Best Dallas Cowboys player to wear No. 85 was lone member of elite club for decades

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

As one would expect given the uniform rules the NFL had in place for decades, every entry we've had in the 80s thus far has been either a wide receiver or a tight end. And while we technically have another wideout here at No. 85, this particular player was always known more for his abilities as a return specialist. It's not that this speedster didn't make any catches during his eight-year career, but again, his biggest contributions typically came on special teams.

But before we break things down, let's first have a quick look at every player to sport No. 85 for America's Team over the years.

Chris Brazzell, WR
Noah Brown, WR
Thornton Chandler, TE
Darrin Chiaverini, WR
Fred Cornwell, TE
Gene Cronin, LB
Princeton Fant, TE
Steve Folsom, TE
Tim Hendrix, TE
Vince Mayle, WR
Dennis McKinnon, WR
Ernie Mills, WR
Jeff Ogden, WR
Kevin Ogletree, WR
Jamaica Rector, WR
Jeff Robinson, TE
Darnay Scott, WR
Tody Smith, DE
Kevin Williams, WR/KR
Rayfield Wright, OT/TE

Now, when looking at this list, the most high-profile player is easily Pro Football Hall of Famer Rayfield Wright, the legendary right offensive tackle who helped the Cowboys to a pair of Super Bowl titles in the 1970s and earned six trips to the Pro Bowl and three First-Team All-Pro selections. But he did all of that wearing No. 70.

What some may not remember (or know at all) about Wright is that before he became one of the top offensive linemen in franchise history, he played the first two years of his career at tight end, wearing No. 85 as a rookie in 1967 and No. 67 in his second season in 1968 before switching to his more familiar No. 70 in 1969. So, while he's easily the best player on this list from an overall standpoint, the fact that he made zero catches while wearing No. 85 knocked him out of consideration.

As such, our winner here is Kevin Williams.

Kevin Williams set multiple types of Dallas Cowboys history in his four-year run with America's Team

The Big East Special Teams Player of the Year and a First-Team All-American in 1991 and a Second-Team All-Big East selection in 1992 at the University of Miami, Williams was taken by Dallas in the second round of the 1993 NFL Draft with the 46th overall selection.

The 5-foot-9, 195-pounder scored six total touchdowns as a rookie in helping the team to a second straight Super Bowl title and spread them out nicely, scoring two as a receiver, two as a rusher, and two on punt returns, with two of those coming in one game, as he scored the Cowboys' only two touchdowns in their famous loss in the snow to the Miami Dolphins on Thanksgiving Day, the first on a 4-yard pass from Troy Aikman and the second on a 64-yard punt return.

When Williams added a kickoff-return touchdown in his second season in 1994, he became the first player in franchise history with a kickoff-return touchdown, a punt-return touchdown, a receiving touchdown, and a rushing touchdown. And for three decades, he remained the only player in franchise history to do so until KaVontae Turpin matched the feat in 2024.

And in adding a third career punt-return TD, he also became the first in franchise history with a kickoff-return touchdown and a punt-return touchdown in the same season.

Furthermore, with 349 yards on punt returns and 1,148 yards on kickoff returns, his 1,497 total return yards set a new franchise record (which has since been broken), surpassing the 1,435 tallied by the legendary Mel Renfro in 1964.

So, that's a lot of history to make in one season.

In 1995, with Alvin Harper leaving for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an attempt to be a top guy, Williams was given a shot to become the Cowboys' WR2 behind Michael Irvin and performed admirably in helping the team win another title, setting new career highs with 38 receptions for 613 yards, while still posting 1,108 yards on kickoff returns and another 166 on punt returns.

A broken foot limited him to just 10 games in 1996, which turned out to be his last season in Dallas, as he signed with the Arizona Cardinals in 1997. He then spent two seasons with the Buffalo Bills and closed out his career playing one year with the San Francisco 49ers.

Despite playing just four seasons with the Cowboys, Williams' 3,416 yards on kickoff returns are the second-most in team history, trailing only Turpin, and his four total TDs on kickoff/punt returns are tied for the most in team history, with Deion Sanders also scoring four, all of his coming on punt returns.

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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Kevin Williams set multiple types of Dallas Cowboys history in his four-year run with America's Team

Other Dallas Cowboys jersey honorees

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