Yardbarker: Randy White

The Greatest Draft: Dirty Dozen in 1975

Sat, 30 May 2009 17:42:56 -0500

This post is part of the 50 Seasons in 50 Weeks Series.
When we covered the 1964 draft in February, a majority of those who responded indicated that they thought the 1975 was the greatest in team history. The poll also appears below.
This draft was great for a few reasons. The Cowboys filled several holes, especially one right in the middle of their defensive line. Having lost Bob Lilly to retirement, Dallas picked up yet another franchise defensive tackle by taking Randy White of Maryland with the first overall pick. The trade between the Cowboys and Giants for quarterback Craig Morton weighed heavily in the Cowboys' favor, given that Morton only lasted three seasons with the Giants.
With the other first round pick, Dallas picked up Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson, who gave the team a replacement for Chuck Howley. The team found a long-term replacement for Lee Roy Jordan by picking up Bob Breunig. Dallas also filled holes on the offensive line, picking up Pat Donovan, Herbert Scott, and Burton Lawless. Round Name Pos. College Career 1 Randy White DT Maryland Dallas, 1975-1988 1 Thomas Henderson LB Langston Dallas, 1975-1979; San Francisco, 1980; Houston, 1980 2 Burton Lawless G Florida Dallas, 1975-1979; Detroit, 1979 3 Bob Breunig LB Arizona St. Dallas, 1975-1984 4 Pat Donovan T Stanford Dallas 1975-1983 4 Randy Hughes DB Oklahoma Dallas, 1975-1980 5 Kyle Davis C Oklahoma Dallas, 1975; San Francisco, 1978 6 Rolly Woolsey DB Boise State Dallas, 1975; Seattle, 1976; Cleveland, 1977; St. Louis, 1978 7 Mike Hegman LB Tennessee State Dallas 1975-1987 8 Mitch Hoopes P Arizona Dallas 1975; Houston, 1976; San Diego, 1976; Detroit, 1977 9 Ed Jones DB Rutgers Buffalo, 1975 10 Dennis Booker RB Millersville n/a 11 Greg Krpalek C Oregon State n/a 12 Chuck Bland DB Cincinnati n/a 13 Herbert Scott G Virginia Union Dallas, 1975-1984 14 Scott Laidlaw RB Stanford Dallas, 1975-1979; N.Y. Giants, 1980 15 Willie Hamilton RB Arizona n/a 16 Pete Clark TE Colorado State n/a 17 Jim Testerman TE Dayton n/a Here is the poll that was first run in February.
Coming up. . .
Strong opening helps Cowboys to a 5-2 start in 1975.

WFL Migrations Cause Concern During the 1974 Offseason

Wed, 20 May 2009 02:48:57 -0500

This post is part of the 50 Seasons in 50 Weeks Series.

The Cowboys had a pretty good draft in 1974, which we will address tomorrow, but the offseason in 1974 focused more heavily on what the team was likely to lose.

Two key players announced during the offseason that they had signed futures contracts with the new World Football League. Others signed contracts, but ended up returning to the NFL after all. Here is a look at the players who considered jumping ship to the WFL.

1. Calvin Hill

Hill was the team's first 1,000-yard rusher, and he was probably the most important player in the Dallas offense. Hill signed with the Hawaiians, with whom Hill played in 1975.

2. Craig Morton

Morton was too good to remain a backup, and he signed a contract with the Houston Texans of the WFL. He returned to the Cowboys for the 1974 season, but after one game, he was traded to the New York Giants. The upside: the Cowboys received a number one pick from the Morton trade, and Dallas took Randy White in 1975 with that pick.

3. Mike Montgomery

Montgomery played for Dallas in 1972 and 1973, but he was a minor player. He signed with Birmingham Americans.

4. Otto Stowe

Stowe played for Dallas in 1973 in a trade between Miami and Dallas. He signed with the WFL Birmingham club. During the 1974 preseason, Tom Landry suspended Stowe for lack of effort, and the team later released the receiver. Stowe played for the Broncos in 1974, but he never played again.

5. Pat Toomay

Toomay was no longer a full-time starter by 1974, and he signed a futures contract with the WFL, though he never played in the new league. Dallas traded Toomay in 1975 to Buffalo.

6. Rayfield Wright, Jethro Pugh

Both Wright and Pugh signed with the Birmingham Americans in 1974, but both were under contract with the Cowboys for several seasons. Pugh would not be able to leave until after the 1976 season, and Wright had to stay until 1977. Since the WFL folded in 1975, neither left.

7. D.D. Lewis

Lewis signed with the Memphis Southmen, which was the same club that signed Larry Czonka, Jim Kiick, and Paul Warfield of the Dolphins. Lewis never left the Cowboys.

Ga Tech vs UNC: Injury Report

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:26:23 -0500

Last week it was Heather Dinich's blog where I found the injury report for North Carolina headin into this weekend's match up against Georgia Tech. This week I found the report on the News & Observer web site. The list was released yesterday, and there is a pretty big surprise, even if I do not ...

Ceremonial Open Practice At Texas Stadium A Big Success

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:55:40 -0500

Wednesday's practice

LIST: UPDATED, by all you BARKERS --- Here's your NEW & IMPROVED: "BEST Players to ever wear the number"

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:35:37 -0500

I want to thank all the BARKERS in the YARD that took the time to comment on this list and add some players we overlooked in the first go around. That said, BARKERS, we bring you the NEW & IMPROVED UPDATED LIST with players brought to us from all you BARKERS. Now we need to see if we can narrow this list down to our......"BEST EVER to WEAR the NUMBER" What are your thoughts? You can vote on here and I will continue to update on here for all you guys. HERE IS YOUR NEW LIST of the "BEST EVER to WEAR the NUMBER from 0 - 99" 0. Wilber "Pete" Henry 00. Jim Otto 1. Jim Thorpe (wore #'s 3 & 21) over Warren Moon could go here. 2. Charley Trippi 3. Bronko Nagurski over (if you put MOON #1, J.THORPE HERE) 4. Brett Farve 5. Paul Hornung over Donovan McNabb 6. Benny Friedman 7. George "PAPA BEAR" Halas (He started it all for us) over John Elway, if you don't agree w/"PAPA BEAR" 8. Troy Aikman over Steve Young, I went w/ the SB wins 9. Carson Palmer over Sonny Jergenson 10. Fran "THE MAN" Tarkenton 11. Norm Van Brocklin 12. Tom Brady over Terry Bradshaw & Jim Kelly 13. Dan Marino over Don Maynard (my 2nd choice @ this #) 14. Y.A. Tittle 15. Bart Starr 16. Joe Montana over George Blanda (Played 2 positions, {QB & K} & had the record for several years for most points scored in NFL history) 17. Don Meredith 18. Payton Manning over Charlie Joiner 19. Johnny Unitas 20. Barry Sanders over Brian Dawkins and Ed Reed 21. Deion " PRIMETIME" Sanders over LT2 (SD RB) 22. Emmitt Smith over Paul Krause & Roger Wehrli 23. Devin Hester over James Lofton 24. Lenny Moore over Champ Bailey 25. Fred Bilentnikoff 26. Herb Adderley over Rod Woodson 27. Ken Houston 28. Darrell Green over Marshall Faulk 29. Eric Dickerson 30. Bill Willis over Terrell "TD" Davis 31. Jim Taylor 32. Jim Brown 33. Sammy Baugh over Tony Dorsett (Sorry Dallas Fans) 34. Walter "SWEETNESS" Payton over Earl Campbell 35. Pete Pihos 36. Brian Westbrook over Jerome Bettis 37. Doak Walker 38. Mack Strong 39. Larry Csonka 40. Gale Sayers 41. Terrence Newman over Lorenzo Neal 42. ***THIS WAS {1} OF THE TOUGHEST #'s TO PICK FOR ME*** Paul Warfield, Ronnie Lott, Charlie Taylor & Sid Luckman...I'll go CHARLIE TAYLOR 43. Troy Polamalu 44. John Riggins 45. Emlen Tunnell (HOF'er) over T.J. Duckett (this is a hard # to come up with the BEST EVER to Wear #45) 46. Ladell Betts 47. Mel Blount 48. Daryl "Moose" Johnston over Justin Snow 49. Tony Richardson 50. Mike "WIDE EYED" Singletary 51. Dick Butcus 52. Mike Webster over Ray Lewis 53. Keith Bulluck over Harry Carson 54. Randy White over Brian Urlacher 55. Lance Briggs 56. LT (NYG LB) over Shawne Merriman 57. Dwight Stephenson 58. Jack Lambert over Derrick Thomas 59. Jack Ham 60. Chuck Bednarik 61. Bill George 62. Jim Langer 63. Gene Upshaw over Willie Lanier 64. Dave Wilcox 65. Tom Mack over Elvin Bethea 66. Ray Nitschke over Larry Little & Alan Faneca (Tough pick here) 67. Bob Kuechenberg over Tony Ugoh ( I can't think of any others that wore #67, little help here?) 68. Joe Delamielleure 69. John Runyan 70. Rayfield Wright over Art Donovan & Sam Huff 71. Walter Jones over Fred Dean 72. Dan Dierdorf 73. Ron Yary over John Hannah and Joe Klecko (Hard Pick here) 74. Merlin Olsen over Ron Mix 75. Deacon Jones over "Mean"Joe Green & Jonathon Ogden 76. Steve Hutchinson 77. Red Grange 78. Anthony Munoz over Jackie Slater, Art Shell, Bruce Smith & Bobby Bell 79. Bob St. Clair 80. Jerry Rice over Cris Carter 81. Dick "NIGHT TRAIN " Lane over Doug Atkins , Terrell Owens (TO) & Andre Reed 82. Ozzie Newsome 83. Ted Hendricks 84. Randy Moss (before he switched #'s) over Shannon Sharpe 85. Jack Youngblood 86. Dante Lavelli over Buck Buchanan 87. Dave Casper over Willie Davis 88. Marvin Harrison over John Mackey Alan Page & Michael Irvin 89. Gino Marchetti over Mike Ditka 90. Julius Peppers 91. Tommie Harris 92. Reggie "Minister of Defense" White 93. Dwight Freeny 94. DeMarcus Ware 95. Shawn Phillips 96. Adalius Thomas 97. Patrick Kerney 98. John Henderson over Tony Siragusa 99. Jason Taylor over Dan Hampton & Jerome Brown