1974 Ad

Sporting News, The, Oct 21, 1996 by Dave Sloan

Sometime this season, Troy Aikman (see page 24) likely will attempt the 2,959th pass of his career and gain his 22,701st passing yard. When he does, he will move to the top of the Cowboys' all-time list in those categories. Even now, without those marks, Aikman is arguably the franchise's greatest quarterback. Three Super Bowls before the age of 30 attest to that.

But for sheer drama for one game, no Cowboys quarterback can approach Clint Longley. And maybe never will.

Longley played two seasons in Dallas, seeing action in six games--all as a backup. But that wasn't surprising. When Longley was a rookie in 1974, Roger Staubach was in the prime of his career and the Cowboys had six rookie quarterbacks in camp.

But Longley, a native of Wichita Falls, Texas, and a small-college star at Abilene Christian, beat the odds and made the team.

"He's too young to read the defenses correctly, but he has a special football sense," coach Tom Landry said then. "He's going to be a good one."

Dallas had sent a fifth-round draft choice to the Bengals, who had taken Longley in that year's NFL supplemental draft, to acquire Longley's rights. For the Cowboys it was a fortuitous trade, if only for one day.

On November 28, 1974, Thanksgiving Day, the Redskins were in town for a nationally televised game. At the time, there was no better rivalry in the NFL. The Cowboys and Redskins had been division and conference foes since 1961, with Dallas holding a 15-12-2 edge in the series. These were the Tex Schramm-Gil Brandt-Tom Landry Cowboys, and they were called "America's Team" for no small reason--eight consecutive playoff berths, four straight NFC title-game appearances and two Super Bowl appearances since 1966.

But 1974 was a different story. The Cowboys were struggling at 6-5 when the Redskins came to visit, and George Allen's "Over the Hill Gang" was 8-3, one game behind St. Louis in the NFC East. Staubach, in his sixth year, was not having a great season, but the Redskins knew he held the key to Dallas' fortunes.

"If you can knock Staubach out, you've got that rookie (Longley, who had yet to play in an NFL game) facing you," Washington defensive tackle Diron Talbert said. "That's one of our goals. If we can do that, it's great."

With 10 minutes left in the third quarter and Washington leading, 16-3, the Redskins did just that. Linebacker Dave Robinson decked a scrambling Staubach with a solid hit, sending him wobbling to the bench. Had it happened a month earlier, Landry would have summoned 10-year veteran Craig Morton to replace his fallen star. But Morton was in New York--traded to the Giants October 22 after having dueled Staubach for the starting job in Dallas for 5 1/2 years.

With Morton gone, it was Longley's moment.

"They told me to grab my helmet and get in there," said Longley, who had played in two exhibition games but hadn't taken a snap in any of Dallas' 11 regular-season games. "I had to find my helmet first."

On his fifth play after replacing Staubach, Longley threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to tight end Billy Joe DuPree, cutting the Redskins' lead to 16-10. The next time Dallas got the ball, Longley guided the Cowboys on a 70-yard touchdown march that ended with a 1-yard run by Walt Garrison to put Dallas up, 17-16. The drive was aided by a pass interference penalty against Robinson that put the ball on the 1.

Former Cowboy Duane Thomas scored his second touchdown of the day on a nifty 19-yard run around left end to again put Washington ahead, 23-17, with 13:27 left, but the Redskins missed a chance to extend their lead to nine points when Cowboys rookie Ed "Too Tall" Jones blocked a 24-yard fieldgoal attempt by Mark Moseley later in the quarter.

It was just the opening Longley needed.

"I wasn't nervous, but I sure was excited," he said. "I had heard about that Talbert quote earlier in the week and it kind of hurt me."

Dallas began its final possession at its 40 with 1:45 left. After getting sacked on first down, Longley quickly rebounded, taking charge of the huddle like a seasoned veteran. When Garrison stumbled in verbalizing a play he brought in from the sideline, Longley told the veteran running back to "shut up"--he knew the play.

On fourth-and-6, Longley kept the drive alive by hitting Bob Hayes at midfield for a first down with a minute left. Two plays later, Drew Pearson--whose fumble at the Redskins' 25 with 11 1/2 minutes left seemingly had ended Dallas' last, best chance--broke free at the 15-yard line, and Longley hit him with a winning 50-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds left.

The Redskins were stunned.

"Longley just threw a perfect strike, that's all," said safety Brig Owens, one of six defensive backs defending on the play. "He was hot. He really came in and did a job. ... We really let Dallas off the hook."

Longley got the Cowboys off the hook, but his pro football career never took off after the memorable debut. He played in eight more games (including three with the Chargers, one as a starter, in 1976), and was out of pro football for good in 1978 after being cut by the Cardinals in training camp.