Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players, Part V: Greg Ellis to Danny White
Continuing today, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Dallas Cowboys, we present our CowboysSI.com Top 60 All-Time Greatest Players in Franchise History.
For the next 12 days, we will present the Top 60 in groups of five, leading up to Nos. 1-5 on Sept. 12.
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So, now we present Nos. 36-40. Note the criteria for selection at the bottom of the article. And if you missed any of our other pieces, check them out below.
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 56-60
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 51-55
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 46-50
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 41-45
40. RB Calvin Hill
Hill was a first-round pick in 1969 and he played six seasons for the Cowboys, sharing time with players like Dan Reeves, Walt Garrison and Duane Thomas in the backfield. Even in that short span, Hill amassed four Pro Bowl nods and two All-Pro selections, NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and a Super Bowl ring. Hill retired as the Cowboys’ second-leading rusher and remains fifth on its all-time list with 5,009 yards. He also scored 39 touchdowns.
39. DL George Andrie
Andrie is actually fifth in Cowboys history with 97 sacks (sacks weren’t official until 1983). A sixth-round pick in 1962, Andrie played 11 years, won a Super Bowl ring, earned five Pro Bowl selections and four All-Pro nods (one as a first-teamer). Overshadowed by Bob Lilly, Andrie is credited for knocking quarterback Johnny Unitas out of Super Bowl V and picking off a John Brodie pass that paved the way for the Cowboys’ NFC title game win in 1971, as the Cowboys went on to win Super Bowl VI.
38. OL Ralph Neely
A second-round pick out of Oklahoma, Neely became a 12-year veteran who won two Super Bowl rings with the Cowboys. He was voted to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1960s. He was a four-time All-Pro and a two-time Pro Bowler. He is one of a half-dozen players on that 1960s team who is not in the Hall of Fame.
37. QB Danny White
White had the unenviable task of replacing Roger Staubach after a long apprenticeship, which included a Super Bowl ring. White retired with 21,959 passing yards and 155 touchdown passes. In his first three seasons as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback he led the team to the NFC Championship game. White was a Pro Bowl selection one time and a second-team All-Pro selection one time.
36. DE Greg Ellis
In the wake of the decline of the Cowboys’ defensive line in the late 1990s, Ellis doesn’t get enough credit for stabilizing the unit. He finished his Cowboys career with 77 sacks, one Pro Bowl selection, a 2007 Comeback Player of the Year award (after his 2006 Achilles’ tendon tear) and 394 tackles. But he will also be remembered as the player the Cowboys took instead of Randy Moss.
Tomorrow: Nos. 31-35.
Top 60 criteria:
Player honors — Pro Football Hall of Fame, Cowboys Ring of Honor, All-Pro selections, Pro Bowl selections, MVP awards, etc… That has to be a big part of the process.
Team success — Pro football is a team game, and as such every player on the list played a part in a successful era in Cowboys history (though success is, to some degree, in the eyes of the beholder).
Time with Cowboys — This is important. As part of this process I only took into account a player’s time WITH the Cowboys. There have been some great players that have come through Dallas, but some of them only spent a few years with the team. Depending upon how successful they and the team were during their time, that influenced whether they made the list or not. That also includes their impact and role in that success, whether there are statistics associated with that or not.
Feedback from experts — Throughout the process I consulted with two writers that have been around the Cowboys since the 1990s — Mike Fisher and Richie Whitt. Their feedback, along with the bios that I wrote on each player, played a role in where players were ranked.
