Navy Midshipmen Legend Celebrates Birthday as Super Bowl Visits New Orleans

One former Navy Midshipmen football player celebrated a birthday the same week the NFL’s biggest game returned to the site of his two Super Bowl wins.

Apr 26, 2018; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys former quarterback Roger Staubach arrives on the red carpet before the 2018 NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

In a way, the Super Bowl returning to New Orleans this week is fitting. When the city hosted the game for the second time in 1972, it was where Navy Midshipmen legend Roger Staubach became a Super Bowl champion for the first time.

Back then, the game was played in mid-January and hosted at Tulane Stadium, which was demolished years ago. More than 81,000 poured in for the Big Easy’s second Super Bowl, which saw the Dallas Cowboys face the Miami Dolphins.

Staubach, the quarterback for the Cowboys, led them to a 24-3 win over the Dolphins. For Dallas, which had earned the nickname “Next Year’s Champions” after so many near-misses, the victory was a release.

Staubach was the game’s most valuable player.

This week, the game is at Caesars Superdome and is being played on the second Sunday in February. The NFL season has gotten longer, and the game now aligns with Staubach’s birthday. He turned 83 years old on Wednesday.

Happy Birthday to the one and only Captain America!#GoNavy | #RollGoats pic.twitter.com/tiQl98df5N

— Navy Football (@NavyFB) February 5, 2025

New Orleans holds a special place in Staubach’s heart. Not only did he win Super Bowl VI there, but he won Super Bowl XII in the Superdome six years later, accounting for his two Super Bowl titles.

Navy’s hold on Staubach may be even greater than the Cowboys’ hold on him, even though he made his post-career home in the Dallas area. Before the Army-Navy game in December, he made the trip to Annapolis to inspect every Navy game ball, marking it with a “12” using a Sharpie to note that he had, indeed, thrown it.  

Staubach played just three seasons at Navy, but he left a legend, as he won the 1963 Heisman Trophy, making him the last player from a service academy to win the award. In that Heisman season, the Midshipmen went 9-1, finished No. 2 in the final AP poll and Staubach was on the cover of Time magazine.

Navy was 2-1 against Army during Staubach’s three seasons.

He served five years in the Navy, including one year in Vietnam. The Dallas Cowboys drafted him with a 10th-round "future" selection in 1964, before Staubach deployed, and held onto his rights for his entire military service.

He was 27 when he started his NFL career and played 11 years for the Cowboys, during which he led them to two Super Bowl titles and three other appearances. He threw for 22,700 yards, 153 touchdowns and 109 interceptions. He was selected to the Pro Bowl six times, won the NFL Man of the Year award and made both the 1970s All-Decade team and the NFL’s 100th anniversary team.

He is a member of both the Pro Football and College Football Halls of Fame.

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