The Dallas Cowboys have cycled through a long list of linebackers in No. 50, but the choice at the top of the pile comes down to a player who never got nearly enough shine for what he meant to the defense.
Jerry Tubbs has the historical edge. He was there in the Cowboys’ first season in 1960, made one of the earliest Pro Bowls in franchise history in 1962, and stuck with the organization through the full sweep of the Tom Landry era. Tubbs played from 1960 to 1964, then served as a player-coach in 1965 and 1966, before moving into a full-time linebackers coaching role from 1967 to 1988.
Sean Lee is the modern what-if. When he was on the field, he was one of the best linebackers in the game. Injuries kept him from putting together the kind of full career that would have made this an easier call, even though he still finished as a one-time First-Team All-Pro and a two-time Pro Bowler.
But the nod goes to D.D. Lewis, a player whose impact was bigger than his reputation and whose place in Cowboys lore includes one of the most famous lines ever tied to the franchise.
Lewis came to Dallas as a sixth-round pick in 1968, selected 159th overall after teams questioned whether the 6-foot-1, 225-pound linebacker was big enough to hold up in the NFL. He had already built a decorated college résumé at Mississippi State, where he was a two-time First-Team All-SEC selection, a two-time All-American, and the 1967 SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
He arrived on a defense already stacked with talent and spent his early years in a reserve role with the original "Doomsday Defense," the group that pushed Dallas to back-to-back Super Bowl trips in 1970 and 1971 and delivered the franchise’s first title in the latter season. Lewis didn’t become a full-time starter at inside linebacker until 1973, after Chuck Howley retired, but from there he barely left the lineup, starting every game but two until he retired after the 1981 season.
Lewis was one of the quieter names on the "Doomsday II" defense that carried Dallas to three more Super Bowl appearances and another championship in the 1970s, but his value was obvious to the people who mattered most. After Tom Landry retired, he called Lewis the most underappreciated player he had in his 29 seasons.
The numbers don’t jump off the page, but they tell the story of a reliable, winning player: 15.5 sacks and eight interceptions in the regular season, plus 1.5 sacks and four interceptions in the playoffs. Two of those postseason picks came in the 1975 NFC Championship Game win that made Dallas the first wild-card team to reach the Super Bowl.
And then there’s the line that stuck. In 1982, not long after he retired, Lewis delivered the quote that still travels with the franchise: "Texas Stadium has a hole in its roof, so God can watch His favorite team play."
Lewis also owns a Cowboys postseason mark that says plenty about how long he was part of the team’s biggest games. His 27 playoff appearances are the most in franchise history and tie Peyton Manning for the fifth-most in NFL history, behind only Tom Brady (48), Adam Vinatieri (32), Jerry Rice (29), and Gostkowski (29).
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