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Top 50 Dallas Cowboys

Often, we talk about how difficult these lists are to put together, but nowhere was this more apparent than the Dallas Cowboys. 

Formed in 1960, the Cowboys got off to a slow start, but with strong coaching and elite scouting, Dallas would become one of the best teams in Pro Football, while along the way becoming one of the most internationally franchises regardless of the sport.

They would win Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl XII, but while they were a good team through most of the 1980s, they were unable to win the championship and would hit rock bottom.  The '90s were a different story, as they collected three Super Bowls (XXVII, XXVIII & XXX), but while they have been to the playoffs many times since Super Bowl XXX, the Cowboys have not been there since.

The Cowboys is one of those teams where we had to leave so many great players off that we wish we could have extended it to 100.  Eventually, we will do that, but if it looks like we missed one, the chances are that they just missed the cut.


Note: Football lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.

This list is based up until the 2021 Season.

You always hear about the brilliance of Dallas Cowboy scouting (see Brandt, Gil), and likely that is how Calvin Hill was drafted in the first round out of Yale in 1969.  The Ivy League wasn’t, and isn’t known for producing high-end offensive talent, but that is what the Cowboys got in Hill.
In 2001, Roy Williams was considered the best Defensive Back in the college ranks.  Playing for Oklahoma, Williams helped them the Sooners win the National Championship the year before, and in '01, he was an All-American, who won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Jim Thorpe Award and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.  The Cowboys coveted him and would trade…
Used as a Punt Returner as a rookie, Tony Hill played a small role in Dallas’ Super Bowl XII win, but he would later become the Cowboys’ go-to Wide Receiver.
Dak Prescott impressed pro scouts at Mississippi State, and he was viewed as a project for the Cowboys when they took him in the Fourth Round in 2016.  A pre-season injury to incumbent Quarterback, Tony Romo, vaulted Prescott to a rookie starter, and he responded with one of the best initial campaigns of any Dallas signal caller. Prescott was outstanding in…
Playing his entire 14-year career with the Dallas Cowboys, Jethro Pugh was a late round pick from small Elizabeth City State College, and he would do that small North Carolina institution proud on football’s brightest stage.
A late First Round pick from Wisconsin, Travis Frederick was an immediate starter for the Dallas Cowboys when he arrived in 2013.
Playing his entire pro career with the Dallas Cowboys, Daryl Johnston found a role as one of the premier Fullbacks of his day.
Charles Haley had already won two Super Bowls as a San Francisco 49er and was coming off his third Pro Bowl year in four seasons.  He was still very much in his prime, but his volatile nature became too much for Head Coach, George Siefert to handle, he was dealt to Dallas, who was happy to have him.
Bob Breunig was a superstar at Arizona State, where he won the WAC Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1973 and was a three-time All-WAC player.  The Dallas Cowboys certainly noticed and were thrilled he was still available in the third round in 1975, and this would be the pro team that he played the entirety of his career.
An All-American from Oklahoma State, Dez Bryant had a nice rookie season in 2010, where as an All-Rookie, he had 561 Receiving Yards with another 508 Yards via returns.  Bryant would move towards just receiving, which was the better move for him, as would be shown by his increased production in the air.
Pat Donovan was part of the "Dirty Dozen" rookie class of 1975, which made a huge impact to bring the Cowboys to an appearance at Super Bowl X.
Andre Gurode was an All-American Offensive Lineman with Colorado, and the Dallas Cowboys grabbed him with their Second Round Pick.  Gurode impressed in camp and won the starting job at Right Guard, which he held for the first three seasons, before coming off of the bench in 2005, his fourth year in the pros.  A move to Center (his college position) the…