Cowboys Super Bowl champion John Niland dies at 82

Dallas Cowboys legend John Niland has died.

Niland, who spent nearly his entire 10-year NFL career with the Cowboys, died Saturday morning in the Dallas suburb of McKinney. His family announced the tragic news on Sunday. He was 82.

Niland was famously the Cowboys’ starting left guard throughout the franchise’s first Super Bowl run in 1971. He blocked for quarterback Roger Staubach and started all three playoff games for head coach Tom Landry en route to a 24-3 drubbing of the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI.

The Cowboys selected Niland with the 5th overall pick in the 1966 NFL Draft, making him the first-ever offensive lineman the team drafted in the first round. The Iowa alum proved he was worth the selection with almost a full decade of excellence as Dallas’ starting left guard.

Niland earned three 1st-Team All-Pro nods in four seasons from 1969 to 1972. He also made the Pro Bowl roster for six straight seasons from 1968 to 1973. He started in 111 of his 124 games played for the Cowboys from 1966 to 1974.

After nine seasons in Dallas, Niland ended his NFL journey with a 1-year stint with the Philadelphia Eagles. He started in 13 of 14 games for the Eagles before calling it a career.