The Dallas Cowboys are known for their five Super Bowl rings, but not all their star players were able to get one
Throughout their long history, the Dallas Cowboys have won five Super Bowl trophies and were nicknamed America’s Team for the way they captured the attention of everyone during their heyday. Some of the biggest stars in NFL history have worn the star on their helmet, and the majority of them won a ring with the Cowboys.
However, there have been plenty of big-name players who came through Dallas and gave it their all, only to finish their respective careers without winning a ring. And while they haven’t been in the Super Bowl since the mid-1990s, the list of players who didn’t get a ring isn’t only restricted to current players.
Instead, we see players from every era without a title that were well known as members of the Cowboys. With all that being said, we jump into the top-5 Dallas players to never win it all — although we do have to start with some honorable mentions that just missed the cut.
Notable omission: Dez Bryant, Wide Receiver
Say what you want about Dez Bryant, he could simply ball. The Cowboys’ first-round pick in 2010 was polarizing for sure, but during his prime, he was absolutely unstoppable. In all three seasons from 2012 through 2014, he had at least 88 receptions with more than 1,200 yards and double-digit touchdowns.
His connection with Tony Romo was as good as any receiver had with any quarterback and he finished his career in Big D with 531 receptions for 7,459 yards and 73 touchdowns. Bryant has missed the past two NFL seasons but still hopes to play in 2020 meaning there’s a chance he could still get a ring, but the door might be closed for him, which is a shame.
Notable omission: Don Perkins, Fullback
A member of the Cowboys Ring of Honor, Don Perkins was the 1961 Rookie of the Year and made six Pro Bowls as well as 3 All-Pro teams. He was with Dallas until 1968 and while he had the talent to carry an offense, he never was able to get a Super Bowl Ring.
Perkins is currently third all-time in Cowboys rushing yardage with 6,217. He’ll eventually get passed by Ezekiel Elliott, which should happen this season as Zeke has 5,405 already, but that still makes him one of the most productive backs in Dallas history.
5. Don Meredith, Quarterback
A Texas-native, Don Meredith was a star at SMU and eventually made the College Football Hall of Fame for the job he did with the Mustangs. He was then drafted in the third round by the Chicago Bears, who took Meredith with the intention of sending him to the expansion Dallas Cowboys.
In exchange for Meredith, Chicago received a 1962 third-round pick and Dallas received a solid player who ended up becoming the full-time starter in 1963 once he was able to beat out Eddie LeBaron. By 1966, he was able to lead Dallas to the postseason, something he did from then on, until he retired following the 1968 season.
His retirement was unexpected and it came after his most successful season as the Cowboys starter. In 1968, the 30-year old Meredith was 11-2 as a starter and overall, he was 47-32-4 for Dallas. Unfortunately, he never got it done in the playoffs, finishing with a record of just 1-3 in the postseason.
Meredith was a part of two very disheartening losses for the Cowboys, each of which came at the hands of the Green Bay Packers. One was in 1966 when he threw a pick during a loss on a key fourth down. From there, he was part of their defeat in the “Ice Bowl” game in 1967.
One of the first big stars for a team full of larger than life personalities, Meredith sadly concluded his career without ever winning an NFL title.
4. Terrell Owens, Wide Receiver
He might not be known as just a Dallas Cowboys receiver but Terrell Owens did spend three of hos more productive seasons in the NFL with the Cowboys. Originally taken in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers, T.O. spent the first 10 seasons of his career as a hated rival.
More from NFL Spin Zone
- Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
- Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
- Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
- Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens
Dallas and San Francisco spent the first half of the 1990s battling one another for NFC supremacy and they were still rivals when Owens landed with them. He spent eight seasons with San Francisco and even drew a lot of criticism by Dallas fans when he celebrated on the star at midfield which led to a fight between him and safety George Teague of the Cowboys.
Once he left the Niners, Owens landed with the Philadelphia Eagles where he spent two seasons and even made it to in Super Bowl XXXIX, which was when his legend really grew. Owens had suffered a broken leg while being horse-collared by Roy Williams of Dallas, but appeared just weeks later in the title game and put on a show.
Not long after that, he was done in Philly and joined the Cowboys. In three seasons there, Owens had 235 receptions for 3,587 yards with 38 touchdowns. He re-signed for another three years but then was famously cut before that contract began and played two more years in the NFL with Buffalo and Cincinnati before retiring.
Owens was a lightning rod for controversy and seemed to destroy every locker room he went to. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t a phenomenal player and it seems as though he should have at least one ring to his name.
3. Flozell Adams, Offensive Tackle
A second-round pick out of Michigan State back in 1998, Flozell Adams came in at the end of the Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith era. Adams was expected to help those two make the most out of their final seasons in the NFL but the Cowboys never recaptured their magic from the earlier part of the 90s.
That meant for Adams, he didn’t get to block for a Hall of Famer for long before having to go through the long stretch of quarterbacks between Aikman and Tony Romo. Adams ended up blocking for Quincy Carter, Ryan Leaf, Vinny Testaverde, Drew Henson, and many other quarterbacks before finding Tony Romo.
He was integral to the early success Romo had but by the time No, 9 took over, he was nearing the end of his tenure with Dallas. His final season with them was in 2009 and he played one last season in the NFL, with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010.
In all, Adams played 12 seasons in Dallas and started all 16 games from 1999 through 2009 with the exception of 2005 when he missed 10 games with a torn ACL. Adams made five Pro Bowls and was a star for Dallas, but sadly never got the postseason glory he deserved.
2. Jason Witten, Tight End
When Bill Parcells took over for the Dallas Cowboys in 2003, the team saw a huge shift in their drafting. Parcells, one of the best team-builders in the business, started to hit on the majority of his picks, something that hadn’t been happening much lately.
More from Dallas Cowboys
- Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
- Zack is back, good news for Dak and the Cowboys
- Dallas Cowboys: Are Dak’s interceptions cause for concern?
- Cowboys: Micah Parsons will be even more impactful in 2023
- 2023 NFL Season: It’s now or never for the Dallas Cowboys
One great example was when he took a tight end from Tennessee by the name of Jason Witten in the third round during his first draft with Dallas. Parcells reportedly considered Witten in the second round, but ended up passing on him for center Al Johnson, only to be shocked to still see Witten there at No. 69.
Known for his incredible toughness, Witten missed one game as a rookie due to a broken jaw but then never again missed a game in his career. He played in all 16 contests from 2004 through 2017 before deciding to retire. He then returned in 2019 and played one more season in Dallas but is now with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Seeing Witten in a new uniform is going to feel strange. He’s synonymous with the Cowboys and is their all-time leader in receptions and yards with 1,215 catches for 12,977 yards. Had he returned for one more year, he would have likely been No. 1 in touchdowns as well, but as fate would have it, he finishes with 72, which leaves him one shy of the team record held by Dez Bryant.
In all, Witten played 255 games as a Cowboy and there aren’t many players who deserved a title more than he did. He still has a shot at getting one, but it probably won’t come in 2020 with the Raiders.
1. Tony Romo, Quarterback
The Dallas Cowboys have had some great quarterbacks in their day with Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach topping the list. Aikman finished his Dallas career with three Super Bowl wins whereas Staubach was able to win two of them. Staubach was also the one under center when the team earned the nickname, America’s Team.
As much success as they had, both were eclipsed in just about every passing category by Tony Romo, the undrafted kid from Eastern Illinois that turned into a star in Big D. Romo is No. 1 all-time in team history with 34,183 yards and first in touchdown passes with 248.
And for those who wanted to say he was a turnover machine, he also has fewer interceptions (117) than Aikman (141) and only eight more than Staubach (109). Yes, he played in a different era than both but those numbers he put up are nothing to scoff at. Plus, he did so despite being someone that came in with no pedigree.
The one problem for Romo was that he never had an all-star team around him. The Dallas defense was always suspect for him and the majority of his career was spent behind a patchwork offensive line. Those issues had a lot to do with Romo’s inability to win in the postseason as he finished just 2-4 in the playoffs, never getting past the divisional round.
His best chance at winning a title came in 2014 when he and his teammates were robbed by one of the worst calls ever, simply known as the “Dez caught it” game following the 2014 season. That playoff loss in Green Bay ended up being pretty much the end of Romo’s career as he wasn’t healthy in 2015 or 2016 and ended up losing his job to Dak Prescott.
Now working as an announcer for CBS, we all get a first-hand glimpse of Romo’s knowledge and can truly appreciate how brilliant he was. Sadly, that brilliance never led to a ring, because no one deserved it as much as he did.