The Cowboys legends were honored during the National Championship Game and named among the best 11 players in college football history.
It’s been a year of lists, with the NFL celebrating its centennial season. The sheer number of countdowns and best-of compilations has been dizzying, even for the most rabid fan. But college football has been paying homage to its past, too, as 2019 marked a landmark anniversary-150 years- at that level of the sport.
During the CFP National Championship Game between LSU and Clemson, ESPN unveiled its roster of the 11 greatest college football players of all-time. And the Dallas Cowboys saw two of the franchise’s biggest legends make the cut, with quarterback Roger Staubach and running back Herschel Walker honored during the halftime ceremony.
Staubach was the first player introduced, in the 11th spot, and the highest-ranking quarterback on the list. “Roger the Dodger” was a terror in his days playing for the Naval Academy. As a junior in 1963, he won the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, and Walter Camp Memorial Trophy en route to a 9-1 regular season record for the Midshipmen and a No. 2 ranking in the country. He appeared on the cover of Time magazine that October and was set to grace the cover of Life in late November until the assassination of John F. Kennedy mandated a late change in the magazine’s coverage.
In just 31 collegiate games, Staubach threw for 3,571 yards and ran for another 682, accounting for 35 touchdowns. He was so good in his era that Navy retired his No. 12 jersey during his graduation ceremony as a senior.
After college, Staubach fulfilled a four-year service commitment in the Navy and did a tour in Vietnam before joining the Cowboys in 1969 as a 27-year-old rookie. He went on to lead Dallas to a pair of Super Bowl wins and was named MVP of Super Bowl VI.
Herschel Walker was named the second-best college player in history, behind only Jim Brown. Walker’s career at Georgia was mind-blowing, even by today’s fantasy-football standards. He racked up 1,616 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns… as a true freshman. After that undefeated national championship season, Walker played two more years as a Bulldog and won the Heisman Trophy as a junior in 1982.
In his three years at Georgia, Walker set 41 school, 16 SEC, and 11 NCAA records. He averaged 159.4 rushing yards per game in that stretch. After leaving Athens, Walker played in the USFL for three seasons and won two rushing titles there.
The Cowboys obtained Walker’s rights before that league folded, and Walker joined the club in 1986. The most dominant player in the NFL, new Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson traded Walker to Minnesota in 1989 for a handful of players and draft picks that ultimately helped build the Dallas dynasty of the 1990s.
The Top 11 showcased at the National Championship Game were part of a larger group compiled by ESPN. The network named the best 150 collegiate players in history to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the birth of college football. Squads from Princeton and Rutgers faced one another on November 6, 1869 in what is now recognized as the first football game ever played.
A panel of 150 media members, college administrators, and former and players collaborated to create the exhaustive list, which was finalized before the end of the 2019 college season. Other notable Cowboys appear on the list, including Tony Dorsett, Emmitt Smith, Deion Sanders, Lee Roy Jordan, and Randy White.
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