All-Time great Dallas Cowboy D.D. Lewis, a linebacker on Dallas’ Doomsday Defense in the 1970s, passed away on Tuesday at age 79, the team announced Wednesday.
Although he was the SEC defensive player of the year in 1967, Dallas didn’t select him until the sixth round of the 1968 draft due to concerns about his 6-foot-1, 225-pound frame.
He went on to become one of the all-time franchise greats, playing in a Cowboys-record 27 playoff games and was a member of the team that won Super Bowls VI and XII. He had two interceptions in the 1975 NFC Championship Game, helping Dallas become the first wild-card team to make the Super Bowl.
Perhaps he is most famous for his comment about the old Texas Stadium, saying it had “a hole in the roof so God can watch his favorite team play.”
Lewis was named to the Cowboys Silver Anniversary Team in 1984.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.