Love them or hate them, the Dallas Cowboys are one of the most storied franchises in NFL history. They have won six Super Bowls, played in numerous NFC Championship games, and produced several Pro Football Hall of Famers.
Narrowing the list down to the 10 best of all time is tough. There are definitely going to be some missing names that NFL fans think should be here and ranking them is a fool’s errand. But we’ll do our best to sort the very good Cowboys from the elite ones.
Here is our list of the ten greatest Dallas Cowboys of all time.
10. Drew Pearson, wide receiver
The original No. 88, Drew Pearson started it all when it comes to great Cowboy wide receivers. He, along with quarterback Roger Staubach, was the face of America’s Team back in the 1970s. Pearson was Staubach’s go-to guy when he needed a big play. The “Hail Mary” against the Minnesota Vikings cemented Pearson’s place in the hearts of fans forever as one of the greatest Cowboys of all time. It was a shocker to many that Pearson was not a first-ballot Hall of Famer but that was eventually corrected and he joined his fellow Cowboy teammates in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022.
In his 11-year career, Pearson garnered 7,822 yards receiving and 50 touchdowns. Staubach said once about the receiver that “There is no one who I trust more to be where he is supposed to be than Drew.” Stabauch and Pearson remain close to this day and the QB even presented Pearson at his induction to the Hall of Fame.
9. Randy White, linebacker
When you think of great Cowboys linebackers, the first person who may come to mind is Randy White. The “Manster,” as he was called, was not only one of the greatest Cowboys of all time but one of the greatest NFL players of all time. White was part of the Cowboys’ Doomsday defense back in the 1970s. He made the NFL All-Century team and was a nine-time Pro Bowler and co-Super Bowl MVP. White entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994 but his impact on this franchise will never be forgotten.
8. Larry Allen, offensive lineman
Some of those great Cowboy offenses of the 1990s would be nothing if it wasn’t for the anchor on the offensive line, Larry Allen. Allen was the glue that held the O-lines of the mid/late 1990s and early 2000s together. The late John Madden once said, “You didn’t sleep easy the night before, hoping you get to play against Larry Allen. There’s no pro football player that has a fear of another guy that plays on that level, but he was so doggone strong and there wasn’t much you could do against him.”
The 11-time Pro Bowler and seven-time First-team All-Pro was named to the NFL All-Decade Team for both the 1990s and 2000s. A Super Bowl winner in the 1995 season, Allen entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and is a member of the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.
7. Deion Sanders, cornerback/kick returner
Some may say that “Prime Time” doesn’t deserve to be on this list because he wasn’t a longtime Cowboy like most of the others on this list. But who has made a larger impact on a team than Deion Sanders? Everywhere he went, including Dallas, he made an impact. He was not only considered one of the greatest cornerbacks of all time but he was one of the greatest kick returners too. Anytime he got his hands on the ball, he was a threat to score. Whether in the secondary or returning a punt, this hall-of-famer was scary good which is why many teams wanted his services including the Cowboys.
In five seasons with the Cowboys, Prime Time was a three-time First-team All-Pro, four-time Pro Bowler, and Super Bowl champion. He was also a member of the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
6. Bob Lilly, linebacker
Modern Cowboy fans may not remember or know much about Bob Lilly, but there are several reasons why he made our list. He was the first player drafted by the Dallas Cowboys and the first Cowboys player to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980. “Mr. Cowboy” as he was known, played with the team for eight years and was on the Cowboys team that won its first Super Bowl in 1972.
Lilly’s accolades include being a seven-time First-team All-Pro, 11-time Pro Bowler, member of the NFL’s 1960s and 1970s All-Decade Teams, as well as a member of the NFL’s 75th Anniversary and 100th Anniversary All-Time Teams.
5. Michael Irvin, wide receiver
Drew Pearson started the tradition of wearing No. 88 as a Cowboys wide receiver. Michael Irvin made that number iconic.
The Playmaker was brash and loud but he could back up all the talk. Irvin was a five-time Pro Bowler and three-time Super Bowl champion who retired as a Cowboy with almost 12,000 yards receiving and 65 touchdowns. He also made the NFL’s 1990s All-Decade Team.
Troy Aikman said of Irvin that, whether he was open or covered, he almost always made the catch. Like Roger Staubach and Drew Pearson before them, these two were always in sync on the field.
4. Tony Dorsett, running back
Before there was Emmitt Smith, there was Touchdown Tony. The 1970s Dallas Cowboys had their own set of triplets with Roger Staubach, Drew Pearson, and Tony Dorsett. Dorsett was a Heisman winner out of the University of Pittsburgh and had an immediate impact on this team. In his NFL career, he rushed for nearly 13,000 yards and 77 touchdowns with the Cowboys.
As a rookie in 1977, Dorsett would rush for four touchdowns in the Super Bowl, helping lead the Cowboys to a victory over the Denver Broncos. Both Tom Landry and Roger Staubach praised Dorsett, saying that he was the difference maker from the previous years when they couldn’t get over the hump. The four-time Pro Bowler is also a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer, which is pretty rare.
3. Emmitt Smith, running back
When you ask who the greatest NFL running back of all time is, this man makes a good case to be the first name on your list.
Emmitt Smith is the NFL’s all-time leading rusher and a three-time Super Bowl champion. A power rusher who could take over games, Smith was the missing ingredient the Cowboys added to carry them to those 1990s Super Bowls. He rushed for over 1,000 yards 11 times in his career, en route to four NFL rushing titles. Smith ended his career with over 18,000 yards rushing and 164 touchdowns. It’s hard to imagine those Cowboy teams of the 90s could have accomplished what they did without Smith.
2. Troy Aikman, quarterback
If it wasn’t for that fellow from the Naval Academy, this guy may have taken the No. 1 spot. Troy Aikman was the perfect Cowboys quarterback. Raised in Oklahoma, he became a star at UCLA before becoming the first of the “triplets” to be drafted by Dallas.
Aikman may not have been Dan Marino or Peyton Manning, but he didn’t need to be when you had the likes of Emmitt Smith in your backfield. Still, Aikman doesn’t get enough credit that he deserves because he didn’t have to throw for 300 yards every game.
When the Cowboys won their first Super Bowl under head coach Jimmy Johnson, Aikman was Super Bowl MVP, and he would go on to lead the team to two more Super Bowl wins. The six-time Pro Bowler played his entire 12-year career with the Cowboys and garnered over 32,000 passing yards and 165 touchdowns. These days, he’s known more as a broadcaster, but his place in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor and Pro Football Hall of Fame is well-earned.
1. Roger Staubach, quarterback
Is there any doubt this man would be No. 1? Captain Comeback was the architecture of what the Dallas Cowboys are today.
Staubach’s story is straight out of a fairytale. A Heisman Trophy winner who played at the United States Naval Academy, he served his country in Vietnam before returning to play in the NFL. He didn’t start for the Cowboys right away, but once he got his chance, he never let go of the reins. Staubach’s penchant for leading the Cowboys to come-from-behind victories is legendary. He even coined the phrase “Hail Mary,” a prayer often answered when he was at quarterback. As long as Staubach was at quarterback, the Cowboys were never out of the game.
Staubach led the Cowboys to four Super Bowls, winning two, and was named Super Bowl VI MVP. A six-time Pro Bowler, he was the NFL passer rating leader four times and was named to both the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team and NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Cowboy quarterbacks may come and go, but there will never be anyone like Roger Staubach. As many of them have found out in the decades since, he remains a tough act to follow.
