Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players, Part III: DuPree To 'Moose'
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.
If you feel we've done a guy wrong (or right!) let us know on Twitter @PostinsPostcard and we'll barroom-brawl over it!
So, now we present Nos. 46-50. 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
50. TE Billy Joe DuPree
DuPree was a first-round pick in 1973, played 11 years and caught 267 passes for 3,565 yards and 42 touchdowns (41 receiving). DuPree was selected to the Pro Bowl three times and earned one Super Bowl ring. Along with being a solid pass catcher, DuPree was considered to be a great blocker during his era in the NFL.
49. DL Jethro Pugh
Pugh played 183 games and played for both Cowboys Super Bowl champions in the 1970s. Pugh finished his Cowboys career with 95.5 sacks, good enough for sixth all-time (unofficially, since sacks weren’t an official NFL statistic at the time). A two-time second-team All-Pro, Pugh’s career spanned two great Cowboys eras – the first in which he played with Bob Lilly and George Andrie and the other in which he played with Randy White, Ed “Too Tall” Jones and Harvey Martin.
48. OL John Niland
Niland was the first offensive lineman taken in the first round by the Cowboys, as they took him in 1966. He had an immediate impact. He grew into a six-time Pro Bowler, a three-time All-Pro and earned one Super Bowl ring. He is one of only six offensive linemen in Cowboys history with at least six Pro Bowl selections. And, if you read one of our earlier Top 60 pieces, you know that I mentioned that Herb Scott’s improved play led to the trade of a player on this list. That player was Niland, whose eight-year career with Dallas ended with a trade to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1975.
47. FB Walt Garrison
Garrison played his entire career with the Cowboys, won a Super Bowl ring, made one Pro Bowl and was selected to the Cowboys’ 25th Anniversary team. Garrison played in the 1970 NFC Championship game with a cracked collarbone and ankle injury, and made the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1972. Garrison retired as the Cowboys’ third all-time leading rusher (3,886 yards) and fourth-leading receiver (1,794 yards). And he spent his offseasons on the rodeo circuit.
46. FB Daryl Johnston
How do you quantify the value of Johnston, who played a decade in Dallas but rushed for fewer than 1,000 yards? Emmitt Smith might not be the game’s all-time leading rusher without Johnston as his lead blocker. Johnston did have 2,227 receiving yards and 22 total touchdowns, won three Super Bowl rings and earned two Pro Bowl nods. In fact, Johnston was the first fullback to play in the Pro Bowl because his play FORCED the NFL to add the position to the Pro Bowl rosters. (Note: Above we note that Garrison played fullback for the Cowboys, but he wasn’t selected to the 1972 Pro Bowl as a fullback. In the case of Johnston, he was selected as a fullback).
Tomorrow: Nos. 41-45.
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.
