Taking a short break from the Greatest Players by Number Series, here is a great article that provides a preview of the 1970 draft for the Cowboys.
Cowboy Computer Still Shops for Top Athlete
By Bob St. John, Dallas Morning News, January 11, 1970
Possibly somebody such as the Dallas Cowboys will come up with another Calvin Hill or a David McDaniels when the pro football draft opens early on the morning of Jan. 27.
This is the computerized age but even the best of them spit out wooden nickels sometimes and catch you in funny places — like a high draft choice.
The Cowboys, of course, have had much more success in the draft than they have the NFL Playoffs. Hill is the latest of a long line of successes. The failures have gone the way of all failures.
Dallas obviously needs defensive backs with a cornerback spot continually in limbo and now Mike Gaechter’s career in question due to an injury and recent operation on his Achilles tendon.
But head scout Gil Brandt said the club would continue to pick the top athletes available.
“We want the best athlete available but let me explain something,” said Brandt. “Say, what we considered the fifth best and sixth best athlete were left when it came our time to pick. If the sixth was a defensive back and the fifth a defensive lineman and the two were fairly close, then we’d go for the defensive back.”
As a further example, Brandt mentioned that the Cowboys were worried about linebackers the last couple of drafts and came up with John Douglas (who will be out of the Army by training camp), D.D. Lewis, who got out near the end of the season, and Tom Stincic.
“So we’ll end up with some defensive backs,” said Brandt.
Dallas, as per usual, is picking far down the line again due to its record and, as per usual, has some sleepers (and surprises) in mind. Brandt, however, wouldn’t relate these even under the threat of death.
Pittsburgh will have the first pick with the Bears second. There are also more rumors going around as this draft nears than ever before about trades being made for high draft picks, so it just might be that the Steelers won’t pick first.
Brandt figures either Terry Bradshaw, the Louisiana Tech quarterback, Notre Dame defensive lineman Mike McCoy or Purdue quarterback Mike Phipps will be the first to go, depending on which team picks first.
“This is a funny draft in this respect: You have five or six outstanding players and then it tails off,” said Brandt. “After those first ones, there are about 40 who appear almost equal.
“Overall, there just isn’t the talent available that there was last season, though in the particular area of the Southwest Conference there is more.”
Asked to pick the top five, Brandt reiterated McCoy, Bradshaw and Phipps, plus Phil Olsen (Merlin’s brother), a defensive lineman from Utah State and Oklahoma end Steve Zabel.
North Texas and the University of Texas are the teams in this area expected to have high draftees. Longhorn offensive tackle Bob McKay could easily go in the first round and so could defensive back Leo Brooks. Ted Koy is also expected to go in the first two rounds. Ted is faster than brother Ernie and generally considered a better prospect than the New York Giants running back.
“I tell you a dark horse who’s been moving up in everybody’s estimation during these all-star games,” said Brandt, “that’s North Texas’ Cedric Hardman (a defensive lineman).”
Besides Hardman, the Eagles have guard Glen Holloway, flanker Ron Shanklin and quarterback Steve Ramsey who are highly thought of. Ramsey threw a lot of interceptions last season and wasn’t as impressive as he had been his junior year but the pros still feel he’s a good prospect.
But as far as local observations, Bradshaw is the nation’s top quarterback prospect. “He’s big and fast and has an arm like a cannon,” said Brandt.
Among other names apt to appear in the high rounds from the SWC and this area are defensive back Denion Fox and tight end Charley Evans from Texas Tech, tight end Ross Brupbacher and running back Larry Stegent from Texas A&M, TCU running back Norm Bulaich, West Texas State running back Duane Thomas, Angelo State flanker Don Burrell, Abilene Christian linebacker Chip Bennett, and Texas Southern flanker Ken Burroughs. Second string Arkansas quarterback John Eichler also can’t be overlooked.
“But most of the good players around the nation,” said Brandt, “are juniors. There’s a great crop of juniors.”
And again, you can’t always go by the NAME players. Otto Brown was a free agent, Larry Cole was the 425th player taken, and Hill was the 24th picked. The draft ordinarily leaves most teams with much more hindsight than foresight.
Most of the other players mentioned in this article (Bradshaw, McCoy, Phipps, Olsen) had fairly lengthy careers. Click here for a summary of the 1970 draft, which was the first after the merge of the NFL and AFL.
As for Dallas, the team faired pretty well. The Cowboys took Duane Thomas with the 23rd pick, notwithstanding the fact that the team already had Calvin Hill. Two Super Bowl appearances and a championship seem to legitimize this choice.
Which brings us to a fun little game I thought I’d introduce:
1970 Dallas Cowboys Draft: Hit or Miss?
The Cowboys had 17 picks during the 1970 draft. In my view, the team had six “hits” and 11 “misses,” though this should be subject to debate.
1 (23, 23) – Duane Thomas, West Texas State, RB
HIT – Although Thomas lasted only two seasons, he certainly left his mark. His running was a big reason for the Cowboys’ success in 1970 and 1971.
2 (1, 27) – Bob Asher, Vanderbilt, T
MISS – Asher saw very limited action during the 1970 season. He did not play in 1971 but joined the Chicago Bears for a few years beginning in 1972.
2 (23, 49) – Margene Adkins, Henderson J.C., WR
MISS- Adkins played in a total of eight games during two seasons with Dallas and saw little action.
3 (14, 66) – Charlie Waters, Clemson, DB
HIT- Waters had a shaky start as a cornerback. But once he moved to the safety position, he became one of the Cowboys’ all-time greats.
3 (21, 73) – Steve Kiner, Tennessee, LB
HIT – When Dallas traded Duane Thomas to New England for Carl Garrett, Kiner was the other player. New England was allowed to keep Kiner after the league nullified the trade, and Kiner started a number of games for New England (as well as Houston later in his career). Thus, while he did not spend long in Dallas, he was not a bad draft pick.
3 (23, 75) – Denton Fox, Texas Tech, DB
MISS – As far as I know, Fox never played a down in the NFL.
4 (23, 101) – John Fitzgerald, Boston College, T
HIT – Fitzgerald moved to center and became a starter several seasons into his career. He played with Dallas until 1980.
6 (23, 153) – Pat Toomay, Vanderbilt, DE
HIT – Toomay spent five years in Dallas before moving on to play for Buffalo, Tampa Bay, and Oakland. He is the author of The Crunch
7 (23, 179) – Don Abbey, Penn State, LB
MISS – As far as I know, Abbey never played a down in the NFL.
8 (23, 205) – Jerry Dossey, Arkansas, G
MISS – As far as I know, Dossey never played a down in the NFL.
9 (23, 231) – Zenon Andrusyshyn, UCLA, K
MISS – Very strangely, Andrusyshyn’s one season in the NFL came eight years after the Cowboys drafted him, when he served as Kansas City’s punter in 1978.
10 (23, 257) – Pete Athas, Tennessee, DB
MISS – Athas never played for the Cowboys.
11 (23, 283) – Ivan Southerland, Clemson, T
MISS – As far as I know, Southerland never played a down in the NFL.
12 (23, 309) – Joe Williams, Wyoming, RB
MISS – Williams saw limited action in 1971 for the Cowboys but was gone after that.
13 (23, 335) – Mark Washington, Morgan State, DB
HIT – Washington spent nine years in Dallas and was a part-time starter. He might be best remembered as the cornerback that Lynn Swann scorched in Super Bowl X, but that was more a matter of Swann’s greatness that day than Washington’s poor coverage.
14 (23, 361) – Julian Martin, North Carolina Central, WR
MISS – As far as I know, Martin never played a down in the NFL.
15 (23, 387) – Ken DeLong, Tennessee, TE
MISS – As far as I know, DeLong never played a down in the NFL.
16 (23, 413) – Seabern Hill, Arizona State, DB
MISS – As far as I know, Hill never played a down in the NFL.
17 (23, 439) – Glenn Patterson, Nebraska, C
MISS – As far as I know, Patterson never played a down in the NFL.
I think I’d label Athas a “hit”; he played all or parts of six seasons in the NFL (most of that time — four seasons — with the NY Giants). He had 16 career interceptions.
If Athas were playing today, he might be subject to the proposed “hair” rule (i.e., that hair must be tucked under the helmet). Athas was well known as one of the first players to sport tresses flowing from under his headgear!
I find it ironic that the article noted Brandt as saying the Cowboys needed defensive backs and linebackers yet they didn’t pick either with their first 3 picks. They eventually ended up picking 4 DBs and 2 LBs. Only 2 of the DBs have recognizable names, Charlie Waters and Mark Washington. Both had lenghy careers with the Cowboys with Waters gaining a bit more notoriaty but only after moving to safety. Washington was a much better CB than Waters. If not for the move to Safety, no Cowboys fan would know who Charlie Waters was because he would have been gone after only a few seasons.
There are no LB names from the draft that I recognize. I don’t think you can argue with the Duane Thomas pick. He was an exceptional talent, just a bit of a head case. I don’t know the entire story but I do know Thomas wanted more $$$ after his rookie season and the Cowboys were tight wads back then, very tight. I don’t blame the Cowboys for not giving Duane a new contract after only 1 season but I also don’t begrudge Duane for wanting more money. It’s a shame because if not for the split between Duane and Cowboys management, he very likely could have bee a hall of fame player, especially in Tom Landry’s system. Of course, if not for the split, the Cowboys may not have been in the market for a RB in ’77 and the other #33 may have been on some other team. I suppose I will take the latter. That second #33 was pretty good.
Charlie Waters actually started out as a safety and started some during the 1970 season. As everyone knows, Cliff Harris was a free agent that same year and also was a safety. Landry moved Waters to CB I believe in 1972 and at times he did pretty good. But he was much better as a safety as we all know. And after 1972, he paired up with Harris (free safety) as the strong safety. Part of that move occurred too with the retirement of Cornell Gren (another CB who moved to strong safety).
Correction!! Actually Charlie Waters started the 73 and 74 seasons at corner and took over in 1975 at strong safety for Cornell Green. This can be fact checked thru Pro Football Reference.com My bad memory from the past.
Marty mentioned the ’70 draft was weak on LBs.
I would agree that of the 49 LBs taken that year, most were utterly forgettable. However, two names stand out (in addition to Kiner): Jack “Hacksaw” Reynolds, drafted by the LA Rams with the 21st pick, and Rich Saul, again drafted by the Rams, this time in the 8th round with the 204th pick.
We all know about Hacksaw Reynolds, but most would remember Saul as an OL, and you would be correct.
Although he played LB at Michigan St., Saul was converted to the OL by the Rams as rookie; he was a six-time Pro Bowler as a lineman, and was All-Pro in 1980.
More trivia– Rich Saul’s twin brother, Ron, was a fifth round selection of the Houston Oilers in 1970. He played for Houston and Washington during a 12-year career.
Hacksaw Reynolds was from Tennessee and the uncle of one of my best friends growing up. He became an instant Rams fan to say the least..