10 players who belong in Dallas Cowboys Hall of Shame
By Randy Gurzi
6. David LeFleur, Tight End
In search of their next Jay Novacek, the Dallas Cowboys went into the 1997NFL Draft doing the same thing they did in the 1994 NFL Draft with Shante Carver — focusing solely on one position. They had their sights set on Tony Gonzalez but he was off the board early as the Kansas City Chiefs took him at No. 13 overall.
That meant Dallas went with their second choice at No. 22, which was LSU’s David LeFleur. Also, like the Shante Carver move, they traded up a few spots to do so, giving the Philadelphia Eagles the 70th overall pick and the 155th pick that season to go from 25 to 22.
Known as a solid blocking tight end with talent as a receiver, LaFleur spent his rookie season mainly blocking in the run game. The same was true in year two although he did see an uptick in receptions and yards per catch.
By year three, he started to round into shape and had 35 receptions for 322 yards and seven touchdowns. Even then, he still had just 9.2 yards per grab but was at least standing out as a red-zone threat.
However, things went downhill from there. Injuries slowed him down and he had just 12 picks in 2000. That proved to be his final season with the team since he was unable to pass a physical in 2001 and was waived by the team.