 Bob Lilly with the Dallas Cowboys. | |||
| Personal Information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Born: | July 26 1939 in Olney, Texas-[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] | ||
| Birthplace: | {{{birthplace}}} | ||
| Career information | |||
| Year(s) | 1961–1974 | ||
| NFL Draft | 1961 / Round: 1 / Pick: 13 | ||
| AFL Draft |
1961 / Round: 2 / Pick: 14 (By the Dallas Texans) | ||
| NFL Supplemental Draft | / Pick: | ||
| College | Texas Christian | ||
| Professional teams | |||
| Career stats | |||
| Games played | 196 | ||
| Sacks | 94.5 | ||
| Interceptions | 1 | ||
| Stats at NFL.com | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Robert Lewis Lilly (born July 26, 1939 in Olney, Texas-[8]) is a former American football defensive tackle in the National Football League and photographer. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.
College career[edit | edit source]
Lilly played college football at Texas Christian University (TCU), where he was a two-time All-Southwest Conference pick and a consensus All-American. He was a 1961 member of the College Football All-America Team and was a 2006 inductee to the East-West Shrine Game Hall of Fame. Lilly was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981. He is also a notable alumnus of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.[9][10]
Professional career[edit | edit source]
As a first-round draft pick in the 1961 NFL Draft, and the first draft pick in Dallas Cowboys franchise history, Lilly went on to be All-Pro seven times, and was selected to play in 11 Pro Bowl games. He was also drafted in the second round (14th overall) in the 1961 AFL Draft by the Dallas Texans (now Kansas City Chiefs) prior to the merger with the NFL.
Lilly began his career as a defensive end in 1961, but midway though the 1963 (his third) season Cowboys coach Tom Landry moved him to defensive tackle. Lilly made the adjustment becoming the main man in Dallas's vaunted "Doomsday Defense". As a tackle, Lilly was a first-team All-NFL choice every year from 1964 through 1969, then again in 1971. On January 17, 1971, the Cowboys finally made the Super Bowl, against the Baltimore Colts, only to lose the game, 16-13, on a field goal in the final nine seconds. However, in 1972 he and the rest of the Cowboys won the Super Bowl against the Miami Dolphins, 24-3. His 29-yard sack of Dolphin quarterback Bob Griese (an NFL Record) is one of the most memorable plays in Super Bowl defensive history. This was the signature play of his 14-year hall-of-fame career.
Lilly's greatest assets were his furious pass-rushing skills and his ability to slice plays open with his agility and instincts. He had a distinct stance, the so-called 4-point stance, placing both hands on the field instead of the more usual one, generating greater force when rushing straight ahead. Lilly's agility and quickness helped him score four defensive touchdowns in his career. His first was returning an interception 17 yards in 1964 while the other three came on fumble recoveries. NFL Films did an eight minute feature on Lilly, and say about Lilly: [he was the] "unblockable, unstoppable, force of The Doomsday Defense", and this was not to discredit those unfortunate enough to stand in his way. Lilly was regularly double and triple teamed for the majority of his career because of his effectiveness as a defensive tackle.
Lilly was extremely durable during his career, playing in 196 consecutive regular-season games. The only NFL game he would miss in his career, was the 1973 NFC Championship Game loss (10-27), December 30, against the Minnesota Vikings, due to a leg injury. Lilly injured his hamstring in the Cowboys victory (22-10) against the Denver Broncos, December 2, 1973. In the first play of the 1973 NFC Divisional playoff game, three weeks later on December 23, versus the Los Angeles Rams (Cowboys 27-Rams 16) he re-injured this same hamstring.
Affectionately known as "Mr. Cowboy," his name was the first inscribed in the "Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor", above Texas Stadium and the current Cowboys Stadium. The Cowboys had a Bob Lilly Day on November 23, 1975, to honor him and make Lilly the first inductee into The Ring of Honor. He has attended every induction of each ring of honor inductee since.
Lilly was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, his first year of eligibility, and was the first player who spent his entire career with the Cowboys to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He entered the Hall of Fame along with former teammate Herb Adderley (for two seasons), as well as David "Deacon" Jones and Jim Otto. The Sporting News named him a member of the All-Century NFL Team and "the greatest defensive tackle in NFL history". Lilly, Adderley, and Jones were all drafted in 1961. Tom Landry said of Lilly: "As I've said before, another Lilly won't come along in my time. We're observing a man who will become a legend". This comment is from the 1972 Street and Smith's Pro Football Yearbook. He also said that "Nobody is better than Lilly". He is a member of the National Football League 1960s All-Decade Team and National Football League 1970s All-Decade Team.
In 1999, he was ranked number 10 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranking defensive lineman and the highest-ranking Cowboy. The only defensive players ranked ahead of Lilly were Dick Butkus and Lawrence Taylor. Sports Illustrated named him one of the ten most revolutionary defensive players.
He is the only player to wear #74 in Dallas Cowboys team history.[11]
Photography[edit | edit source]
When he began traveling with the Cowboys, Lilly regularly had his camera at his side. His interest in photography began when he was named to the College Football All-America Team in 1961, which was sponsored by Kodak. As a part of the honor he was given a 35-mm camera and a year's supply of film by the company.[12] Before and after games, he spent an increasing amount of time studying and photographing old sports stadiums. Lilly co-authored the 1983 book Bob Lilly Reflections with sportswriter Sam Blair, featuring scores of his black and white photographs of teammates in candid poses.[13] He was also a photographer for the Texas Air National Guard where he was an Airman 2nd Class. Lilly spent two weeks in 1967 as part of the Texas National Guard at the Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ A Cowboy's Life, Chicago, Illinois, Triumph Books, page=3 ISBN 978-1600781018, Bob Lilly, with Kristine Setting Clark, 2008
- ↑ Legends of the Dallas Cowboys, page 48, 2004, by Cody Monk, published by Sports Publishing LLC, ISBN 978-1582617077.
- ↑ Great defensive players of the NFL, page 83, Dave Anderson, 1967, Random House Publishing, ISBN 978-0394801971.
- ↑ NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame All Time Greats, page 147 by Don Smith, 1988, Gallery Book , ISBN 978-0831763008.
- ↑ Official 1992 National Football (Official) League Record & Fact Book, 1992, Workman Pub. Co., ISBN 978-1563052477.
- ↑ NFL Football: The Official Fan's Guide, by Ron Smith, 1997, Triumph Books, ISBN 978-1572432147.
- ↑ Great Athletes, by Peter Johnson, 2009, for Salem Press, ISBN 978-1587654732.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedBOP - ↑ Sigma Phi Epsilon (March 1, 2009). Sigma Phi Epsilon Journal pp. 13–14. Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ↑ Discovering New Grounds. ULM Chacahoula. pp. 283.
- ↑ MacMahon, Tim (April 23, 2010), Cowboys' Bryant to wear sacred No. 88, ESPNDallas.com, http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/news/story?id=5129192
- ↑ Photography. - Bob Lilly Promo
- ↑ Lilly, Bob, and Sam Blair, (1983). - Bob Lilly Reflections. - Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing Company. - ISBN 0-87833-338-X.
External links[edit | edit source]
- Lilly profile - Pro Football Hall of Fame
- Bob Lilly homepage
- Pro-Football-Reference.com - career statistics
- A list of Bob Lilly Quotes
