‘We’re going to the Super Bowl, rookie:’ Cliff Harris shares Bob Lilly story during Hall of Fame speech

In 1970, the rookie safety got off-color words of encouragement from Mr. Cowboy, who was there Saturday for Harris’ Hall of Fame speech.

Every NFL player has an archive of personal stories about their time in the league, no matter how long or short their career is. If that player is fortunate enough to enjoy a long tenure and see some measure of success, the remembrances only become richer and more plentiful. And if that player beats the long odds to one day be enshrined in Canton, every moment from their playing days becomes indelibly stamped with a new sense of historical importance.

Cliff Harris was welcomed into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday night. And to mark the occasion of the ultimate ending to a football life, the 71-year-old thought back to one of his very first moments as a Dallas Cowboy.

Imagine standing in an NFL huddle during your first home game. Your stomach is doing somersaults, your mind reeling. You search desperately for any reassuring influence, some small thing to cling to as your senses go into overdrive and your grasp on reality starts to slip. Now imagine the actual face of your franchise staring at you and informing you- in off-color language and no uncertain terms- that his success and that of the rest of the team rides, in part, on every move you’re about to make.

Welcome to the NFL, rookie.

Harris, like seemingly so many Hall of Famers, took an almost unbelievable path to the league. A second-string junior varsity quarterback in his Arkansas hometown, Harris wasn’t expected to play past 9th grade. Then he didn’t even start until moving to a new high school for his senior year. Then he received just one scholarship offer, from the practically unknown Ouachita Baptist University, where his father had played.

Undrafted out of college, he was one was of 120 free agents invited to work out for the Cowboys in Thousand Oaks, California in 1970. He was one of very few who was still around for the return trip to Dallas. After the preseason, Coach Tom Landry announced that Harris would start Week 1 at free safety, the only first-year starter on the roster.

In the old Cotton Bowl Stadium, Harris joined the huddle with the rest of the already fabled “Doomsday Defense” in a game versus the Giants. Across from the 21-year-old rookie was Bob Lilly, the very first draft choice in franchise history. Lilly was at that point a seven-time Pro Bowler who was such a foundational piece of the organization that his nickname was “Mr. Cowboy.” And he was staring right at Harris.

“Before Lee Roy Jordan called the defensive play,” Harris recalled Saturday, “Bob looked over at me and said, ‘We’re going to the Super Bowl, rookie. And I don’t want you to do anything to… mess it up.'”

The pause implied pretty clearly that Lilly had not used the word “mess” that late September day.

“I just nodded and said, ‘Yes, sir, Mr. Lilly.’

“And sure enough, we did go to the Super Bowl. But we didn’t win. Bob never made that part of the deal.”

The Cowboys finished Harris’s rookie season with a 10-4 mark and the NFC East crown. They beat the Lions and the 49ers in the playoffs, allowing just 10 points total in those two postseason games. They went on to lose Super Bowl V to the Baltimore Colts by a 16-13 score in an mishap-filled contest that went on to be remembered informally as “The Blunder Bowl.”

The Cowboys rebounded, of course, as did Harris. “Captain Crash” went to a total of five Super Bowls and won rings in two of them. He was chosen for six straight Pro Bowls and was an All-Pro four times. He was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1970s and is a member of the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor.

Now he’s enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And who was staring across the stage at Harris while he made his speech to mark the occasion?

Mr. Cowboy himself.

This time, though, Bob Lilly just smiled, knowing Cliff Harris hadn’t… messed it up.

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Cowboys’ original Big Cat: Rayfield Wright’s winding road to Canton and beyond

The only offensive lineman in the Cowboys Ring of Honor took quite a journey to get there, a journey he now has trouble remembering.

Fans don’t know the offensive linemen, the saying goes, unless they screw up.

Sometimes the best offensive linemen in the sport’s history don’t really register with the average fan. Even in the world of professional football, in the very buildings where they ply their punishing trade, they can be easily overlooked while the teammates they protect and block for get all the glory.

The Dallas Cowboys have boasted some legendary offensive linemen in their six-decade history. Superstars like Staubach, Aikman, Romo, Prescott, Dorsett, Smith, and Elliott might not be what they are without their big beefeaters up front. Despite a roster packed with playmakers, for example, the Cowboys of the ’90s don’t win three Super Bowls in four years without the front five who made up “The Great Wall of Dallas.”

Twenty-two names are forever immortalized in AT&T Stadium’s Ring of Honor. But even here, where the history of O-line play is as rich and storied as anyplace in the league, only one offensive lineman resides next to those other legends. And while he played in an era when few of today’s fans got the chance to see him, there is only one Rayfield Wright.

News & Notes: Ezekiel Elliott, Mike McCarthy eyed for honors; a Tavon Austin return?

Dallas Cowboys news for June 25, 2020: a look at the Jimmy-vs-Jerry feud 25 years later, Hall of Fame fallout, and La’el Collins trade talk.

Just six weeks before it was set to be played, the NFL postponed the Hall of Fame Game between the Steelers and the Cowboys, as well as the Hall of Fame ceremony. This isn’t a great sign for the season starting on time, despite Roger Goodell announcing that training camps are still set for July 28.

Behind the best running back in the NFC East (according to Maurice Jones-Drew) and one of the best candidates for Coach of the Year, Mike McCarthy, the Cowboys were named favorites to win their division by Pro Football Focus. Tavon Austin reuniting with his former coach John Fassel could help spark the Cowboys special teams. And there’s still the looming threat of a Jamal Adams-to-Dallas trade. Latest reports say that the Jets want La’el Collins and extras; how should Dallas respond? All that and more make up the Dallas Cowboys News and Notes for June 25, 2020.

ESPN: Cowboys-Steelers Hall of Fame Game canceled :: Cowboys Wire

The 2020 NFL Hall of Fame Game and Enshrinement Week festivities have been postponed until 2021 amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.


Examining the Cowboys feud that still smolders: Jerry Jones vs. Jimmy Johnson :: The Athletic

The Jerry Jones vs. Jimmy Johnson feud has been going on for a quarter of a century at this point. Boys will be boys, but it seems high time that these two near-octogenarians bury the hatchet before it’s too late. Here’s an excellent recap of what’s kept the blood boiling for all these years.


PFF picks favorite to win NFC East in ’20 :: NFL Network

George Chahrouri details why PFF believes the Cowboys, and not the Eagles, will win the NFC East this year.



MJD’s Top 5 NFC East RBs of 2020 :: NFL Network

Maurice Jones-Drew ranks his top five NFC East running backs. Ezekiel Elliott beat out Saquan Barkley for the top spot. While Tony Pollard was nowhere to be found, he could easily be a top five back in the East in the upcoming season.


Is Mike McCarthy the Top NFL Coach of the Year Candidate? :: Sports Illustrated

Coach of the Year is an interesting accolade that doesn’t always go to the best coach or the best team. Check out why Sports Illustrated‘s Albert Breer believes 2020 could be the perfect storm for Mike McCarthy to win the honor.


Seven 1970s rivalries that made the NFL ‘super’: Roger Staubach’s Cowboys part of several epic matchups :: CBS Sports

The 1970s were the days that helped the Cowboys earn their nickname of “America’s Team,” and this list shows why. In a ranking of the top rivalries of the decade, the Cowboys are featured in four of the top seven matchups.



Brooks: Cowboys have ‘two-to-three-year window’ to win Super Bowl :: NFL Network

NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks shares why the Dallas Cowboys need to win a Super Bowl within the next few years.


Bringing back Tavon Austin could be a wise investment for the Cowboys :: Blogging The Boys

Tavon Austin didn’t necessarily live up to expectations in Dallas, but Matt Holleran of Blogging The Boys suggests the Cowboys bring back the veteran as a low-risk high-reward fourth receiving option.


Jets reportedly targeting La’el Collins; should Cowboys say no? :: Cowboys Wire

The Jets’ price tag on Jamal Adams could continue to shift as the season draws closer. Latest reports state that the Jets have their eyes on Cowboys right tackle La’el Collins. Would it be smart for the Cowboys to give up such a solid lineman on a team friendly deal?


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