“Roger the Dodger”
Roger Staubach
QB | Junior | United States Naval Academy
In 1963, Staubach became the second Naval Academy football player in four years to win the Heisman Trophy.
Known as “Roger the Dodger,” all he did as a junior quarterback was lead Navy to a ranking of second in the country and a berth in the Cotton Bowl, where he set Bowl records for pass completions (21-of-31) and yards passing (228). The Midshipmen posted wins over West Virginia, Michigan, Notre Dame and Maryland that season. He completed 106 passes in 161 attempts for 1,474 yards, while earning consensus All-America honors, as well as the Maxwell Trophy and Walter Camp Memorial Trophy.
At one time, Staubach, who was hampered by injuries in his senior season of 1964, had set 28 Naval Academy records in football. He also had some outstanding performances as a varsity baseball player and a brief but significant moment as a varsity basketball player. He lettered in baseball three-straight years (1963-65) as an outfielder and pitcher. In 1963, he hit .420, and in 1965 he was the team captain. He also won a letter in basketball in 1962-63.
Staubach was the recipient of the Thompson Trophy Cup at the Academy for three-consecutive years and was the 1965 winner of the Naval Academy Athletic Association Sword. He was the first sophomore to win the Thompson Trophy Cup and is its only three-time winner. He was only the fourth midshipman since 1900 to win both the Thompson Trophy Cup and NAAA Sword.
After four years in the U. S. Navy, including a tour in Vietnam, Staubach joined the Dallas Cowboys and led that team to unprecedented heights. Again, displaying the daring play he had shown at Navy, Staubach directed the Cowboys to 23 fourth-quarter comeback wins, 14 in the final two minutes of a game or in overtime. He played 11 season with the Cowboys and led them to the Super Bowl four times, including world championships in 1972 and 1978. The Cowboys were 90-31 with Staubach as their starting quarterback.
Among his awards were the NFL Players Association Most Valuable Player and The Sporting News NFL Player of the Year in 1971, Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl VI (1972), Washington Touchdown Club NFC Player of the Year in 1976 and 1978, NFC Pro Bowl selection five times, the Vince Lombardi Sportsman of the Year Award in 1975, NFL Players’ Association NFC Offensive Player of the Year (1978), and the Byron “Whizzer” White Humanitarian Award in 1979.
Staubach was named Walter Camp Foundation Man of the Year in 1985, was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985, his first year of eligibility.
The football locker room in Ricketts Hall was named in his honor in 1996 and in 2008, Staubach received the National Football Foundation’s Gold Medal, the highest honor one can receive from that organization. Staubach has also been honored as a “Distinguished Graduate” of the United States Naval Academy.
He recently was named to the Walter Camp All-Century Team, was elected into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame, spearheaded a successful movement to land North Texas and the Dallas Cowboys the Super Bowl in 2011 and was named to the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium All-Stadium Team.
Staubach is a member of the Board of Directors at Jones Lang LaSalle.
He was inducted into the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame in 1981.
