Best Dallas Cowboys player to wear No. 73 is the strongest player in NFL history

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

After kicking off the 70s with a pair of the best offensive linemen in franchise history at Nos. 70 and 71, we switched gears at No. 72 with one of the top defensive linemen ever to sport a star on the side of his helmet, one who was also one of the tallest players in NFL history.

And here at No. 73, we're switching back to the offensive line with a legend who many believe to be the strongest in NFL history. But before we dive into that, let's first have a look at every player who's worn the number for America's Team over the years.

Larry Allen, G/OT
Mackenzy Bernadeau, G
Dave Burnette, OT
Jeremy Clark, DT
Monte Clark, OT
Syd Kitson, G
Joe Looney, G
Ralph Neely, OT
Danny Noonan, DL
Kurt Ploeger, DT
Tyler Smith, OL
Steve Wright, OT

There's no sense in stalling any longer, as everyone knows the call here is Larry Allen. But if we were looking at this like an actual football game, this wasn't a blowout, as Ralph Neely undoubtedly deserves to be acknowledged as well.

A two-time All-American at Oklahoma, Neely was a second-round pick of the Cowboys in 1965, which is just when the team was transitioning from a lowly expansion franchise into a top contender. And for 13 years, he was one of the players who helped Dallas remain as such.

Playing both offensive tackle positions, Neely started 168 of the 172 regular-season games and all 19 postseason contests in which he appeared for Dallas from 1965 to 1977, winning two titles and earning two trips to the Pro Bowl and four total All-Pro selections (three First Team, one Second Team). So, again, this was nowhere near a blowout.

That said, though, Allen is still the obvious call here.

Larry Allen made 10 Pro Bowls in 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys

While Neely spent his collegiate career with one of the top programs in the country, Allen's path to the NFL was far different.

Academically ineligible to play Division I ball, he began his college career at the juco level at Butte College, where he earned a pair of All-Conference selections and All-American honors as a sophomore. He then took a year off before enrolling at Division II Sonoma State, where he allowed just one sack in two years and was a two-time All-American.

Despite his small-school status, Allen was invited to both the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl and was ultimately taken by Dallas in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft with the 46th overall selection.

The Cowboys, who had won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1992 and 1993, already had one of the best offensive lines in the league when Allen arrived, but his talent was just too much to ignore, and he ended up starting 10 games in his first season, switching between tackle and guard en route to earning All-Rookie Team honors, and his career just skyrocketed from there.

Over the next 11 seasons, Allen earned 10 trips to the Pro Bowl, only missing out after an injury limited him to just five games in 2002. His 10 selections are tied for the third-most in Cowboys history (Mel Renfro also had 10), with only Bob Lilly and Jason Witten earning more with 11 each.

He also received seven total All-Pro selections, six of which were First-Team nods. In that regard, only Lilly, Randy White, and Zack Martin have more with seven apiece.

The beauty of Allen's career is that, except for center, he played every single position on the offensive line at one point or another. He played more guard than tackle, but it never really mattered where he lined up, as he was elite everywhere.

And the big reason for that was his ridiculous strength. And I do mean ridiculous, and saying he's the strongest player in NFL history isn't out of line by any stretch of the imagination. The year he entered the draft, Allen could already bench 500-plus pounds, and by 1998, he could bench 600 pounds and squat 800 pounds.

And in 2001, a video taken in the Cowboys' weight room showed the 6-foot-3, 335-pounder first benching 635 pounds, then 675 pounds, and then, albeit with a little spotter assistance, a whopping 705 pounds.

And this was with him wearing only a cut-off shirt and shorts with no weightlifting gear whatsoever. At that time, only six people had ever surpassed the 700-pound mark raw, and the world record at that time was 715 pounds. So, again, saying he was the strongest player in NFL history is nowhere near out of line.

Allen was released by the Cowboys following the 2005 season and closed his career playing two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, earning his 11th Pro Bowl selection in that first year. He was inducted into the Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2011 and then into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

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 Allen made 10 Pro Bowls in 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys

Other Dallas Cowboys jersey honorees

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