Dallas Cowboys: 15 Best players in team history
By Randy Gurzi
Running Back. (1977-1987). Tony Dorsett. 8. player. 123.
In 1977, the Dallas Cowboys took Tony Dorsett out of Pittsburgh with the No. 2 overall selection. The star running back had quite the year as he won the Heisman Trophy and NCAA Championship as a senior. He then went into the NFL and won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award for the Cowboys — who also ended up winning the Super Bowl that season.
Dorsett was a stud from the minute he stepped on the field for Dallas. As a rookie, he recorded 1,007 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns. He then guided the offense in the postseason, rushing for four more scores en route to a Super Bowl XII championship.
For the star running back, this proved to be his lone NFL championship. Even though the team didn’t win more with him, he continued to put up some astonishing seasons. Dorsett had eight years with at least 1,000 yards rushing (five in a row to start his career) and finished his time in Big D with 12,036 yards and 72 touchdowns. Both were records for the Cowboys for the next couple of decades.
Eventually, Dorsett was passed by Emmitt Smith in each category but he remains No. 2 on the list. Not only that, but he has the only 99-yard run in team history.
Dorsett later rejoined former offensive coordinator Dan Reeves with the Denver Broncos, where he played his final season. He was still pretty effective that year given his age, but it’s his time with the Cowboys that made him a Hall of Famer.