With the second overall pick in the 1977 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys selected Tony Dorsett from Pittsburgh, who had captured the 1976 Heisman Trophy and a national championship. He arrived in Dallas with superstar expectations. Head coach Tom Landry immediately integrated him into the offensive backfield, where his explosive acceleration and open-field vision transformed the Cowboys into an unstoppable championship force during the late 1970s and 1980s.

Dorsett relied on exceptional acceleration, an impressive hesitation move, and superior breakaway speed. Serving as the primary ball-carrier within Landry's flex offense, he demonstrated a distinctive ability to penetrate interior holes prior to executing plays toward the boundary without diminishing his momentum. In addition to his rushing instincts, his reliable hands rendered him a formidable receiving threat out of the backfield on screen passes and swing routes.

What rendered Dorsett particularly formidable was not merely his innate speed on the track, but also his remarkable capacity to adjust gears seamlessly without modifying his stride. Operating within Tom Landry's sophisticated flex system, he exhibited a precise hesitation step at the line of scrimmage, which enticed linebackers to overcommit before he burst through secondary lanes. His low center of gravity and exceptional lateral agility enabled him to nullify angles posed by approaching tacklers, converting standard off-tackle sweeps into dynamic, full-field breakthroughs.

Dorsett's entry into the league in 1977 marked the culmination of an effort to restore Dallas's offensive prowess following their loss in Super Bowl X two years earlier. He received the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year accolade after rushing for 1,007 yards and scored four touchdowns during three playoff games, including a score in Super Bowl XII, thereby facilitating Dallas's victory over Denver. Over the subsequent four years, Dorsett functioned as the primary offensive force for Dallas, propelling the team to four consecutive NFC Championship Game appearances and surpassing 1,300 total yards from scrimmage in each season.

By the early 1980s, Dorsett had refined his game into an all-purpose masterpiece, peaking with his First-Team All-Pro selection in 1981 when he amassed a career-high 1,646 rushing yards. On January 3, 1983, he etched his name into NFL history by busting loose for an iconic 99-yard touchdown run against the Minnesota Vikings—a league record that can only be tied, never broken. Even as the Cowboys navigated evolving defensive schemes, Dorsett remained remarkably consistent, stringing together five consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons from 1981 through 1985 while earning four Pro Bowl selections (1978, 1981–1983).

After 11 seasons in Big D, Dorsett spent his final active season with the Denver Broncos in 1988 before retiring. He departed Dallas as the franchise's all-time leader in rushing yards (12,036), receiving yards by a back (3,432), and touchdowns (85)—benchmarks that stood until Emmitt Smith rewrote the record books a decade later.

In 1994, during his first year of eligibility, Dorsett was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That same year, the franchise permanently honored his career by placing him in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.