Marcus Spears may not have piled up the kind of eye-popping sack totals that usually go with a first-round label, but he still earned the top spot among the Cowboys who wore No. 96. And given the way Dallas drafted him, that choice carries a little extra weight.
Spears’ path to Dallas started at LSU, where he put together a decorated college run. He was a back-to-back First-Team All-SEC selection in 2003 and 2004, won a national championship in the earlier season and finished as a consensus All-American the next year. The Cowboys then made him the 20th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft.
That pick had some real drama behind it. Bill Parcells wanted Spears with Dallas’ first selection at No. 11 overall, believing the 6-foot-4, 315-pound defensive lineman was a natural fit for the team’s move to a 3-4 defense.
Jerry Jones won that argument, though, and pushed for DeMarcus Ware at No. 11 because he didn’t think Ware would last until No. 20.
In the end, both men got exactly what they wanted: Ware became the franchise’s all-time sack leader and a Hall of Famer, while Spears landed in Dallas at No. 20.
Spears spent eight seasons with the Cowboys and did the work that role demanded. In a 3-4 front, defensive ends are often asked to occupy blockers and keep things clean for the players behind them, and that’s where Spears made his living. He was a sturdy run defender, which helped him stay in Dallas for so long and led to 94 starts across 128 games in the regular season and postseason.
Over that stretch, he posted 243 total tackles, 25 tackles for loss, 10.0 sacks, three forced fumbles and 13 passes defended. He also had one strange number change along the way, switching to No. 98 for the 2011 season before moving back to No. 96 for his final year with the Cowboys in 2012.
Maliek Collins takes the second spot on the list. He played four seasons in Dallas from 2016 to 2019 and finished with 84 total tackles and 14.5 sacks.
Third goes to Ebenezer Ekuban, the 1999 first-round pick who looked like he might become a real force after racking up 9.0 sacks in his first two seasons despite starting only four games. His production faded after that, but the early promise still earns him a place here.
The full list of Cowboys who wore No. 96 also includes Antonio Anderson, Shante Carver, Kenny Clark, Neville Gallimore, Clifton Geathers, Nick Hayden, Adedayo Odeleye, Justin Rogers, Danny Stubbs and Marcus Spears. Spears’ Cowboys career ended after 2012, and he played one more season with the Baltimore Ravens in 2013 before starting his broadcasting career in 2014, a path he’s still on today.
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