Duane Thomas, a former NFL running back who won a Super Bowl title with the Dallas Cowboys, has died. He was 77.
The Cowboys confirmed Thomas’ death to Pro Football Talk and the Dallas Morning News.
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Duane Thomas, #33 of the Dallas Cowboys, carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the NFC NFL Conference Championship football game on January 2, 1972, at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
“The Great Duane Thomas passed away yesterday. He was a great Cowboy. On his come back he was one of my roommates in Thousand Oaks. Lots of laughs and moments. RIP DUANE THOMAS,” the running back’s former teammate, Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson, wrote on Facebook.
Thomas only played four years in the NFL. He was a first-round draft pick of the Cowboys in the 1970 draft out of West Texas A&M.
He started his rookie season with 803 rushing yards and five touchdowns and helped guide the team to Super Bowl V against the Baltimore Colts, in which Dallas fell just short.
Thomas was considered to be the running back of the future for the Cowboys. But a contract dispute and a war of words with head coach Tom Landry led to a trade in 1971. Initially traded to the New England Patriots, then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle voided the deal.
Dallas Cowboys running back Duane Thomas, #33, runs with the ball but is tackled from behind by the Indianapolis Colts’ linebacker Ted Hendricks. (Focus on Sport via Getty Images)
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Thomas returned to Cowboys and took a vow of silence. In that second year, he led the NFL with 11 rushing touchdowns and had 793 rushing yards.
According to Pro Football Talk, Thomas finally broke his silence before the team’s Super Bowl VI win over the Miami Dolphins.
“If it’s the ultimate [game], how come they’re playing it again next year?” he said.
He had 95 rushing yards and a touchdown in the 20-3 victory.
The win didn’t appear to change the perception of Thomas. He was traded to the San Diego Chargers – where he didn’t report to training camp. He was traded to the Washington Redskins and played two seasons with the team.
He rushed for 442 yards and five touchdowns in 24 games.
Duane Thomas in action, rushing against the Miami Dolphins, New Orleans, La. (Walter Iooss Jr./Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
Thomas had a second stint with the Cowboys in 1976 but was waived before the season began. He tried to revive his career in the Canadian Football League and with the Green Bay Packers but failed to see regular-season action.
He told the Houston Chronicle in 2004 he valued the game and what it meant to him.
“What the game meant to me at that particular point was setting a goal and accomplishing it. The differences you may have had, the controversies, tend to be insignificant.
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“I recall those things, but the main thrust of what I remember is the meaning of friendship, the meaning of teamwork and dealing with adversity and accomplishing the goal. That was what it was all about with me. I was at peace with myself, even with everything that was going on.”
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