IRVING, Texas - For 37 years, Texas Stadium has housed most of the signature moments in Dallas Cowboys history.
Roger Staubach understands its significance perhaps better than anyone. He left the first indelible mark on the sparkling 65,000-seat stadium by quarterbacking the Cowboys to a 44-21 victory over the Patriots in its inaugural game.
Three months later, the Cowboys captured their first Super Bowl championship. Staubach, aptly nicknamed "Captain Comeback" for his calm-and-collected rallies, would win another title before retiring in 1979 and eventually stepping into both the Cowboys' Ring of Honor and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Standing in the east end zone days before the current Cowboys left for training camp in Oxnard, Calif., Staubach shared his most vivid Texas Stadium memories heading into its final season.
What were your impressions of Texas Stadium when it opened in 1971?
Staubach: "It turned out we came in during the middle of the '71 season and at that time we were struggling a little bit. We ended up 4-3 in the middle of the year, but we beat (New England) here and it was my turn because Craig (Morton) and I were alternating, and so I got the chance to start the first game here. It was a tremendous thrill with these (luxury) boxes and all the publicity and everything. We had been playing in the Cotton Bowl. We won that game and actually that season we went to the Super Bowl, so we didn't lose a game in the stadium. It was the beginning of a great period of time.
I liked the stadium because it protected you from the wind as a quarterback. You can throw a football in the rain actually better than when it's windy. You had to get used to the crown on the stadium a little bit because it drops off pretty good, but it's a heck of a stadium and back then it was a big deal. Probably the biggest news in sports was this Cowboys stadium with a roof over it, or a half-roof over it.
When you enter the stadium today, which memories come to mind first?
Staubach: I just have great memories. I had a chance to quarterback the opening game here and I played through '79. We had a couple games in here that we lost that were tough losses, but not too many, so the memories were usually pretty good here. That last playoff game to the Rams was a tough one. We were kind of a beat-up team that year but we fought and got to the playoffs and had beaten the Redskins at the end of the year 35-34. Then losing to the Rams 21-19 was real difficult. I mostly have all good memories. I got knocked out on Thanksgiving Day and Clint Longley came in.
You've only given us the bad memories so far. Any good ones?
Staubach: (Laughs) There's just a couple like that. The rest of them . . . we beat the Redskins here, we beat the Rams on Thanksgiving Day that '71 season where Bob Hayes caught about a 60-yard touchdown pass. We beat the Bears here. We had a lot of great wins here.
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