Among the Dallas Cowboys’ many jersey-number standouts, No. 12 barely needs an introduction. It belongs to Roger Staubach, the third and final player to wear it in Dallas, and the choice is as straightforward as they come.
That wasn’t always the case. The first Cowboy to wear No. 12 was quarterback John Roach, who got the number in 1964 after Don Meredith’s preseason injury led the team to coax him out of retirement. Roach, a former Green Bay Packers backup who had won two NFL titles behind Bart Starr, started four games for Dallas that season and lost all four.
Ron Widby followed in 1968 as a rookie punter and made his mark quickly, booting an 84-yarder that still stands as a franchise record. He then switched to No. 10 the next year so Staubach could take No. 12.
Staubach’s path to the NFL was anything but ordinary. The 1963 Heisman Trophy winner at the U.S.
Naval Academy was selected by Dallas in the 10th round of the 1964 NFL Draft with the 129th overall pick, even though he had already committed to play another collegiate season. Because he was four years removed from high school, the NFL allowed the Cowboys to use him as a “future” pick.
Then came the Navy obligation. Staubach had to complete four years of service after college, including a tour in Vietnam, so his pro career didn’t begin until he was 27. By the time he arrived in Dallas ahead of the 1969 season, Craig Morton held the QB1 job.
Staubach barely saw the field at first, starting just four games over his first two seasons and going 3-1. But once Tom Landry turned to him in 1971, the whole thing changed fast. Staubach won all 10 of his regular-season starts and all three of his postseason starts that year, then took home Super Bowl 6 MVP honors after leading Dallas past the Miami Dolphins, 24-3, for the franchise’s first championship.
He never played a huge number of NFL seasons - just 11, counting those early years - but he packed plenty into them. Staubach made six Pro Bowls, finished in the top five of the NFL MVP race three times, and later guided the Cowboys to another Super Bowl victory to finish the 1977 season.
Dallas also reached the Super Bowl after the 1975 and 1978 seasons, only to fall to the Pittsburgh Steelers both times. Each of those games was decided by four points.
The 1975 season also gave football one of its most famous phrases. In the Divisional Round, Staubach found Drew Pearson for a 50-yard touchdown with 24 seconds left, then later said he threw the ball and immediately said a “Hail Mary.” The term stuck.
By the time he retired before the 1980 season, Staubach had thrown for 22,700 yards and 153 touchdowns, both franchise records then. Those marks have since been passed, but he still ranks fourth in Cowboys history in passing yards and fifth in touchdown passes.
Dallas doesn’t officially retire numbers, but nobody has worn No. 12 for the Cowboys since Staubach. He entered the Cowboys Ring of Honor in 1983 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
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