{"id":3025,"date":"2024-08-06T22:08:39","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T22:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=3025"},"modified":"2024-08-06T22:08:39","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T22:08:39","slug":"breaking-former-dallas-cowboys-star-running-back-super-bowl-champion-has-tragically-passed-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=3025","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Former Dallas Cowboys Star Running Back &#038; Super Bowl Champion Has Tragically Passed Away"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former\u00a0<a class=\"mai-link-injected\" href=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/nfl\/dallas-cowboys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dallas Cowboys<\/a>\u00a0star running back Duane Thomas, a key contributor in the franchise\u2019s first\u00a0<a class=\"mai-link-injected\" href=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/tag\/super-bowl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Super Bowl<\/a>\u00a0championship-winning season, has passed away at the age of 77.<\/p>\n<p>According to Calvin Watkins of\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/sports\/cowboys\/2024\/08\/06\/former-dallas-cowboys-running-back-duane-thomas-dies-at-77\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Dallas Morning News<\/a><\/em>, Dallas Cowboys team officials confirmed that Duane Thomas passed away on Sunday. The cause of death was not revealed.<\/p>\n<p>After starring at Texas State, Thomas was drafted 23rd overall by the Cowboys in 1970. Thomas lasted only two seasons in Dallas, but he led them to consecutive Super Bowl appearances.<\/p>\n<p>In his rookie season, Duane Thomas rushed for 805 yards and five touchdowns. The Cowboys lost to the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl 5, but Thomas helped them to championship glory the following year.<\/p>\n<p>As a sophomore, Thomas rushed for 793 yards and a league-leading 11 rushing scores. He added 205 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the postseason, leading Dallas to a Super Bowl 6 victory over the\u00a0<a class=\"mai-link-injected\" href=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/nfl\/miami-dolphins\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Miami Dolphins<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We\u2019re saddened to learn of the death of former Cowboys running back Duane Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>The hometown native &#8211; who went to school in West Texas State &#8211; played a pivotal role in his first two years in Dallas, helping America\u2019s Team clinch back-to-back Super Bowl berths and winning\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1LFjazHeX6\">pic.twitter.com\/1LFjazHeX6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Four Verts \ud83c\udfc8 (@FourVerticals_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FourVerticals_\/status\/1820918569166630984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Here\u2019s an NFL Films profile of Duane Thomas\u2019 celebrated yet turbulent NFL career. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DallasCowboys?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DallasCowboys<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(H\/T Sports Odyssey-YT) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IBiPhMUdqy\">pic.twitter.com\/IBiPhMUdqy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Four Verts \ud83c\udfc8 (@FourVerticals_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FourVerticals_\/status\/1820918639001764142?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Thomas\u2019 promising career with Dallas ended abruptly, however, following a contract dispute with head coach Tom Landry, team president Tex Schramm and executive Gil Brandt. The Cowboys wound up trading him to the San Diego Chargers in the 1972 offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Duane Thomas never wound up playing a snap for the Chargers and instead finished his\u00a0<a class=\"mai-link-injected\" href=\"https:\/\/www.totalprosports.com\/nfl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NFL<\/a>\u00a0career with Washington. In two seasons there, he compiled 442 rushing yards and five touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Thomas and the Dallas Cowboys\u2019 organization during this difficult time.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-duane-thomas-holds-a-special-legacy-in-dallas\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Duane Thomas Holds A Special Legacy In Dallas<\/h2>\n<p>While old-timer Cowboys fans will always be left wondering what could have been if Thomas never left America\u2019s Team, he still holds a valuable place in the history of this storied NFL franchise.<\/p>\n<p>Without Thomas, perhaps the Cowboys wouldn\u2019t have won a Super Bowl in the 1971 season. And if he didn\u2019t leave in the first place, maybe Dallas wouldn\u2019t have landed future Hall of Fame RB Tony Dorsett, who played a pivotal role in their second Super Bowl championship-winning season.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0star running back Duane Thomas, a key contributor in the franchise\u2019s first\u00a0Super Bowl\u00a0championship-winning season, has passed away at the age of 77. According to Calvin Watkins of\u00a0The Dallas Morning &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3025"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3027,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025\/revisions\/3027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}