Historic Draft: 1966
By Matt Cordon (kh). Filed in Historic Drafts |
Grade: B-
The 1966 draft was a mild success due to the selection of guard John Niland and running back Walt Garrison. Moreover, the Cowboys traded their fourth round selection to the Baltimore Colts for guard Ralph Neely. Otherwise, however, the 1966 draft saw the drafting of fourteen players who did not play a down for the Cowboys.
*In nine seasons with the Cowboys, Niland was named to the Pro Bowl six times. He was a major part of the two Super Bowl teams in 1970 and 1971, and he is considered to be among the greatest guards in team history.
*Garrison took over as starting fullback when Don Perkins retired in 1968. Well known as a amateur rodeo participant, Garrison finished his career with 3,886 rushing yards and 1,794 receiving yards.
*Neely played 13 seasons in Dallas and was a member of four Super Bowl teams. He made the Pro Bowl in 1967 and 1969.
[Correction: Melonball has correctly pointed out that Neely was taken in the second round of the 1965 draft by the Baltimore Colts, who then traded him to Dallas. Thus, 1966 was his second year in the league. Another interesting part of this was that Neely was also drafted and signed by the Houston Oilers of the AFL. Dallas traded its first-, second-, and fifth-round picks for the 1967 draft, which was the first common draft between the two leagues, for Neely's rights. As we will see, this pretty much destroyed the 1967 draft for the Cowboys. --M.C., er K.H.]
Three other players saw action with the Cowboys in minor roles. Second rounder Willie Townes, a defensive end from Tulsa, played for the Cowboys from 1966 to 1968. In the 12th round, Dallas took two running backs– Les Shy of Long Beach State and Craig Baynham of Georgia Tech– served in backup roles for much of the remainder of the decade.
1 (5, 5) - John Niland, Iowa
2 (6, 22) - Willie Townes, Tulsa
5 (15, 79) - Walt Garrison, Oklahoma State
6 (6, 86) - Bob Dunlevy, West Virginia
7 (5, 100) - Arthur Robinson, Florida A&M
8 (6, 116) - Don Kunit, Penn State
9 (5, 130) - Darrell Elam, West Virginia Tech
10 (6, 146) - Mason Mitchell, Washington
11 (5, 160) - Austin Denny, Tennessee
12 (3, 173) - Les Shy, Long Beach State
12 (6, 176) - Craig Baynham, Georgia Tech
13 (5, 190) - Ron Lamb, South Carolina
14 (6, 206) - Lewis Turner, Norfolk State
15 (5, 220) - Mark Gartung, Oregon State
16 (6, 236) - Tom Piggee, Cal State-San Francisco
17 (5, 250) - George Allen, West Texas State
18 (6, 266) - Steve Orr, Washington
19 (5, 280) - Byron Johnson, Central Washington
20 (6, 296) - Lou Hudson, Minnesota
Sunday, March 18th 2007 at 10:03 pm
Not to be nitpicky, but Ralph Neely was actually acquired in 1965. The ‘66 4th rd pick may have been involved in the trade, I don’t know, but it seems to me the Colts would have wanted more than next year’s 4th rounder, seeing as how they spent a 2nd on Neely. Perhaps you could research the exact circumstances of the trade and thereby redeem yourself. :)lol It might end up changing your grades of these two drafts, who knows? Me and the other guy who read this blog eagerly await your findings! Just kidding. lol Actually, you’re doing a great job; I enjoy these historical posts. Keep it up :)
Sunday, March 18th 2007 at 10:47 pm
There are two of you reading this? Man, I’d better get my act in gear.
Good call. I will update the post. Thanks.
Monday, March 19th 2007 at 6:42 am
Interesting that the Cowboys paid such a high price for Neely when they could have drafted him in the 2nd instead of Malcolm Walker. That means they must have valued both players very highly, but actually thought more of Walker at the time. Neely was the last pick of the 2nd rd; perhaps the Cowboys were hoping they could grab him in the 3rd. Perhaps that explains why they had no 3rd and two 4ths, perhaps trading down and out of the 3rd, and why they grabbed Svihus in the 4th. When they lost Svihus to the Raiders, maybe that prompted the expensive deal with the Colts for Neely. Although it was 2 years down the road. Did they know at that time that a common draft would start in ‘67? The deal makes more sense if they figured there was a high risk of losing those picks to the AFL anyway. Also, seeing as how one of the few players that they kept was also a tackle (Mitch Johnson), this all points to the fact that they must have been pretty desperate for a tackle. But the gamble on Neely sure paid off! If only some of Jerry’s desperate gambles paid so well! lol
Monday, March 19th 2007 at 2:03 pm
I am not sure whether anyone knew in 1965 that the common draft was coming, given that teams generally agreed not to sign players from teams from the other league, which was broken in 1966 and led to the merger agreement. I need to do more digging on this.
Until we get to the mid-1970s, most of the Cowboys’ drafts involved many more misses than hits– not surprising, given that the drafts in the 1960s were 17 to 20 rounds each. But the first time that we saw a draft as successful as the one in 1975 was… the one in 1975.
Thanks for all of the comments. Great stuff today. I’ll need to spend more time reading them tonight.