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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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On May 19, 1971, Tony Liscio was involved in a trade for “Bambi.”
It didn’t take an Act of Congress. Or an animal-rights act.Lance Alworth — aka “Bambi” – was a future Hall of Famer and one of the American Football League’s all-time marquee players. So, it did create a buzz when San Diego swapped the old AFL great to Dallas for three players barely a year into the NFL-AFL merger.How good was Alworth? He was the first AFL player elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a receiver you couldn’t overthrow. Only Dan Fouts (No. 14) and Alworth (No. 19) have their uniform numbers retired by the Chargers. At the time of the trade, Liscio had started more than 80 games for the Cowboys (left tackle or left guard). He and Alworth were both 30. In order to get a “Bambi” deal to fly, Dallas had to part with two starters — 32-year-old tight end Pettis Norman and Liscio — and a fifth-year defensive tackle, Ron East.It was a steep price to pay, but Tom Landry put a premium on older receivers who could still run. He liked their good hands, good instincts ... long resumés.Seven years earlier, Paul Warfield was not drafted by Dallas because veteran Buddy Dial became available to Landry.“Warfield was our guy all along,” recalled Landry’s personnel man, Gil Brandt. “We had a commitment from him ... for something like $25,000.”But Landry switched gears. After finishing 4-10 in ’63, he simply believed that his fledgling team could use veteran help at wide receiver more than it could use a flashy prospect.Dial was that veteran. A Steeler since ’59, he had developed into a two-time Pro Bowler with moves on top of his moves.In short, Dial became Landry’s Warfield.At the time, Steelers coach Buddy Parker had grown weary of his defense (it may have had something to do with a 31-0 loss to the Giants on the final Sunday of the ’63 season) and coveted University of Texas defensive tackle Scott Appleton.With the AFL and NFL waging a bidding war for college players, Dallas had a better chance of nailing down this Longhorn — so Parker and the Steelers thought — which set up a Dial for “Appleton pick” trade.The Cowboys did their part. With Warfield still on the board, they drafted “Scott Appleton, Texas” on the fourth pick overall. (Warfield was taken at No. 11 by Cleveland, and Art Modell never forgave the Cowboys for driving up the price on Warfield.)Ultimately, Pittsburgh ended up with nothing. Appleton signed with the AFL Houston Oilers, and Dial gave Dallas two decent years (1964-66) before retiring. Now if you’ve been paying attention, you just know Landry would make that “Bambi” trade in May 1971.“That was 37 years ago,” said Liscio, who recalls the trade coming down like most trades of the day: Hard, fast ... and without week-long deliberations in the media over players reporting or not reporting.“Back then, you either accepted the trade or you retired,” said Liscio, now 67. “You didn’t even dare to have a agent.” Liscio reported to the Chargers’ training camp at UC-Irvine and almost immediately strained both hamstrings as a result of a team-mandated stretching program.
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