There are officially 63 days until the toe meets the ball at AT&T Stadium where the Dallas Cowboys will host the New York Giants on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
It’s all about that Sunday living today and we’re not going to beat around the bush. Today we’re going to crack open the Greatest 63 brew in Dallas Cowboys History.
The Following Players Have All Worn 63 For The Dallas Cowboys:
- Lester Brinkley, DE
- Jeremy Clark, DT
- Larry Cole, DE
- Ryan Cook, C
- Gennaro DiNapoli, OG
- Mike Falls, OG
- John Flannery, OG
- Ben Gardner*, DE (switched to 93 for the 2015 season)
- John Gesek, OG
- Aaron Gibson, OT
- Mike Kiselak, C
- Kyle Kosier, OG
- Jon Shields, OG
- Glen Titensor, OG
*Active player on the Dallas Cowboys roster
Since it’s Sunday Professor RJ is going to let you guys get out of class early. Today’s player is all about one Cowboy and his name rhymes with Barry Mole.
Larry Cole is easily the Greatest #63 in Dallas Cowboys History. Cole was drafted in the 16th round of the 1968 NFL Draft. He played ball collegiately at the University of Hawaii and the Air Force Academy (where our Greatest 95 in Dallas Cowboys History Chad Hennings hails from) and followed a similar path taken by some Cowboys that have already been on our list.
While we’ve had some players that have jumped from defensive line to offensive line (#71 Mark Tuinei and #67 Pat Donovan) Larry Cole took the opposite route. Cole made the switch to defensive tackle from offensive tackle three days into the 1968 training camp and quickly impressed the veterans. Cole played in all 14 games his rookie season and even earned himself a nickname, “Bubber Frank” or “Bubba” as dubbed by Dave Edwards.
Cole had a mental grip on the game that was unseen in his era.
This translated a bit into his personality, as he was a part of the “Zero Club” – a group of Cowboys that prided themselves in their production and avoided the limelight – with other Cowboys defensive linemen. Larry Cole was able to shine in an era that featured some other prominent defensive linemen with stars on their helmets: Bob Lilly, Jethro Pugh, George Andrie, Harvey Martin, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, and Randy White to name a few.
#63’s ability to make plays amid all that talent is a strong indicator of his own talent level.
Speaking of plays, Larry Cole made quite a few that stick out in Cowboys’ fans memories. Cole’s arguably most famous moment came on December 16th, 1979. Cole stopped Pro Football Hall of Famer John Riggins on a 3rd-and-2 that forced Washington to punt. This gave Cowboy Legend Roger Staubach the ball while trailing by 6. Staubach engineered what would be his last game-winning comeback, and it was all sparked by Larry Cole’s stop of John Riggins.
Larry Cole didn’t just terrorize the Washington Redskins on that fateful December day in 1979; Larry Cole made a living out of beating the Redskins. Cole scored 4 defensive touchdowns in his 13-year career (3 interceptions and 1 fumble return) and all of them came against the Washington Redskins.
Larry Cole has an unofficial 60 sacks to his name, 5 Super Bowl appearances, 2 Super Bowl victories (VI and XII), and he is certainly the Greatest 63 in Dallas Cowboys History.
Check back tomorrow to find out who the Greatest 62 in Dallas Cowboys History is!
