Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players, Part VII: Zeke, Dez and Dandy Don
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.
Over a span of 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. 26-30. 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
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 36-40
➡️ Cowboys Top 60 Greatest Players: Nos. 31-35
30. RB Ezekiel Elliott
Elliott is already a well-decorated player just four years in, with three Pro Bowl nods, two All-Pro selections (one first team) and two NFL rushing titles. Elliott is already No. 4 all-time in Cowboys rushing yards (5,405 yards) and has 40 touchdown runs. He’s added another 189 receptions and 1,619 yards, giving him 7,042 total yards in four seasons. For perspective, Drew Pearson is eighth in that category with 8,180 yards. Where Elliott goes on this list in the future, up or down, is up to him.
29. WR Dez Bryant
Placing Bryant on this list might seem controversial. But look at his Cowboys career and it’s clear he deserves a place somewhere here, though he’s not in the class of the receivers ahead of him. Bryant left the Cowboys No. 5 in receiving yards (7,459), No. 3 in receptions (531) and No. 1 in touchdown catches (73). Bryant earned three Pro Bowl selections and one All-Pro selection as a Cowboy. And Dez caught it.
28. QB Don Meredith
The Cowboys’ first great quarterback, Meredith finished his career with 17,199 passing yards and 135 touchdowns in an era that didn’t value passing the way the NFL does now. The third-rounder out of SMU played nine seasons and led the Cowboys from dreadful expansion franchise to back-to-back NFL Championship games, the latter of which was the famed ‘Ice Bowl’ loss to Green Bay in 1967. Meredith was a three-time Pro Bowl pick and a one-time All-Pro (second team). While certainly not the best quarterback in team history, he set the standard at the position that players like Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman ultimately elevated. He is a member of the Cowboys Ring of Honor.
27. LB Chuck Howley
His claim to fame outside of Dallas is as MVP of Super Bowl V, making him the only player from a losing team to earn the Super Bowl MVP award. But Howley was actually a first-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 1958 and reached Dallas in 1961 after the Bears traded him to the Cowboys. That ended up being a boon for Dallas. Howley, a six-time Pro Bowl and five-time first-team All Pro selection, was also a member of Sports Illustrated’s NFL Team of the Decade for the 1960s. A member of the Cowboys Ring of Honor, Howley is No. 10 in Cowboys history with 24 interceptions.
26. DB Cornell Green
Green made the Cowboys in 1962 as an undrafted free agent and lasted 12 years. Along the way he earned five Pro Bowl nods (at two different positions), three first-team All-Pro selections and membership in the Cowboys 25th Anniversary team. Green has a Super Bowl ring and remains tied for fifth all-time with 32 interceptions as a Cowboy. He doesn’t get enough due for his consistent play in the secondary for a decade-plus in Dallas.
Tomorrow: Nos. 21-25.
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.
