'Greatest Pound-for-Pound Ever!' Cowboys Chuck Howley Preps for Hall Of Fame
Former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley was a man of firsts. He was the first defensive player to be named MVP of a Super Bowl, and in that same game, he was the first player on a losing team to win the honor.
And now, Howley has been named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the senior category, for players who have been retired for at least 25 years.
Howley posted two interceptions and forced one fumble in that 16-13 loss to the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V at the Orange Bowl in 1971. That season ended his run of five consecutive All-Pro seasons, that went along with his six Pro Bowl honors.
The following season, Howley and the Cowboys were Super Bowl VI champions after a dominating 24-3 win over the Miami Dolphins - the last loss before their perfect 17-0 season in 1972.
Howley's induction into the Hall of Fame was overdue as former vice president of player personnel Gil Brandt stated. “I don’t think there was ever a better pound-for-pound player in the National Football League than Chuck Howley,” Brandt said. “As a pass rusher, as a linebacker, as a defensive lineman, as a person.”
But Howley almost wasn't a Cowboy, and almost didn't make any mark in the NFL. He was drafted by the Bears in 1958 out of West Virginia, where he remains the only player ever to letter in five sports. In his second season with Chicago, he suffered a knee injury that ended his career - for the time being.
After playing in a Mountaineers alumni game, Howley thought he would try professional ball one more time, and Brandt acquired his rights from the Bears in exchange for draft picks in 1961. The rest is history, as Howley spent 13 seasons with Dallas where his 24 interceptions are second among linebackers in club history behind Lee Roy Jordan.
Howley is already a member of the coveted Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor, and now Howley's football story finally ends happily with the 87-year-old's long-overdue induction this weekend into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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