Best Dallas Cowboys player to wear No. 63 doesn't get his 'Doomsday Defense' due

Welcome once again to The Landry Hat's series on the greatest Dallas Cowboys players to wear every jersey number from No. 0 to No. 99.

Coming off back-to-back entries at No. 61 and No. 62 that featured a pair of exceptional offensive linemen, we're switching to the defensive line here at No. 63 with a player that often doesn't get the credit he deserves for helping the Cowboys to five Super Bowl appearances and the club's first two titles in the 1970s.

But, as is our typical process, let's first have a look at every player who's donned the digit for Dallas over the years.

Tyler Biadasz, C
Lester Brinkley, DE
Emmett Cleary, OT
Larry Cole, DL
Ryan Cook, C
Gennaro DiNapoli, C
Mike Falls, G
John Flannery, OL
John Gesek, G
Aaron Gibson, OT
Mike Kiselak, C
Kyle Kosier, G
Jon Shields, G
Glen Titensor, OL
Casey Walker, DT

The most notable name to newer fans would likely be center Tyler Biadasz, who manned the middle of the Dallas offensive line for four seasons from 2020 to 2023, earning a trip to the Pro Bowl in 2022.

And if this were an Olympic medal stand, we'd put Biadasz on the bronze podium, with the silver going to guard Kyle Kosier, who started 80 regular-season games and four postseason contests for the Cowboys over the six-year stretch from 2006 to 2011.

But the easy call for the gold is Larry Cole, who was a key piece of both versions of the vaunted "Doomsday Defense" back in the day.

Larry Cole was an underrated member of the Dallas Cowboys' "Doomsday Defense"

After a wild collegiate career that started at Air Force, continued at the University of Houston, and concluded with him helping the University of Hawai'i to its first winning season in almost 50 years as a senior in 1967, Cole was taken by Dallas in the 16th round of the 1986 AFL/NFL Draft with the 428th overall selection.

And that was a history-making event in itself, as no player from Hawai'i had ever been drafted at that point. So, throw that into your next trivia night.

Cowboys head coach Tom Landry actually drafted the 6-foot-5, 250-pounder with the idea of having him play on the offensive line, specifically at tackle, but those plans went out the window roughly a week into training camp after seeing what he could do on the defensive line.

Cole ultimately started 10 games at left defensive tackle in his first pro season and certainly made his presenece felt, tallying 3.5 sacks and two touchdowns, one from an interception and another from a fumble recovery, en route to a second-place finish in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. He was even better the following season, racking up a career-high 12.5 sacks, good for the second-most on the team behind only Jethro Pugh's 13.0.

Yes, we're aware that sacks didn't become an official stat until 1982, but as our pals at Pro Football Reference went back and tallied numbers starting in 1960, we're rolling with those numbers. But I digress.

Cole continued to produce over the next several seasons, helping the Cowboys to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances in 1970 and 1971, the second of which resulted in the team's first title. He remained at defensive end up until the 1975 campaign, at which point he was moved to right defensive tackle to replace the retired Bob Lilly.

He shared starting duties there with Bill Gregory in 1975 and 1976 and was then relegated to a reserve role in 1977 due to the emergence of Randy White. The '77 campaign, which resulted in the Cowboys' second title, was actually the only season in which he failed to make a single start.

After making just three starts in 1978, he started all 16 games in both 1979 and 1980, most at tackle but also a few on the end, before retiring ahead of the 1981 season.

In his 13 seasons with the Cowboys, Cole recorded 59.0 sacks, which currently stand good for a tie for the 11th-most in franchise history. And his 26 postseason games played in a Dallas uniform are good for the second-most in team history, trailing only the 27 played by D.D. Lewis.

In those 13 seasons, Cole wildly never earned a single Pro Bowl berth or an All-Pro selection. And given the litany of legends on the roster at any given time during both editions of the famed "Doomsday Defense," the first of which had its heyday from 1966 to 1974, with the second rolling from 1975 to 1982, he undoubtedly doesn't get as much credit as he deserves for his contributions to that first Dallas dynasty, and for whatever reason, he still hasn't received induction into the Cowboys Ring of Honor.

But there's certainly no question that he earned this title of the best Cowboys player to wear No. 63.

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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Larry Cole was an underrated member of the Dallas Cowboys' "Doomsday Defense"

Other Dallas Cowboys jersey honorees

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