1961 Draft
By Matt Cordon (kh). Filed in Historic Drafts |
Grade: C-
The 1961 draft was, of course, the one that produced Bob Lilly. The rest of the draft 
produced next to nothing Including Lilly, only five players made the 1961 squad, and the other four besides Lilly lasted only an average of two years.
The Cowboys lost three players to AFL teams, including E.J. Holub (Dallas Texans), Stew Barber (Buffalo Bills), and Bill Shaw (Buffalo Bills). Each of those players survived until the merging of the leagues in 1970.
Just a few other points:
- The Cowboys took Lilly with their second first-round pick. Their first pick went to Washington, which took quarterback Norm Snead of Wake Forest. Though Snead played fifteen years in the league, he only lasted three with the Redskins.
- Tackle Don Talbert of Texas played three seasons with the Cowboys, though they were scattered over the course of nearly a decade. He played for Dallas in 1962, 1965, and 1971. He played for the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints from 1966 to 1970.
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Results of the 1961 NFL Draft for the Dallas Cowboys. Held Dec. 28-29, 1960. |
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| No. | Player | Pos. | Experience |
| 1a | Traded in 1960 to Washington for Eddie LeBaron | ||
| 1b | Bob Lilly | DT | Dallas Cowboys, 1961-74. |
| 2 | E.J. Holub (went to Dallas of the AFL) | LB | Dallas Texans, 1961-62; Kansas City Chiefs, 1963-70. |
| 3 | Stew Barber (went to Buffalo of the AFL) | G | Buffalo Bills, 1961-69. |
| 4 | Arnold Allen “Sonny” Davis | WR | Dallas Cowboys, 1961 |
| 5 | Traded to San Francisco for Gene Babb | ||
| 6 | Traded along with first round choice to Washington for LeBaron | ||
| 7 | Art Gilmore | HB | DNP |
| 8 | Don Talbert | T | Dallas Cowboys, 1962, 1965, 1971, Atlanta Falcons, 1966-68; New Orleans Saints, 1969-70, |
| 9 | Glynn Gregory | HB | Dallas Cowboys, 1961-62. |
| 10 | Traded to Green Bay for Fred Cone | ||
| 11 | Norris Stevenson | HB | DNP |
| 12 | Lowndes Shingler | QB | DNP |
| 13 | Don Goodman | HB | DNP |
| 14 | Bill Shaw (went to Buffalo of the AFL) | G | Buffalo Bills, 1961-69. |
| 15 | Julius Varnado (went to AFL) | T | DNP? |
| 16 | Jerry Steffen | HB | DNP |
| 17 | Everett Cloud | HB | DNP |
| 18 | Randy Williams | HB | DNP |
| 19 | Lynn Hoyem | C | Dallas Cowboys, 1962-63; Philadelphia Eagles, 1964-67. |
| 20 | Jerry Morgan | QB | DNP |
Tuesday, January 29th 2008 at 10:32 am
They may have missed on all the other picks, but that first one was a doozy.
Tuesday, February 5th 2008 at 5:44 pm
Another bit of trivia:
The Cowboys had the worst record in the NFL in their expansion year of 1960, going 0-11-1. Under normal circumstances, that would have resulted in the overall number one pick in the ‘61 draft. But because the Minnesota Vikings joined the NFL in ‘61, THEY got the overall top pick and Dallas would have had the second pick (which they had traded to the Redskins.
With the overall No. 1 pick, the Vikings took RB Tommy Mason. With the Cowboys pick, the Redskins took QB Norm Snead.
I’d say Dallas did pretty well with its first round pick (#13) in selecting Lilly.
Of the teams that picked ahead of Dallas, I’d say Chicago (Mike Ditka at #5) and Green Bay (Herb Adderley at #12) were the only ones that got players of the value that Lilly provided for Dallas.