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About the series
Each week, staff writer Ray Buck takes a look at the history of the Cowboys - from a great game to a singular moment to a memorable player - in his online-exclusive offering, Old 'Boys Club.
Next Friday
"The catch" by "Bullet" Bob Hayes that turned Tom Landry’s head for the first time. Hint: The game was played in Oklahoma.
Each week, staff writer Ray Buck takes a look at the history of the Cowboys - from a great game to a singular moment to a memorable player - in his online-exclusive offering, Old 'Boys Club.
Next Friday
"The catch" by "Bullet" Bob Hayes that turned Tom Landry’s head for the first time. Hint: The game was played in Oklahoma.
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For his MVP performance in Super Bowl V, Chuck Howley received a shiny, new 1971 Dodge Charger. It was gunmetal metallic. And fast.
"Back then," said Howley, "they put a lot of horsepower under the hood."Howley loved that sports car. So, why did he keep it only a month?"Because you'd squeal the tires every time you put a little too much gas on it," Howley recalled. "My wife, Nancy, got a kick out of it. She couldn't go out and play cards with the girls without squealing her tires. "So, we traded it in for a Suburban ... which was a lot better for both of us."If nothing else, Howley is your sensible ol' Cowboy. He was a favorite of Tom Landry.Landry once said: “I don’t know that I’ve seen anybody better at linebacker than Howley.”Those words still resonate with Howley, although he doesn’t take himself — or compliments — too seriously — even ones from high places, like Mt. Landry. “I think if you go back to that particular article,” said Howley, “Coach Landry felt I did some things, too, that I wasn’t supposed to do.”I mean, who busts himself after 35 years?Howley does. He was voted to six Pro Bowls and became the fourth inductee into the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor. And he was a Super Bowl MVP. He doesn’t need to embellish his résumé.“Chuck Howley was the total package,” said Jack Pardee, a Howley contemporary with the Rams and Redskins. “I really thought he was an underrated player for the Cowboys.”Bob Lilly, Lee Roy Jordan and Mel Renfro grabbed more headlines. But for 13 seasons in Dallas (1961-73), Howley was in the middle of almost everything, or so it seemed.“I don’t know the reason, but I always seemed to have a good game in a big game,” Howley said. “It was just a characteristic of mine.”He embraced the switch from strongside linebacker to weakside linebacker when it was decided that Dave Edwards (1963-75) had more upper-body strength. And with that move came 25 career interceptions for Howley. (There are cornerbacks today who don’t finish their careers with 25 INTs.)“But that’s what happens over on the weakside,” said Howley, modestly. “In the Landry system, you got to cover that halfback, man-to-man, on passing routes. Of course, most [opposing] coaches believed their halfback could beat a linebacker ... so that put a lot of balls in my area.”In Super Bowl V against the Colts, Howley had an end-zone interception and a fumble recovery. All told, the Dallas defense came up with seven take-aways that day in what was the sloppiest Super Bowl ever played (11 turnovers, both teams). Howley, 71, now operates his own Dallas-based uniform sales company — Uniforms Inc. — that employs more than 40 people and has a clientele that includes most local law enforcement, security workers and DART bus drivers.But he’s at a loss when asked to explain the outcome of Super Bowl V.“We’re still trying to figure out how we lost that game,” Howley said. It ended 16-13 on a 32-yard field goal by Colts rookie kicker Jim O’Brien, who was out of the league three years later.
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