Legendary Cowboys OL, Super Bowl Champion Dies at 70

Imagine a career that spanned such a time period that you got to not only play with Roger Staubach on the Dallas Cowboys, but also start games alongside Troy Aikman?

We don’t have to imagine what that might look like because of legendary Cowboys offensive lineman Tom Rafferty, who played for the franchise from 1976 to 1989 and died on June 5 in Windsor, Colorado, at 70 years old.

Rafferty won Super Bowl XII with the Cowboys following the 1977 season and retired with the franchise record by playing in 167 consecutive games.

“Tom Rafferty, a stalwart in the Cowboys’ offensive line whose career bridged generations from Roger Staubach to Troy Aikman and who was so tough he taught himself to walk again in middle age after a neurological disorder left him with no feeling below the waist, died Thursday at 70 in Windsor, Colo., after a stroke,” The Dallas Morning News’ Kevin Sherrington wrote on June 5. “Rafferty’s daughter, Rachel Powers, said her father had been hospitalized since early May.”

Two-Sport Star Found Path Playing at Penn State

Rafferty was a 2-sport star in football and lacrosse at Fayetteville-Manlius High School in upstate New York before switching positions from defensive line to offensive line at Penn State for head coach Joe Paterno. He was a star on Penn State’s undefeated, 12-0 season in 1974 and was an All-American in 1975 before the Cowboys selected him in the fourth round of the 1976 NFL draft (No. 119 overall).

Rafferty became the starter at right guard in his second season in 1977 as well as serving as the team’s long snapper as the Cowboys defeated the Denver Broncos, 27-10, in Super Bowl XII.

While Rafferty played in 2 Super Bowls — the Cowboys lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIII following the 1978 season — the most famous play of his career wasn’t in the playoffs. That came when Rafferty helped spring Dallas running back Tony Dorsett on a 99-yard touchdown run against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football on January 3, 1983.

Tributes Pour in for Rafferty Following Death

Rafferty did indeed have to learn how to walk again after he suffered a bout of transverse myelitis in 2008 — a neurological condition — that put him in a wheelchair and a walker as he was forced to learn to walk again.

Rafferty switched positions from guard to center and eventually gave way to 2-time Super Bowl champion and 3-time NFL All-Pro Mark Stepnoski as the starter in his final season in 1989.

Tributes to Rafferty poured in on social media following his death.

“Tom was one of the most insightful veterans on the Cowboys when I first began covering the team,” NFL reporter Ed Werder wrote on his official X account on June 5. “He was an exemplary person and exceptional player. Sympathies to his family, friends and teammates.”

“Crushed at the passing of 13 yr (Cowboys) OL Tom Rafferty at 70,” X user Brad Sham wrote on June 5. “Perfect Landry c-g: quick, smart, tough and reliable. Better person. Funny, sharp, great teammate. Great human. You win with men like Raff. Rest now, friend.”