Cowboys' first big-play man is now the 'cosmic nanny'

Frank Clarke once cradled touchdown passes for the Original Cowboys.

Now he cradles children and touches lives.

Clarke, 74, is a live-in nanny. He works for a Durham, N.C., family.

It's not his first nanny job, either. He’s had a few of them since 1977.

He divorced after 21 years of marriage in ’77, abandoned most of his worldly possessions (except what fit into his car), then drove 2,000 miles from his home in San Francisco Bay to Kentucky.

It was a journey to follow his heart and answer a calling.

Clarke, who had been out of the NFL for 10 years by then, found an "alternative consciousness growth" program in Blue Grass country. He signed on.

And from that point forward, he channeled his love toward kids.

Earlier, Clarke had helped raise three children of his own — all grown now. His youngest daughter is 47. So, he did have some advanced training with this nanny thing.

But it had been quite awhile since he read Dr. Seuss to a 5-year-old.

The Cosmic Nanny

If you think Clarke would rather be off fishing than changing diapers, you're dead wrong.

A typical day for him is finding activities, creating desk-top projects and fixing meals for a pre-schooler named Quinn and his 11-month-old brother, Macallen.

Here's a former NFL star who spent 11 seasons playing for Paul Brown and Tom Landry. He was an All-Pro. He played in the Ice Bowl. He once caught 10 passes for 241 yards against the Washington Redskins.

But he never felt the "miracles and blessings" that come his way now, on a daily basis, caring for small children.

"I'm a live-in nanny. I’m the whole shebang, man," said Clarke, whose robust voice sounds like a man half his age. "I'm affectionately known by my friends as The Cosmic Nanny."

"Cosmic Nanny?" I replied. "I like that."

"I do, too," Clarke said. "It's true ... in the spirit of Mary Poppins, it's all true."

But he doesn't scream or mandate change like the woman in the reality TV show. In other words, he isn't Nanny 911 pushy.

"What I try to do is find the rhythm of the family," Clarke said. "I want to nurture whatever mom and dad are setting forth. To me, that's the most wholesome thing I can do for the children."

He has a way of connecting with people on a spiritual level, without sounding preachy.

Just ask the mother of Quinn and Macallen what he means to a family of four with two working parents: Everything.

"Frank sure is a nice guy," said Jennifer Weaver, a Durham lawyer. "We are very blessed."

Cowboys’ deep threat

Born Franklin Delano Clarke in February 1934, Frank was named after the 32nd president of the United States.

His parents were like most Americans in the 1930s who revered Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who felt that he was owed a debt of gratitude for his compassion for people from all walks of life.

Clarke joked that if FDR were alive and in office today, "he'd probably offer me a Cabinet position."

Ironically, this boundless energy and enormous passion that Clarke exhibits at age 74 eluded him as a player in the NFL.

"If I have the slightest lament, that was it," Clarke said. "I can never remember going into a Cowboys game where it mattered to me whether we won or lost."

It just wasn't a part of his personality or athletic DNA.

Yet, he turned out to be the Cowboys' first bona fide home-run threat -- before "Bullet" Bob Hayes, before Drew Pearson, before Michael Irvin, before Terrell Owens.

He became a favorite target of Eddie LeBaron and Don Meredith through most of the '60s.

Clarke's arrival in Dallas via the 1960 expansion draft (from Cleveland) was overshadowed by a dearth of quality players on one NFL roster.

He quickly separated himself from the pack, whether Clarke wants to give himself credit or not.

In the team's first-ever taste of victory (a 14-3 preseason win over the New York Giants at Louisville), he scored both touchdowns -- a 73-yarder from LeBaron and a 60-yarder from Meredith.

"Turn on the burners, Frank," either one would say in the huddle. "Get past somebody ... and I’ll get the ball to you."