they absolutely, positively had to have
02:57something good happen, he was the guy that they looked to.
03:00When you look at critical catches, Drew Pearson probably made more than any receiver that's
03:03ever played the game.
03:04He was clutch.
03:06Clutch.
03:07The quality in the clutch.
03:09One of the greatest clutch receivers in history.
03:11Come on!
03:12Hail Mary!
03:13The Hail Mary!
03:13Just the Hail Mary catch alone puts him in the top ten, I think.
03:16But he pushed off though.
03:17In the 1975 playoffs, Dallas trailed Minnesota late in the fourth quarter.
03:21Then Pearson converted a fourth and sixteen, setting up his legendary Hail Mary catch.
03:27Now is to come the play that one expert said would be talked about as long as the game
03:32of football is played.
03:33Now the Cowboys made a miracle.
03:35Roger.
03:36Takes the snap.
03:37Pumps and wants.
03:38He's going long.
03:39Down the near sideline for Drew Pearson.
03:41Pearson makes the catch at the five.
03:43Touchdown!
03:44Snowball hit Pearson on a 50 yard touchdown.
03:48Would you believe it?
03:52Our number ten Cowboy earned first team all pro honors three times.
03:56Pearson wide open touchdown!
03:58In 1977, he led the NFL in receiving yards while helping the Cowboys to their second world title.
04:05The Dallas Cowboys are the champions of the National Football League.
04:10He's just short of being a Hall of Famer.
04:13Pearson might have made it to Canton and moved up our list if his career wasn't unexpectedly
04:18ended before the 1984 season.
04:20I think Drew Pearson would be in the Hall of Fame right now if his career wasn't cut short
04:26by a tragic car accident.
04:28He should be in the ring of honor at the minimum.
04:31He's in the Hall of Fame now though.
04:33I think he should be in the Hall of Fame.
04:35If you watched him play in that period, you would have said this guy might be a Hall of Fame
04:38player.
04:39I think Drew Pearson deserves a lot of respect for what he did on the football field.
04:44Way too low on this list, okay?
04:46Drew Pearson definitely has to be top five.
04:49What?!
04:50Harvey Martin, the Cowboys' original sackmaster, just missed making...
04:55Martin here in a brisk, cold Dallas, Texas.
04:58Martin's fellow pass rusher Ed Too Tall Jones also just missed the cut.
05:03For 15 seasons, Too Tall was a household name in Dallas.
05:08Danny White could have been nicknamed just short.
05:11White quarterback Dallas to three straight NFC championships,
05:14but lost all three and never escaped the shadow of Roger Staubach.
05:18Roger's a legend.
05:20Danny will never be like that.
05:22Next in our countdown is another quarterback who had a tough time in Dallas,
05:25but he is a Cowboys legend.
05:28Danny, the number nine cowboy of all time.
05:31Dandy Don Meredith.
05:32The perfect person to put in the top ten because of what he represents.
05:36He is the Cowboys image of the 60s.
05:39When Dallas joined the NFL in 1960, they had little talent and less identity.
05:46Dandy Don Meredith from nearby SMU changed that.
05:50When the Cowboys were emerging, you know, you had Tom Landry,
05:53who was kind of that stoic, dignified image of the organization's coming up.
05:57So when Dandy Don came along, it was a new look.
06:00It was kind of the fun, freewheeling quarterback that had confidence and ability.
06:04We're gonna whip him. We're gonna whip him.
06:06A new fresh face for the organization.
06:10In the huddle, he was just, I mean, loose.
06:13Loose best describes Dandy Don on and off the field.
06:17He just said he loved life.
06:19I would say one thing that makes Don unique is his personality.
06:22You guys want some close-ups?
06:24Obviously a character in the history of national football.
06:27Because that's what kind of guy he is.
06:29A real turd.
06:33It's back in the day.
06:34Where are you gonna stick it?
06:35Rodden by Ying Yang.
06:36He's gonna go.
06:41Fun-loving guy.
06:42He was gonna have a few beers, you know.
06:46You know, let's finish this and then go out and knock down a couple of cold ones
06:49and meet something pretty.
06:53Fantastic.
06:55You know, if it wasn't fun for Don, you know, he wasn't gonna do it.
06:59It overshadowed how much he wanted to win.
07:02But believe me, he took his football serious.
07:08I think he should be higher than that.
07:10Playing against him twice a year.
07:12I saw this guy.
07:13This guy real good at Don.
07:15I don't think he gets nearly enough appreciation.
07:18The thing that people don't know about Don is how tough he was.
07:23He played at a time when...
07:24I respect the, you know, still living John Wooden and his opinion.
07:30He...
07:30Don Meredith can't be on the list.
07:32Especially if Danny White's not on the list.
07:34He was one and three in the playoffs.
07:37He was garbage his first five years.
07:42You talk about Danny White not getting over the hump.
07:45Don Meredith didn't get over the hump.
07:48So how is he on the list?
07:52We were a sorry team.
07:54And he got killed.
07:56He took a ferocious beating in this league.
08:04Son of a mess.
08:07Once Bob Hayes came here.
08:09And Lance Renssel came here.
08:11Don Meredith came into his own as a quarterback.
08:14It's not only one word for Don Meredith to me.
08:16And that's great.
08:18He was as good a big game quarterback as there was in the league at the time.
08:23What?
08:24Meredith led the Cowboys to the NFL championship game in 1966 and 67.
08:31In the 1968 playoff, Dallas lost again, despite a heroic effort from our number nine cowboy.
08:38Meredith got out of the home and then came home and took a lot of abuse about his performance.
08:46We went into this restaurant and they started booing him.
08:49Stood up and left.
08:53And that's when he quit.
08:54Unfortunately, in Dallas, you don't win at all.
08:58There's just that little, yeah, but he didn't do this.
09:00Nobody likes losers, especially Texas.
09:03There's never been a guy who has been more mistreated by the fans than Don Meredith was.
09:09People who were critical of him when he did play almost feel bad about how they treated him while he
09:14was here.
09:18Dandy Don Meredith was a really good quarterback, but he was an even better broadcaster for Monday Night Football.
09:27The guy that you saw on television with co-sale, that's who he is.
09:32Redneck and white socks and blue ribbon beer, hot dog ass.
09:37He wouldn't have had a legacy were it not for Monday Night Football.
09:40Once his personality shined through on Monday Night Football, then people looked back on his career with the Cowboys and
09:47I think noticed, hey, this guy was awfully good.
09:50That's what we're talking about.
09:52That's what we're talking about.
09:53All right.
09:55The number eight Cowboy of all time, the Manster, Randy White.
09:59For me, coaching against him twice a year for seven years might be the finest defensive player that I've ever
10:05had to coach against.
10:06One of the most feared defensive tackles in the history of the National Football League.
10:11But Randy White almost didn't even play defensive tackle in the NFL.
10:15They spent two years trying to make him a middle linebacker.
10:18Randy just unable to get himself in the right position.
10:21I don't think his body goes backwards.
10:23And as such, he wasn't a very good linebacker at all.
10:26That looked like it was going to be a poorly spent number one draft choice on him.
10:31Once the Cowboys decided that isn't his game, let's put him on the defensive line.
10:35He's a terrific player.
10:37Our number eight.
10:39Hall of Fame first, who was named first team all pro seven times.
10:45Randy White jumps on him.
10:46Randy White is ridiculous.
10:50He may not have put up these incredible numbers.
10:53I think it's because he was always double and triple teamed.
10:56He did.
10:57One of the top two or three most dominant Cowboys.
10:59Just sheer dominance every year.
11:02He did.
11:03Randy White, you talk about a guy who was devastated.
11:07Randy White was a bagger.
11:08And if I weren't on television, I'd use a different term.
11:11Just a stone cold nut.
11:12On game day, this meek, humble person turned into a monster.
11:16He was the manster.
11:19His name's Randy White.
11:21His nickname, Manster.
11:25We call Randy White Manster around here.
11:28It's half man, half monster.
11:29I've never been afraid of anything.
11:31And Randy White scared me.
11:34He's one of those guys, you know, if you had to pick somebody to go down the dark alley with
11:38it,
11:38He'd be probably the first guy I would say, yeah, let's get it on.
11:41Let's go.
11:43He created a war on every snap.
11:46He was mean.
11:47Boy, he was tough.
11:49Randy White killed everybody every day, not just Sunday.
11:54He killed him in practice on Wednesday.
11:55He was out killing people on his off day on Tuesday.
11:58If half of the stories are true about Randy White, he's still one of the scariest people I've ever heard
12:02of.
12:03He missed one game in his career being this physical.
12:06He's a super competitor.
12:07I mean, a guy has only one.
12:11He played football as if it was life and death on every single play.
12:16I remember a play in Dallas.
12:18Scott Fitsky caught a pass across the middle, running for a touchdown.
12:22You know who caught him from behind?
12:24Randy White.
12:25Dragged him down and shoot him the goal line.
12:28Incredible, incredible play.
12:29A defensive lineman catching a wide receiver from behind.
12:34You wouldn't want to play two downs against him right now.
12:39His competitiveness was off the charts.
12:42He was physically gifted, but there were more physically gifted guys in the National Football League than him.
12:47But I don't know that there was anybody more driven on a defensive line than Randy White in the last
12:5140 years.
12:52That's why he belongs on your list.
12:54Randy White's one of the greatest football players that ever played the sport.
12:58And for him to not be in the top five on this list is, in my opinion, a mistake.
13:03It's the Cowboys.
13:04Some 90's Cowboys just missed making our list.
13:07Daryl Moose Johnston, who spent his entire 11-year career in Dallas.
13:11No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
13:13There's no way you can have a top ten Cowboys list without Larry Allen, when he's top, arguably the top
13:19player in his position.
13:21Was considered to be considered to be considered.
13:22And Larry Allen anchored the Cowboys' old line, clearing the path for three Super Bowl titles.
13:28And Dallas, your Cowboys are world champions again.
13:31Next on our list is a running back who carried Dallas to their second world title.
13:35The number seven Cowboy of all time, Tony T.D. Dorsett.
13:41Oh man, Tony Dorsett. Loved to watch him. Dorsett was an electrifying running back.
13:47I'm not a bulldog type of runner.
13:48I'm a runner that you, your grandmother, or someone else would probably enjoy watching because there's something as exciting as
13:53possible to happen at any time.
13:55He is at the five, he scores, touchdown!
13:57Tony had star power.
13:59And once he touched the ball, the spotlight was hit.
14:04In 1977, the Heisman Trophy winner from Pittsburgh arrived in Dallas, determined to win a Lombardi Trophy.
14:11I really do believe he should be higher than number seven.
14:15When they drafted Tony Dorsett, everything changed.
14:18It's nice to be here.
14:19The Cowboys instantly became a great team when they got him.
14:22All of a sudden, everything clicks.
14:24Because Andrew comes in and he says, okay, Tony's a different type of runner.
14:29And he's going to run to what he sees.
14:30Hand off Dorsett, right guard to the ten, to the five, touchdown!
14:34Tony Dorsett has scored his first touchdown of the pool.
14:38From that point on, I was able to become T.D. and be myself.
14:42They get him in 77, automatically they're Super Bowl champions.
14:46Dabak has it, hands it off to Dorsett, drives touchdown!
14:50The Dallas Cowboys are the champions of the National Football League.
14:53They got close to doing it again.
14:56The first thing that comes to mind, speed and quickness.
14:58We used to call him the glider, because it looked like his feet weren't touching the ground.
15:02And then when he got the ball, look out.
15:04Hands it off to Dorsett, into the secondary, to the 30, 35.
15:07Into the secondary, before anybody had time to react.
15:10That's right, watch out!
15:13The ten, the five, Tony Dorsett, touchdown!
15:16Seems like he had to play like that every game.
15:18A first ballot Hall of Famer, Dorsett played 11 years in Dallas,
15:22scored 92 touchdowns, and gained more than 12,000 yards.
15:26That first step was amazing.
15:28I don't know if anybody to this day had the acceleration that Dorsett had.
15:33That natural ability's there.
15:34You know, you can't teach it, you can't coach it.
15:36To the ten, close to the outside, five, touchdown!
15:39He's just a natural, fluid runner.
15:45Tony Dorsett could go east and west, and make it north or south.
15:49Cut and slash, and go 80 right now.
15:5150, the 40, he's to the 30, the 20, the 10, the 5, Tony Dorsett, touchdown!
15:58You know, they called him Hawk, because he had those eyes, and he would look and find an opening.
16:02I get a ball in my eyes, they light up like silver dogs.
16:04On plays that were designed to go to the right, he would bend it all the way back to the
16:09other side,
16:10and he could just see where the hole was going to be.
16:12Breaks a type of, unbelievable!
16:14And he could see into the future.
16:16He could turn and change directions.
16:18A complete 90 degree turn on a dime, go right by somebody.
16:23He is in, touchdown Dallas!
16:25And here's one reason short of 100, why he's our number 7 Cowboy.
16:31What do you have, a 99 yard run?
16:32Hand off Dorsett at the middle.
16:34Longest run in NFL history.
16:36First step, and he got outside, and pfft, gone.
16:39Here he goes!
16:40Cuts to his right one all the way!
16:43To the 30, to the 40!
16:45Still don't know how he stayed in bounds.
16:47He's got two men to beat!
16:48To the 10, the 5, touchdown!
16:52It's so fitting that Dorsett is the guy who's always going to be a part of that record.
16:57He was the quintessential home run hitter for Bob.
17:00I think he's one of the 10 greatest running backs in the history of the game,
17:03so he surely belongs on your Cowboy top 10 list.
17:06The number 6 Cowboy of all time, Troy Aikman.
17:10Too hot.
17:12You gotta be kidding me, he's ranked there.
17:14Great as those teams were, none of it works if Aikman's not there.
17:18Cowboys are back on top of the mountain now!
17:20You have to have him in the top 5.
17:21He's the engine that drove the machine.
17:23They were there in the 70's, fell off in the 80's.
17:26They're back on top and they should stay there a while.
17:30Show me his own room.
17:31The number 6 Cowboy on our list was a number 1 draft pick in 1989.
17:36He owned the 90's leading Dallas to 90 wins.
17:39The second most wins for any decade in NFL history.
17:43Easily the greatest leader after Staubach and no one's come close to him since.
17:48What fans saw on Sunday, his teammates saw every day of the week.
17:53This man right here was our leader.
17:55There was no doubt, no waving whatsoever.
17:57There's no room for Eric.
17:59Damn it!
18:00We needed our leader to be that way.
18:02Big night guys, let's start fast and let's compete.
18:0460 minutes, let's go win on 3. 1, 2, 3, win!
18:07When Aikman was in the huddle, he completely commanded it.
18:10Eye right, dip, power right, on one, on one.
18:13Even a loud mouth receiver like Irvin, he knew how to handle Irvin.
18:17We can't have negative plays.
18:19New Wind to yell.
18:20Hey guys, that's a f***ing embarrassment out there!
18:22New Wind just lead by example.
18:23Aikman straight drop, looking left, going for the end zone.
18:26Novacek at the 2, takes it in!
18:29Touchdown Cowboys!
18:30Here comes Aikman and they win 3 Super Bowls.
18:321-15 in 89 to the Super Bowl full use.
18:36That's unbelievable.
18:40I've never seen a more accurate quarterback.
18:42He's the most accurate thrower I think has ever played the position.
18:47Now, Troy Aikman was very accurate, especially for his era.
18:51Satan's the most accurate quarterback ever is ludicrous.
18:56He wasn't even the most accurate quarterback in the NFC.
18:59There's a guy named Steve Young.
19:03Wasn't even the most accurate quarterback wearing his jersey number.
19:06Steve Young.
19:08A hit to Irvin and it's caught!
19:11When he was hot, he was as good as I've ever seen, no question about it.
19:16Talk to Irvin about the guy's accuracy.
19:18If I closed my eyes to run 10 routes, I believe eight of them would have hit me right in
19:24the hands.
19:25It couldn't have been thrown any better!
19:28Troy's ball comes at you like a missile.
19:31Yeah!
19:32And then it stops right here and it looks at you and says,
19:36Catch me, please!
19:39A laser blast from Aikman to Irvin!
19:45Aikman captured the hearts of Dallas fans and never let them down.
19:49Well, on the field that is.
19:51His best football was in the playoffs.
19:54Some of his greatest games were when they needed him the most in the playoffs.
19:58Catch me!
19:59Oh, what a play!
20:00How he performed in the most important games of his career,
20:04playoff games, Super Bowl games, he was almost flawless.
20:07The six-time Pro Bowler is the Cowboys all-time leading passer.
20:11Number eight led Dallas to three Super Bowl wins and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXVII.
20:17Troy Aikman's the MVP!
20:19Some argue that his lack of numbers should put him lower on our list of numbers.
20:23I'm a big stats guy.
20:25The thing about Troy Aikman that is tough to get past is the fact that he had one season in
20:31his career
20:31where he had more than 20 touchdowns.
20:3320 touchdowns, that's very pedestrian.
20:36He caught it! Touchdown!
20:37The numbers aren't important.
20:38The only statistic Aikman cared about was winning.
20:41Football's about winning championships and, you know, Troy was three for three.
20:46And Dallas, you can celebrate because your Cowboys are world champions again!
20:52Before we continue our five Cowboy of all time, Emmett Smith!
20:58I don't see four other Cowboys that could be ahead of Emmett.
21:01He's the all-time leading Russia.
21:04Early in his career, man, he was doing some things. He made me jump up out of my chair.
21:07Now it's Emmett Smith time!
21:08When you have all these Hall of Famers, somebody's gotta be...
21:12I know they have Starbuck. I know they have Lilly.
21:16Who else could be above him?
21:18They have...
21:20No way Michael Ernie is above him.
21:22Our number five Cowboy has a Hall of Fame resume that lands him in the top tier of our list.
21:27First down to Emmett! The 15th star!
21:30Cowboys didn't want to draft Emmett.
21:31Emmett was still sitting there at like 17.
21:33They said, well, we got him ranked up here. I guess we better take him.
21:36A good running back. I thought he'd have a nice career, but he's so overachieved.
21:40Hey, Michael...
21:42...but breaks away to the 10! To the 5! Touchdown, Emmett Smith!
21:46And I remember the first walking in with MC Hammer-type hands,
21:50and I thought, where did we get this guy?
21:53But when he took that football field, it was like he turned into Superman.
21:57Unbelievable! Unbelievable!
22:02Emmett was an incredible warrior.
22:05There's no question our number five Cowboy owns the gutsiest performance in Dallas history.
22:10I watched him basically beat the Giants single-handedly with his shoulder thrown out of his socket.
22:16Smith is down!
22:17Everything on the line in terms of the division title and home field advantage in the playoffs,
22:22and Emmett Smith is out there with one arm.
22:24Touchdown, Emmett Smith!
22:26Cowboys eventually snapped the ball 68 or 69 times,
22:31and Emmett got it 42 of those times.
22:33Wow!
22:35Outrageous!
22:35We'll never forget the day Emmett Smith ran 32 times for 170 yards
22:41and caught 10 balls for 62 and did most of it with one arm.
22:47Year in and year out, no matter what pounding he took,
22:50he still showed up, he still moved the chains, he still generated the yards.
22:54Oh!
22:55Breaks a tackle!
22:56Emmett Smith breaking it!
23:00Oh!
23:00Smith to the line!
23:02Touchdown, Emmett Smith!
23:03Happy Thanksgiving, Emmett!
23:05That was an offense built around him.
23:10Smith for three, Smith for eight, Smith for seven.
23:13Now was Emmett going 80 every time? No.
23:15Hand out Smith coming right!
23:17Trying to outrun the coverage.
23:19Emmett can't outrun the...
23:22He can get to that pylon first.
23:24Hey!
23:25He's gonna score!
23:26Oh!
23:27Absolutely ridiculous!
23:30Hey, you just saw...
23:32Emmett Smith, the greatest running back in history? No.
23:35The leading rusher in history? Yes.
23:37Hand off Smith, 35, 40 yard line!
23:42That should do it!
23:43Yeah!
23:44Woo!
23:45That's the kind of an accomplishment that's impossible to overlook.
23:50Now...
23:50A little over sweetness!
23:52Make a place for Emmett!
23:54There's only one NFL rushing champion, and there's only one Emmett Smith!
24:02Emmett has the numbers and the records, so why isn't he higher on our list?
24:07It just wasn't in the cards.
24:09Even though he's one of the great all-time running backs, you've got to spend your whole
24:13career with the Cowboys to be one of the top all-time Cowboys.
24:16He's a person to this day.
24:18Shouldn't have happened.
24:19No, it doesn't matter that Emmett played for the Cardinals.
24:22People like Emmett Smith should never have gone anywhere else to play football.
24:26You don't know how much this star really mean to me.
24:30They meant too much to the original team.
24:33How do you feel about a second Super Bowl?
24:35Two in a row.
24:37How sweet it is!
24:38I think he is, without question, as the all-time leading rusher with the three Super Bowl rings,
24:44he's a top five Cowboy.
24:46Wow, Emmett Smith number five, that means there's four players ahead of him.
24:50Holy cow, who could that be?
24:52The number four Cowboy of all time, Mr. Cowboy, Bob Lilly.
24:57Bob Lilly was the guy.
24:59He's one of the guys that's on a pedestal for Dallas Cowboy fans.
25:01I put Bob Lilly number one on my list.
25:04I think he was the first all-pro selection, the first pro bowl player, and is a charter
25:14member of our club's coveted ring of honor in Texas Stadium.
25:19He was the Dallas Cowboys.
25:22He helped this franchise go from nothing, no wins in that first year, to being Super Bowl
25:29champions.
25:30It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me.
25:31I can't express my feeling right now.
25:33It's fantastic.
25:34He was the first guy that Cowboy fans really embraced and could really relate to, and he
25:39just seemed like the perfect first face of the franchise.
25:46Born and raised in Texas, Bob Lilly is the prototypical Cowboy and a Dallas legend.
25:52They were right to call him Mr. Cowboy.
25:54It's a fitting nickname, Mr. Cowboy.
25:56He had the country accent.
25:58He had that down-home, humble aura about him.
26:02He looks like Texas.
26:04Oh, by the way, I'm a defensive tackle.
26:07Just, it had no suntan.
26:09He was just white all over.
26:11No muscle definition.
26:13But when he put those pads on, you know, number 74 was an unbelievable football player.
26:18What a face by Bob Lilly!
26:23The first great player in Cowboy history.
26:26The first great player.
26:29Our number 4 player played in 11 Pro Bowls in 14 seasons and never missed a regular season game.
26:36Bob Lilly was a majestic defensive player.
26:39He was magnificent.
26:40Now Lilly hits him at the 25.
26:42Bob Lilly dominated the games.
26:46He changed games.
26:47He was unblockable.
26:48He would knife through offensive linemen instead of riding them out.
26:53He required two blockers every play.
26:56He takes a handoff and he's stopped by Lilly again!
26:58They triple-teamed Bob Lilly and Steele couldn't block it.
27:03I thought Bob Lilly was the greatest defensive lineman I ever saw.
27:06He never gave up on the play.
27:08And that's what separates the guys that live in Canton and the guys that played this game.
27:19If they scored, they were gonna have to crawl over dead bodies.
27:22That's how we fell.
27:24If you looked at Lilly work, if you looked at how hard he played, I think a lot of his
27:28teammates felt badly if they didn't give the same kind of effort because they realized the kind of effort really
27:35gave play after play.
27:38He was just a phenomenal football player.
27:41It really didn't have a mean streak in his body.
27:43If he had been a guy who was really mean, they would have to outlaw him.
27:48The anchor of the doomsday defense was mean enough to make our list and talented enough to make everyone else's.
27:55Sporting News did their list of the 100 greatest players in NFL history.
27:58Lilly was 10th and that was the highest ranking cowboy.
28:01One of the greatest sayings I've ever heard was by Jim Brown.
28:04This is a great football player who can transcend eras.
28:07I think Bob Lilly is one of those guys.
28:09I think Bob Lilly could transcend eras.
28:11He deserves to be very high on the list.
28:14Some would say number one because he is Mr. Cowboy.
28:17Mr. Cowboy.
28:19Go!
28:20Receiver.
28:21The number three cowboy of all time.
28:24The playmaker, Michael Irvin.
28:26Who's three?
28:27You are.
28:28Oh, you got me three?
28:29Yeah.
28:29Get out of here.
28:30Are you serious?
28:31I'm serious.
28:31Who did this ranking?
28:33When you said Troy was five or six and everyone else.
28:36Man, did I even get in this list?
28:37You know what I mean?
28:38I got a little worried.
28:43In the 1980s, the University of Miami was the college football team of the decade.
28:47In the 1990s, the Dallas Cowboys were the professional football team of the decade.
28:55There was one constant throughout both of those reigns and his name is Michael Irvin.
29:01After two straight losing seasons, the Cowboys needed a playmaker.
29:04So, in the 1988 draft, they called on the playmaker.
29:09After the Cowboys had been so bad for a couple of years, Michael Irvin blew into that building.
29:13I remember text Fram saying,
29:15Well, with this kid, we've just accelerated our return to the living.
29:21In 1991, our number three Cowboy was named first team all pro.
29:26Touchdown!
29:27Michael Irvin!
29:28As he led the NFL in receiving yards for his first five straight Pro Bowl seasons.
29:36The playmaker was equally entertaining after the catch.
29:40He had a swagger coming out of Miami that was magnifying in Dallas.
29:45Showtime!
29:46He was a guy who said, Look, I know I'm great.
29:50That's premium Miami cocaine.
29:53I'm going to tell you beforehand I'm going to kick your ass, then I'm going to kick your ass, and
29:56then afterward I'm going to remind you very loudly about how I just kicked your ass.
30:00What do you think it is?
30:02Michael Irvin!
30:03What do I do?
30:04Make plays!
30:04Make plays, baby!
30:06Don't confuse flamboyance, enthusiasm, for selfishness.
30:11He was never selfish.
30:14And he worked for it.
30:16The most remarkable thing about Michael is, he knew there were nights Michael was still out on the street at
30:212 or 3 in the morning.
30:22Hi, hi, having fun. Aloha.
30:23And yet, Michael would be in at 5.30 in the morning working out, and you said to yourself, When
30:28in the world does he sleep?
30:29Is it Michael Irvin or Michelangelo?
30:32He was the hardest worker on his team for every day he wore a Dallas Cowboy uniform.
30:39He basically showed this team how to work.
30:42He showed this team how to win.
30:45It was the off season, and on the field, Michael Irvin by himself running routes.
30:50And I'm watching this guy through the window.
30:52He throws up, he sits there for a while, he gets back on that line, and he ran about 10,
30:5615 more routes.
30:57His work ethic was, you couldn't match it.
31:00Every time I trained to the point of exhaustion, and I couldn't go any farther, I would say, Now, are
31:07you a Hall of Famer or not?
31:11In 2007, our number three cowboy was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
31:16But even with a spot in Canton, not everyone agrees with his spot on our list.
31:21Michael Irvin number three is a tough one.
31:23Should Michael Irvin be number three?
31:25I know why you can make the argument, though.
31:27Because Michael Irvin may have been the heartbeat of those great cowboy teams that won three Super Bowls in four
31:33years.
31:34He's still been the best.
31:36Michael Irvin was the guy who, more than anyone, established them as a great team in the 90s.
31:41It's so damn tough!
31:43Don't!
31:45Don't!
31:46Put him above Emmys Smith or Bob Lilly.
31:51The problem with putting Irvin in the top five, I think, is his off-field behavior.
31:57Michael Irvin may have created more controversy than anybody in cowboy history, but he was the epitome of what you
32:04want in a leader.
32:05We're in this game!
32:06Tell him we're in this game!
32:08Tell him we're in this game!
32:10Who is a better and more effective team leader than Michael Irvin.
32:15The Cowboys have been blessed with outstanding defensive backs who didn't make the countdown.
32:21Hall of Famer Mel Renfro knocks ten straight Pro Bowl seasons and remains the Cowboys' all-time leader in interceptions.
32:28All right!
32:29Deion Sanders was not only a shutdown quarterback in Dallas, he was one of the all-time great return aces.
32:34High-step dance! To the goal line! Touchdown, Cowboys!
32:37Sanders was prime time. Our next Cowboy delivered in crunch time.
32:42The number two Cowboy of all time, Captain Comeback Roger Staubach.
32:48Roger Staubach epitomizes the Dallas Cowboys from their inception to today.
32:53The only problem I would have with Roger Staubach being on your list is the fact that he's not number
32:58one.
32:58Roger Staubach was the man.
33:00We've got to play together all day long. Here we go!
33:02Everything that Aikman was on his team, Staubach was that and more in the 70s.
33:09Roger back to throw across the middle. Touchdown!
33:11The quintessential Cowboy legend.
33:16For three, set!
33:19After winning the Heisman at Navy, Staubach served his country in Vietnam.
33:22In 1969, he began serving the Cowboys.
33:26Rolling back to Staubach, looking.
33:28Firing down the middle. Touchdown for Dallas!
33:30Our number two Cowboy led Dallas to four Super Bowl appearances.
33:34And it's first there.
33:36One and 77.
33:38Roger goes deep across the middle.
33:40Touchdown!
33:41Touchdown!
33:46Intense leader. Intense competitor.
33:48He wanted it more than anybody I've ever seen.
33:51If you're lifting weights, he would get a weight he was comfortable at and say,
33:55Hey, I bet I can lift this more times than you.
33:57And dang if he wouldn't, I mean, he would die doing it.
33:59You've got a leader that wants to win that badly.
34:02It rubs off on everybody.
34:07And of course, there were the fourth quarter comebacks.
34:11And I still believe today, with two minutes to go and 75 yards,
34:16I'll take Roger Staubach with any quarterback in the National Football League history.
34:20Captain Comeback was born in the 1972 playoffs.
34:24Out of trouble!
34:25It's nothing to believe!
34:26But that was just one of 23 career fourth quarter comebacks.
34:30None more memorable than the Hail Mary.
34:33Staubach hit Pearson on a 50-yard touchdown!
34:36He had the ability to pull things out of the most dire situations.
34:43No matter how much time was left in the ball game.
34:4542 seconds left in the game.
34:47Redskins lead by six.
34:49I always believed that Roger could win the game.
34:52Staubach throwing in the end zone.
34:54Tony Hill!
34:55Touchdown!
34:56Tony Hill!
34:58If he had a down, he had a chance.
35:01The Cowboys have come from behind!
35:06Roger Staubach has got to be number one.
35:08I can't think of a player more respected by everybody from generation to generation than Roger could die.
35:17He was going to be a saint.
35:19I mean, that's really what he is.
35:20He's Saint Roger Staubach.
35:22You know, I enjoy sex as much as Joe Namor.
35:25Only I do it with one girl.
35:27Roger Staubach remains in Dallas a leader of the community.
35:31That is put in a place where I don't think we'll ever see another athlete from here get.
35:37Number one.
35:38Without a doubt.
35:41The quintessential Cowboy legend.
35:44And now, the number one Dallas Cowboy of all time.
35:48Tom Landry.
35:49It has to be Tom Landry.
35:51Yeah, I don't think you can go wrong with Coach Landry.
35:54When you announce it, every Cowboy fan goes,
35:56Yeah, right.
35:57Geez, yeah.
35:58Why didn't I think of that?
36:00The nuts and bolts of the Dallas Cowboys is, uh...
36:05Amanda wears a funny hat.
36:06You thought Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1989.
36:10You thought Tom Landry.
36:13After nearly a quarter of a century,
36:16Tom Landry is still the only head coach the Dallas Cowboys have ever had.
36:21The silhouette shot of him on the sideline, that was the Cowboys' identity.
36:25I don't think there was anything about Coach Landry that you didn't look at him and say,
36:28This is the Dallas Cowboys.
36:30I'd say, without question, he'd be number one.
36:35The generation that came after Vince Lombardi.
36:38Tom Landry is the coaching icon.
36:41Go hard, go hard, out of the way, go hard.
36:43He was his own offensive coordinator and his own defensive coordinator.
36:46Okay, that's pretty strong.
36:48No, yeah, you can use him pretty much in here.
36:50Yeah, you can use him.
36:51He was an innovator.
36:52A great football man.
36:54The man who wore this funny hat fashions some of the NFL's greatest thrills.
36:59The offensive linemen all stood straight up and then went down into the three-point stance.
37:04They had the shotgun.
37:05They had all of these innovations.
37:06The lineman's breaking outside, see?
37:08There's no use to send him out.
37:09Yeah.
37:10Just tell him to slow box, see?
37:11So while all of this blitz was going on around Tom Landry, he was the quiet man in the fedora,
37:17the mastermind of the Cowboy experience.
37:21For 29 years as Dallas' head coach, Tom Landry transformed the Cowboys into America's team.
37:28But Coach Landry is the architect of the entire organization,
37:31and the Dallas Cowboy organization isn't what it is today without Coach Landry.
37:36They're from the start.
37:37My feelings about him are almost heresy.
37:40I think if you're going to compare Cowboy coaches, Jimmy is every bit as much the coach as Landry was.
37:46What?
37:47The Cowboys!
37:49There's a guy in our recent memory who was only the second head coach of the Cowboys.
37:53That kind of tells you the story about Tom Landry, so I have no problem with him being number one.
37:57Jimmy Johnson didn't win for 50 games.
37:59He had a lot more personality than people gave him credit for.
38:02But he still was the guy who said nothing funny ever happened on a football field.
38:07They asked, Walt Garrison, have you ever seen Coach Landry smile?
38:10And he said, no, but I was only there nine years.
38:12No one has penetrated the gunfighter stare, the grim face that makes him look like a regional director of the
38:20FBI.
38:20The expressionless guy walking the sideline, that was game day Coach Landry.
38:28I'm not a rah-rah type of coach, especially on the sidelines.
38:33Coach Landry felt like preparation was the greatest motivator.
38:36There'll be strategy, practice, planning, an overture to Sunday Symphony.
38:41Coach Landry ran our team like a corporation.
38:44We had goals, we had methods to obtain the goals.
38:47We had critical points to obtain the methods that attained the goals.
38:50The goal was to win the Super Bowl.
38:52You can't argue with the numbers of our number one Cowboy.
38:55A professional sports record of 20 consecutive winning seasons.
38:59We have to beat for Goldie Richards.
39:01Come on, let's go!
39:02The Cowboys won.
39:04And the Cowboys had one winning season after another, after another, after another.
39:08And Tom Landry was the rock.
39:10The Cowboys were very nice.
39:12Congratulations.
39:14Ten times his Cowboys played in the NFC Championship game, five trips to the Super Bowl, and two World Championships.
39:22And the Cowboys, Coach Tom Landry, getting a ride off on the shoulders of his team.
39:26The Dallas Cowboys are the champions of the National Football League.
39:30I still think Roger Staubach should be number one, but when you throw out a name like Tom Landry as
39:35the Dallas Cowboys, it's really hard to argue.
39:38Hundreds of men have been part of America's team, so it wasn't easy narrowing it down to just the top
39:44ten.
39:45Once again, it's a demonstration that this...
39:47Tom Landry has not even coached in 35 years.
39:54Over 35 years.
39:56He has coached in more conference championships than all but seven teams have played in.
40:06The Cowboys organization is just flat out spoiled.
40:10I mean, I hate the Cowboys.
40:11Dallas!
40:12We hate you!
40:13Dallas!
40:14The fact that you have an argument of Dorsett vs. Emmett or Troy vs. Roger, it's such an embarrassment of
40:20riches when you go down the list.
40:21Andy, Don, Kutal Jones, and then Roger.
40:24Tamarcus Ware's a great player.
40:25Andy Roy Jordan.
40:26You gotta have a Randy White in there.
40:28Danny White, Chuck Howley.
40:30I would think Leon Leck.
40:31Preston and Drew Pearson.
40:32It makes your head spin at times compared to other franchises in the league.
40:35It's clear this list is debatable.
40:38But as they say, opinions are like assholes.
40:42Everybody's got one.
40:43One thing's for sure.
40:45America's team always gives us something to talk about.
40:48The only thing else I got to say is...
40:50How about them, gentlemen?
40:53How about them?
40:54How about them?
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