Fifty days before Thanksgiving—and also exactly 50 years ago—Clint Longley was introduced to the NFL.
The Cowboys fell behind Washington 16-3. Starter Roger Staubach suffered an injury. Enter Longley.
Longley led the Cowboys on three touchdown drives before finding receiver Drew Pearson for a 50-yard touchdown for a last minute 24-23 win.
For the game, Longley completed 11 of 20 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns.
Legend has it that Longley was completely unprepared to play in the game. Cowboys guard Blaine Nye called the performance “The the triumph of the pure mind.”
It was Longley’s only contribution of any significance to the NFL. He ended up appearing in six games with one start for the Cowboys when Dallas rested Staubach for the playoffs in the 1975 regular season finale.
The following year, Longley, a notorious jerk, punched Staubach during training camp. Staubach told the story at the timewhile calling it “premeditated” and “callous”.
The punch came after a more formal battle between the two men. Pearson personally witnessed Staubach essentially kicking Longley’s ass.
“I saw Clint’s legs in the air and Roger knocked him down,” Pearson said. “I don’t know what Roger did. He put one of the Vietnamese handholds on it, the kung fu fight.”
Dan Reeves, a Cowboys assistant coach at the time, broke up the brouhaha. For one very important reason.
“If I hadn’t gotten there, Roger probably would have killed him,” Reeves once said. “And I didn’t want my starting quarterback to be in jail.
The Cowboys sent Longley not to prison, but to the Chargers. After a year in San Diego, Longley was out of the NFL after nine games, five touchdown passes and four interceptions.