#36

 

ROGER STAUBACH

It took Roger Staubach nearly six years before he got an opportunity to play in the NFL following his Heisman Trophy-winning season at Navy in 1963. In the early and mid-1960s, the military academies would not even entertain the idea of giving an athlete a break from his military service commitment after graduation.

Staubach, of course, knew this and he never had a problem with it. He served his time, did his job, had a one-year tour of duty in Vietnam, and then joined the Dallas Cowboys in 1969. He was a godsend as far as Tom Landry was concerned. Landry had coached the Cowboys from their inception in 1960 and had gotten decent quarterback play from Don Meredith and Craig Morton. But Meredith, a notorious night owl, was somewhat erratic and his training methods were unusual to say the least. Morton played with effort but everything was a struggle for him.

Imagine Landry’s delight when Staubach came aboard. Landry was a trained engineer aside from his football career. Precision and discipline were his watchwords in running his team. It didn’t take him more than a few practice sessions to realize that Staubach was cut from the same cloth and was as demanding of himself as any player he had ever coached.

In addition, Staubach’s brilliant talent continued to shine through every time he took a snap. He had a strong and accurate arm, a quick release, saw the pass rush well and could get out of trouble and avoid mistakes. He split time with Morton his first two seasons, and the team projected a different aura depending on which quarterback was under center. With the slow-footed Morton, the Cowboys might get the occasional big play but the feeling was that it was just a matter of time before he would make a crucial mistake.

With the agile Staubach, the exact opposite feeling prevailed. Even though he made an occasional error, the mood was that he could overcome errors and mistakes and still get his team downfield to make a big play and lead the Cowboys to the win. This came to the fore in 1971. Staubach became the team’s full-time quarterback and the Cowboys crossed over the line and won their first Super Bowl.

Staubach was brilliant that season, completing 126 of 211 passes for 1,882 yards with 15 touchdowns, four interceptions, and a 104.8 passer rating. He averaged 8.9 yards per pass and that remarkable figure got the Cowboys over the top. He won the Super Bowl MVP in the Cowboys’ 24–3 win over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI. Three more passer-rating titles came his way, in addition to earning another championship ring with a win over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII.

Staubach believes that his association with Landry was a great development for his career. “Coach Landry was so organized and always spent a lot of time on preparation,” Staubach said. “And he had goals that were outstanding—reasonable goals, believable and achievable—and he measured them as a coach. And, I think that’s why he had a 20-year winning streak. It was through preparation. I’ve really believed in business that you have to work hard and you have to be prepared and you have to develop a consistency, which he taught me as a coach. Plus, you have to do things right. He was a person—you read about him but he’s even better than that. He taught me a lot about walking your talk and living your life and doing the right thing. And he knew the game of football and he had us well-prepared.”

While the historical picture between Staubach and Landry is a beautiful one, the actual co-existence between the two was not all sweetness and light. Staubach was a scrambler like Minnesota’s Fran Tarkenton and that irked Landry from time to time. On the other hand, Landry’s play calling almost invariably had the Cowboys start their games with a predictable ground game and they wouldn’t start throwing the ball until later on. Staubach tried to influence Landry to open up sooner, but it was a difficult argument to win.

“He had to put up with my scrambling, but I had to put up with his play calling,” said Staubach. Eventually there was a meeting of the minds, but like most compromises, neither Landry nor Staubach were left completely happy. But that did not stop the two from forging a great partnership. Staubach’s ability to run with the ball may have gotten under Landry’s skin on occasion, but that ability changed the way the game was scouted and executed. While Tarkenton may have been the forerunner of running quarterbacks, Staubach refined that way of playing. He scrambled to step out of trouble, buy time and make plays on the run. He ran the ball as a last resort. Shortly thereafter, the concept of having a mobile quarterback was universally accepted. Teams no longer wanted a “pocket passer” at quarterback. Most wanted a quarterback who could make plays on the run. There have been notable exceptions like Dan Marino and Peyton Manning, but almost all the great quarterbacks since the Staubach era have had some degree of mobility.

“I couldn’t have asked for more from a quarterback than I got from Roger,” Landry said prior to Denver’s Super Bowl XXXII win over the Green Bay Packers. “He was all about leadership and clutch performances. When he was on the field everyone knew that we had a chance to win.”

Staubach’s leadership qualities may have been as important as his arm strength, quick release, and ability to read defenses. “Roger always believed that when he took the field the Cowboys had a chance to win,” said former Cowboys tight end Billy Joe Dupree. “It didn’t matter if we were down by two touchdowns or more. He was confident and he always believed we could do it. Some guys just talk it; Roger actually believed it and we believed in him.”