Best Dallas Cowboys player to wear No. 61 is one of the best undrafted players ever

Welcome back to our 100-piece series covering the greatest Dallas Cowboys players to wear every jersey number from No. 0 to No. 99.

And we've certainly got one of the greatest offensive linemen to ever sport a star on the side of his helmet here at No. 61. But before we get to the big (and in this particular case, we're talking very big) reveal, let's first have a quick look at everyone who's worn the number for America's Team over the years.

Jack Anderson, G
Jim Cooper, OT
Kelvin Garmon, G
Allen Green, K
Nick Leverett, G
Bill Nagy, G
Nate Newton, G/OT
Blaine Nye, G
Duane Putnam, G
Adam Redmond, G

As you can see, this isn't a lengthy list, but there are certainly several notable names here.

You've got two-time Pro Bowler Blaine Nye, who started 96 of the 125 regular-season games in which he appeared for Dallas from 1968 to 1976, mostly at right guard, and helped the team to its first Super Bowl title to close out the 1971 season. And once Nye retired, Jim Cooper took No. 61 as a rookie in 1977, a campaign that resulted in the Cowboys' second Super Bowl victory, and ultimately started 99 games for the club over the course of his 10-year career, mostly at right tackle.

But the clear-cut call here is Nate Newton, who struggled to find his footing at the beginning of his career but, as mentioned, ultimately became one of franchise's all-time greats.

Nate Newton was a big part of the O-line that helped the Dallas Cowboys win three Super Bowls in the 1990s

Despite a solid collegiate career at Florida A&M, Newton went unselected in the 1983 NFL Draft but was taken by the Tampa Bay Bandits in the 1983 USFL Territorial Draft. Wanting to play in the NFL, though, he opted to sign as an undrafted free agent with the team now known as the Washington Commanders, who ultimately cut him during training camp. And on that very same day, he was involved in a serious car accident that kept him out of football altogether that year.

He bit the bullet and joined the Bandits in 1984 and spent two years with the team playing for Steve Spurrier before the league folded ahead of the 1986 season, at which point he signed with the Cowboys.

He wore No. 67 in his first year with the team, a year during which he made zero starts, before switching to No. 61 in 1987, making 11 starts that season at left guard. He remained in that position for three seasons until Jimmy Johnson moved him to right tackle, only to move him back to left guard ahead of the 1992 campaign after Erik Williams moved into the starting slot at right tackle.

And it was at that point that things took off for the 6-foot-3, 335-pounder, and for the Cowboys as a whole, as Dallas won three Super Bowls in the four-season stretch from 1992 to 1995. And the offensive line was unquestionably one of the big reasons for the team's success, as Newton & Co. provided plenty of pass protection for Troy Aikman, while also opening up bus-size holes for Emmitt Smith.

In the seven-season stretch from 1992 to 1998, which proved to be his last year with the team, Newton earned six trips to the Pro Bowl, the only exception being 1997, and also earned back-to-back First-Team All-Pro selections in 1994 and 1995. He closed out his career playing the 1999 campaign for the Carolina Panthers

Only three offensive linemen in Cowboys history have received more Pro Bowl nods than his six, those being Tyron Smith (8), Zack Martin (9), and Larry Allen (10). Newton is widely considered one of the best undrafted players in NFL history and easily takes this title as the best player in Dallas history to don No. 61.

Other Dallas Cowboys jersey honorees

This list will be updated daily until all 100 entries are complete, so please be sure to check back in with The Landry Hat for updates.

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Nate Newton was a big part of the O-line that helped the Dallas Cowboys win three Super Bowls in the 1990s

Other Dallas Cowboys jersey honorees

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