Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Duane Thomas and the Fall of America's Team by Duane Thomas Duane Thomas. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Thomas was an exceptional running back at its Lincoln High School in the mid-1960s. He continued his success at West Texas State University in Canyon, playing fullback alongside Mercury Morris, while running through defenses for Joe Kerbel's teams. [1] After a freshman year with just 10 carries for 42 yards, he led the country with 7.2 yards per carry on still-limited duty his sophomore season (83 carries for 596 yards). After 113 carries for 708 yards his junior year, he broke through his senior year with 199 carries for 1,072 yards and 10 touchdowns. He ended his college career with 396 carries for 2,376 yards (then 2nd all-time to Bill Cross, currently 8th). Professional career. Dallas Cowboys (first stint) Thomas was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round (23rd overall) of the 1970 NFL draft. As a rookie, even though he didn't start until the fifth game of the season, he led the team in rushing, while finishing eighth in the newly merged 26-team league with 803 rushing yards (second in the National Football Conference behind NFL rushing champion Larry Brown of the rival Washington Redskins) on 151 carries (a league-leading 5.3 yards per carry) and 5 touchdowns. At the end of the season, already being compared to Jim Brown, he was named the NFL rookie of the year. [2] In playoff wins over Detroit and San Francisco, Thomas rushed for 135 and 143 yards, becoming the first rookie with two 100-yard rushing playoff games. [3] During the offseason Thomas requested his three-year contract be rewritten. When Cowboys management refused to renegotiate, he called team president Tex Schramm “deceitful,” player personnel director Gil Brandt “a liar” and head coach Tom Landry “a plastic man. no man at all." [4] Following his refusal to report to training camp, Thomas was traded on July 31, 1971 to the New England Patriots with Halvor Hagen and Honor Jackson, in exchange for Carl Garrett and the Patriots' first choice in the 1972 NFL Draft. [5] Within a week, because of problems with the Patriots and head coach John Mazur, [6] in an unprecedented move NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle voided part of the trade, sending Thomas and Garrett back to their original teams. [7] The Patriots kept Hagen and Jackson in exchange for a second (#35-Robert Newhouse) and third round (possibly 1972 #64-Mike Keller) draft choices in the 1972 NFL draft. Thomas returned to the Cowboys, but decided to keep silent all season long, refusing to speak to teammates, management, or the media. In October 1971, Thomas scored the first touchdown in the new Texas Stadium playing against the Patriots. [8] That same season, Thomas led the league in rushing touchdowns (11) and total touchdowns (13). He also was named All-Pro and led the Cowboys with 95 rushing yards and a touchdown in Dallas' 24–3 win over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI, the franchise’s first. When asked about playing in the “ultimate game” before the contest, he responded, "If it's the ultimate (game), how come they're playing it again next year?" [9] In a postgame interview following that Super Bowl, CBS television announcer Tom Brookshier noted Thomas' speed and asked him, rhetorically, "Are you that fast?" Thomas responded, "Evidently." According to Hunter S. Thompson, "All he did was take the ball and run every time they called his number—which came to be more and more often, and in the Super Bowl Thomas was the whole show." [10] Thomas was reportedly voted as the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player by an overwhelming margin. Thomas, however, had boycotted the media throughout the season as well, and Larry Klein, editor of Sport , which presented the award, didn't know how Thomas would act at a banquet in New York. With this in mind Klein announced quarterback Roger Staubach as the winner. [11] During the 1972 off-season he became even more isolated and insubordinate, so he was traded to the San Diego Chargers for Mike Montgomery and Billy Parks on July 31, 1972. [12] San Diego Chargers. Thomas began his stint with the Chargers by earning a 20-day suspension for failing to report to the team, and matters deteriorated from there. He never played a game for the Chargers, as the team placed him on the reserve list, making him ineligible for the rest of the 1972 season. On July 20, 1973, the Chargers traded Thomas to defending NFC champion Washington in exchange for the Redskins' first draft choice (#22- Mike Williams) in the 1975 NFL draft and their second draft choice (#46-David Hill) in 1976. [13] Washington Redskins. Thomas played with the Washington Redskins in 1973 and 1974, rushing for a total of 442 yards under head coach George Allen. Reportedly seeking a substantial salary increase, he did not report to training camp in 1975, and was waived on August 13. [14] [15] The Hawaiians (WFL) In August 1975, Thomas was signed by the Hawaiians of the World Football League to replace an injured Calvin Hill, although the Philadelphia Bell claimed they owned Thomas' negotiating rights after being released by the Washington Redskins. [1] [16] He was with the team for only 1½ months and was released in early October, [17] just weeks before the league folded. Dallas Cowboys (second stint) On May 1, 1976, the Dallas Cowboys signed Thomas again for a comeback, but he was waived before the season started. [18] British Columbia Lions (CFL) Thomas signed with the British Columbia Lions in 1977 and was placed on waivers after just a couple of weeks. Green Bay Packers (NFL) In March 1979, Thomas was signed by the Green Bay Packers, but was waived before the season started. [19] [20] He finished his NFL career with 2,038 rushing yards, 453 carries and 21 touchdowns. He also caught 38 passes for 297 yards and 3 touchdowns. Legacy. With the help of freelance sportswriter Paul Zimmerman in 1989, Thomas wrote Duane Thomas and the Fall of America's Team , a memoir of Thomas' time playing for the Dallas Cowboys. A reviewer of the book commented, "The title implies, although the text nowhere suggests, that there is a relation between the fate of running back Thomas and the decline in the fortunes of the Dallas Cowboys. Thomas, when he appeared on the professional football scene in 1970, was acclaimed as an outstanding player but within two years was stigmatized as an "emotionally disturbed misfit," largely because of his periods of total silence. Before he was out of football, Thomas got a job at Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation in the Legal Department and decided to go back into football. He was called by the Green Bay Packers and went there to try out, but they used him mainly as a blocking back during that preseason and he did not make the team. In 2004, he was inducted into the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame. [21] In 2006, Thomas was one of three Cowboys, along with Bob Lilly and Roger Staubach, interviewed for 1971 Cowboys edition of America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions , the NFL Network anthology series chronicling each Super Bowl champion. Related Research Articles. Super Bowl VI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1971 season. The Cowboys defeated the Dolphins by the score of 24–3, to win their first Super Bowl. The game was played on January 16, 1972, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, the second time the Super Bowl was played in that city. Despite the southerly location, it was unseasonably cold at the time, with the kickoff air temperature of 39 °F (4 °C) making this the coldest Super Bowl played. Terry Tyree Glenn was an American football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. He was drafted by the New England Patriots seventh overall in the 1996 NFL Draft. He played college football for Ohio State Buckeyes. Walter Eugene " Chuck " Foreman is a retired American football running back who played for the Minnesota Vikings and the New England Patriots in the National Football League. Considered one of the best passing-catching backs in NFL history, Foreman started in three Super Bowls with the Vikings and was the premiere back for the team for most of the 1970s. Upon entering the league in 1973, he was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and he was selected to the Pro Bowl for the first five seasons of his career. During this time, he was also named to 2 first-team All-Pro teams and 2 second-team All-Pro teams. Nicknamed "The Spin Doctor" for his elusive running abilities, Foreman held the Vikings franchise record for rushing yards from scrimmage upon his retirement. As part of the team's 50th anniversary celebration, Foreman was named as one of the 50 Greatest Vikings in 2010. Calvin G. Hill is a retired American football player. He played running back in the National Football League for twelve seasons. Hill played for the NFL Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, and Cleveland Browns. He also played a season with The Hawaiians of the World Football League in 1975.