These five Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame snubs may not be the easiest cases, but their resumes deserve a much closer look from Canton.
As we all know, the Dallas Cowboys have plenty of gold jackets and busts in Canton, Ohio, but that doesn’t mean the Hall of Fame has finished telling their story. That is where this list I built comes in.
I wanted to rank the top 10 Dallas Cowboys who still deserve a real Hall of Fame conversation, but I didn’t want this to be just another nostalgia piece. Everybody has favorite players, and remembers a guy a certain way, but the Hall of Fame argument has to go deeper than that.
So I looked at the resumes, the awards, the era, and how these Cowboys compare to players already in the Hall at the same positions.
The first part of this two-part series will be No. 10-6. These are not all slam-dunk snubs or cases, but I think every one of them deserves more respect than they usually get.
10. Ralph Neely, Offensive Tackle (1965-1977)
Ralph Neely is probably the hardest sell on this list, but I still think he belongs in the discussion.
Neely was a two-time Pro Bowler, three-time 1st-Team All-Pro, one second-team All-Pro, a two-time Super Bowl Champion, and a member of the NFL’s 1960s All-Decade Team.
The All-Decade Team part is important. You don’t land on a list like that unless people around the league viewed you as one of the best at your position.
That doesn’t mean Neely should be treated like Rayfield Wright or Bob Brown. Those guys had stronger cases, but Neely was part of the foundation that helped turn Dallas into a real NFL power.
He is obviously not a modern ballot kind of name, but he is a senior committee case, and that’s fine. Those are the exact types of players that group is supposed to go back to and study.
9. Lee Roy Jordan, Linebacker (1963-1976)
Lee Roy Jordan was one of the main voices of the Cowboys’ defense before “America’s Team” became the brand everyone knows.
He was a one-time All-Pro, five-time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl champion, and the middle linebacker Tom Landry trusted to run his defense. I think that alone should carry some weight.
Jordan also had 32 interceptions, which we all know is a big number for a linebacker. This is where I believe his case gets better, because when you compare him to some Hall of Fame linebackers, especially Sam Mills, Lee Roy Jordan doesn’t look out of place.
The biggest issue I could find is the era he played in. Defensive stats were not tracked like they are today. There were no pressure rates, coverage grades, or weekly clips going viral. A lot of older linebackers got lost in that gap.
Lee Roy Jordan should not be one of them.
8. Cornell Green, Defensive Back (1962-1974)
Cornell Green is one of those Cowboys players that is not talked about enough for the Hall of Fame. This was a man who played three years of college basketball at Utah State before the Cowboys discovered him.
He went on to play 13 seasons in Dallas, made five Pro Bowls, two first-team All-Pro, two second-team All-Pro, one championship in 1971, and finished with 34 interceptions. Playing safety and corner, he showed fans his versatility in the secondary.
Green was a major part of those early Cowboys defenses. The problem is, he played on a team with so many legends that a great player got slowly pushed into the back row.
I don’t want Cornell Green or his career to be forgotten.
7. John Niland, Guard (1960-1974)
Johnny “Nightlife” Niland might be the most underrated name in this first group.
He made six straight Pro Bowls, he was a three-time first team All-Pro, and had a championship. For an offensive lineman, I feel that is a good argument.
His comparison to Hall of Fame guard Tom Mack makes the case stronger. Mack had more Pro Bowls, but Niland had more first-team All-Pro selections. That matters to me. Pro Bowls are a popularity contest, but All-Pros means you were one of the best.
If we are talking about old-school Cowboys who deserve a serious second look at the Hall of Fame, he has to be included.
6. Everson Walls, Cornerback (1981-1989)
Everson Walls is where I think this list starts getting harder to explain away.
Walls finished his career with 57 interceptions. That is more than several cornerbacks already in the Hall of Fame. He led the NFL in interceptions three times, including 11 picks his rookie year.
We all know interceptions aren’t all luck. That was a player who knew where the ball was going.
The comparison that I feel jumps off the page is Aeneas Williams. Williams had 55 interceptions and is in Canton. Mel Renfro had 52, Eric Allen had 54, and they are all enshrined in Ohio.
I feel the pushback is his award cabinet is not as full as the other names. Everson Walls only had four Pro Bowl selections, and one first-team All-Pro selection. So, I don’t feel like Walls was given enough credit because of these awards.
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