While the story of the Dallas Cowboys never started for many fans until the early '70s, there was undoubtedly some star power in the 1960s.  One such performer was Don Perkins, their Fullback from the University of New Mexico.

Bob Gain was drafted 5^th Overall in 1951 by the Green Bay Packers, but that year he elected to play in Canada with the Ottawa Rough Riders instead.  

Mike Stratton was the leader of one of the best linebacking crews in the American Football League, though his accomplishments seem to have been forgotten in the game’s folklore.  A 13^th Round Pick from Tennessee in 1962, Stratton fit in immediately with the Buffalo Bills, settling in at Right Linebacker, and from 1963 to 1968, he was a perennial AFL All-Star with two of those years seeing him chosen for First Team All-Pro.  Stratton was a massive cog in the Bills AFL Championship wins in 1964 and 1965, and in the former, he made "the hit heard round the world" taking San Diego Chargers Running Back Keith Lincoln out of the game and changing the momentum of a game that Buffalo was losing in the first half.  

From the University of Minnesota, Rick Upchurch came to the Denver Broncos in 1975, and like many Wide Receivers, he was used as a returner as a rookie.  This was the role in which he was he would primarily be used in his first four seasons.  In that time span, he was a Pro Bowler and a First Team All-Pro Selection twice and was regarded as the premier Punt Returner in the NFL.