Five Super Bowls. 10 conference championships. 23 division titles. 17 Hall of Famers. A lifetime of goosebumps. America’s Team.
Despite the existence of an entire generation of DFW 20-somethings that have yet to witness it with their own eyes, the Dallas Cowboys were once a successful, superior organization.
They’re still proud. Still relevant. Just, let’s be honest, no longer very good.
Our Heroes Have Always Been Were Once Cowboys.
Last Super Bowl appearance 24 years ago. No road playoff wins in almost 10,000 days. Only teams with a longer drought from an NFC Championship Game: Redskins and Lions.
God used to watch his favorite team through the hole in the roof. But these days, like the rest of us, he’s merely scouring YouTube for clips of the glory (bygone) days.
As the Cowboys embark on their 60th season, we rebooted and found their 60 best all-time moments. In today’s fifth and final part of the series, we list the countdown’s most memorable dozen, Nos. 12-1 :
- THOU SHALT COACH – Dec. 28, 1959: Tex Schramm formally introduces Tom Landry to the DFW media as the first head coach of the Dallas Rangers. That’s right, the Rangers. Team owners Clint Murchison and Bedford Wynne one day before had signed the New York Giants’ assistant coach to a personal services contract, in which Landry will become head coach when the pair of businessmen is awarded an NFL expansion franchise.
- NINETY-NINE AND A HALF – Jan. 3, 1983: Despite having only 10 men on the field, the Cowboys produce the longest play in NFL history as Tony Dorsett darts through the line and down the right sideline for a 99-yard touchdown run against the Vikings in the Metrodome.
- THE HERSCHEL HEIST – Oct. 12, 1989: In one of the biggest, best trades in Metroplex sports history, the Cowboys deal running back Herschel Walker to the Vikings for a package that helps them win three Super Bowls in four years in the 1990s. In return for Walker, Dallas receives five players, five conditional draft picks and three high draft picks it turns into players like Emmitt Smith, Darren Woodson, Russell Maryland and Alvin Harper.
- SEALED WITH A “KISS” – Dec. 16, 1979: In arguably the most exciting football game ever played at Texas Stadium, Roger Staubach rallies the Cowboys from a 13-point deficit in the final two minutes for a 35-34 victory over the Redskins. Tony Hill catches an eight-yard touchdown pass with 30 seconds remaining as Dallas clinches another NFC East title over its hated rival, punctuated by Harvey Martin tossing a funeral wreath into Washington’s locker room.
- EMMITT IS ENOUGH – Jan. 30, 1994: Trailing the Bills, 13-6, at halftime of Super Bowl XXVIII, the Cowboys turn to Emmitt Smith and he responds with 132 yards rushing and two touchdowns in a 30-13 romp at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. In a season that begins 0-2 with Smith in a contract holdout, the running back capped another championship by being named Most Valuable Player.
- ORANGE, CRUSHED – Jan. 15, 1978: Led by a dominating defense that forces eight turnovers and holds the Broncos to only eight pass completions, the Cowboys smash Orange Crush, 27-10, in Super Bowl XII, the first to be played in prime time. Robert Newhouse throws a halfback pass touchdown to Golden Richards, but its defensive linemen Randy White and Harvey Martin who share Most Valuable Player honors.
- SHOULDERING THE LOAD – Jan. 2, 1994: Emmitt Smith produces one of the grittiest performances in Cowboys’ history, willing his team to a crucial victory over the Giants in New York despite essentially playing with one arm. Despite separating his shoulder in the second quarter on a 46-yard run, Smith touches the ball 10 times on an 11-play drive in overtime that climaxes with Eddie Murray’s game-winning field goal that gives Dallas the NFC East title, home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and a clear path to Super Bowl XXVIII.
- PERFECT PUNCTUATION – Jan. 31, 1993: Led by Most Valuable Player Troy Aikman’s four touchdown passes, the Cowboys win their third Super Bowl – first since 1977 – with a 52-17 romp over the Bills in Super Bowl XXVII at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. They force nine Bills’ turnovers and Aikman throws touchdowns to Michael Irvin, Jay Novacek and Alvin Harper in a game that featured O.J. Simpson performing the coin toss and Michael Jackson at halftime.
- HOW ’BOUT THEM COWBOYS?! – Jan. 17, 1993: Finally – albeit only partially – avenging 1981’s “The Catch”, the Cowboys upset the 49ers, 30-20, at a muddy NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park. Leading by only four late in the game, Troy Aikman hits Alvin Harper with a game-clinching 70-yard pass that sends Dallas into Super Bowl XXVII and prompts coach Jimmy Johnson to famously proclaim “How ’Bout Them Cowboys?!” Dynasty ignited.
- TOMORROW’S CHAMPIONS, TODAY – Jan. 16, 1972: Roger Staubach is named Most Valuable Player, but it’s the Cowboys’ Doomsday Defense that dominates in a 24-3 victory over the Miami Dolphins to win Super Bowl VI, the first in franchise history. Led by Bob Lilly’s iconic 29-yard sack of Bob Griese, the Cowboys are one of only two teams to hold their Super Bowl opponent without a touchdown.
- HAIL MARY! – Dec. 28, 1975: In one of the most dramatic finishes in NFL history, quarterback Roger Staubach throws a 50-yard touchdown pass to Drew Pearson with 24 seconds remaining as the Cowboys shock the Vikings, 17-14, in a playoff game at frigid Metropolitan Stadium. Staubach claims he closed his eyes, said a couple “Hail Mary’s” and threw the pass that found Pearson for a surprising touchdown that launched its own NFL genre.
- SWEET REVENGE – Jan. 28, 1996: Former 12th-round draft choice-turned-Super Bowl MVP Larry Brown intercepts two passes as the Cowboys beat the Steelers, 27-17, to win Super Bowl XXX in Tempe, Ariz. The victory avenges two title-game losses to Pittsburgh in the ’70s and punctuates Dallas’ ’90s dynasty with a third Super Bowl in four years.