Over the previous 63 seasons of NFL action, the Dallas Cowboys have had 253 players credited with at least one rushing attempt.
Of that number 31 of them finished with zero yards, or negative yards, rushing. There are 135 players that finished with between 99-1 yards rushing for the Cowboys.
That leaves 87 players and we’ll rank them below in groups. Obviously, we can list them all but we’ll touch on the highlights.
The Top Two
This is the easiest call to make. Not only are they the team’s career leaders, but they also carried their teams to Super Bowls and championships.
Emmitt Smith did so three times. He also managed to become the NFL’s all-time career rushing leader.
Smith piled up 17,162 of his 18,355 career yards in Dallas. He also has three Super Bowl rings to show for it too. His 153 touchdowns are three more than the combined touchdowns by Tony Dorsett and Ezekiel Elliott, the number two and three rushers in yards and touchdowns for the Cowboys.
Emmitt is clearly the No. 1 running back all-time. Dorsett is a close second, with 12,036 yards and 72 touchdowns.
Dorsett also has the longest rushing score for Dallas, a 99-yard Monday Night romp against the Vikings in 1982.
His arrival in Dallas was one big reason why the Cowboys won their second Super Bowl of the 1970s.
The Workhorses
Elliott’s current numbers, and his return is a possibility, stand at 8,262 yards and 68 touchdowns. He’s definitely the third best back in Cowboys’ history.
But a lack of playoff success, and his dismal numbers in his last two playoff games, will keep him from joining Smith and Dorsett at the top of the mountain. For now.
Don Perkins played in the 1960s when Dallas wasn’t that good for the most part. But he did rack up 6,217 yards and 42 touchdowns.
Calvin Hill had 5,009 yards and 39 touchdowns in just 73 games. Robert Newhouse finished with 4,784 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Rounding Out The Top 10
DeMarco Murray posted 4,526 yards and 28 touchdowns with Marion Barber III behind him at 4,358. The Barbarian is fourth overall in touchdowns however, with 47.
Walt Garrison, whose tobacco commercials remain legendary, ranks ninth with 3,886 yards and 30 touchdowns.
Herschel Walker finished with 3,491 yards and 27 touchdowns to round out the Top 10. But his biggest contribution was being the honey that lured in the Minnesota Vikings for the theft of the century.
Where’s Tony Pollard?
Currently, Pollard ranks 13th — behind Julius Jones (3,484) and Felix Jones (2,728) – with 2,616 yards and 17 touchdowns.
With Pollard the expected starter for 2023, and barring injury, he should be able to move into the Top 10 this season.
Can he crack the Top 5, or ultimately join the rarefied air enjoy by Smith and Dorsett? That remains to be seen.
King Of The Scramblers
Of the top 87 that have at least 100 career rushing yards, 13 of them played quarterback. The top rushing signal caller comes as no surprise.
Roger Staubach is the career rushing leader among Cowboys’ quarterbacks. In 131 games he ran for 2,264 yards and 20 touchdowns on 410 carries. Staubach ranks 14th overall among Cowboys’ rushing leaders.
Dak Prescott ranks second, 19th overall, with 1,642 yards and 26 touchdowns on 352 carries. Staubach holds the edge in average per carry, 5.5 to 4.7, and yards per game, 17.3 to 16.9.
Rounding out the top five among quarterbacks are: Don Meredith (1,216 yards, 15 TDs); Troy Aikman (1,016, 9 TDs); and Steve Pelluer (709, 4 TDs).
For those of you expecting to see Tony Romo (full disclosure, I was surprised he wasn’t top five too) he ranks sixth with 620 yards and five touchdowns.
The Surprises In The Top 87
The biggest shocker might be seeing Gene Babb, a middle linebacker, at 81st on the list with 115 yards on 39 carries, But Babb played fullback for Dallas in 1960,
He piled up those yards in that season, adding 13 catches for 140 yards and one touchdown before moving to linebacker in 1961.
Six receivers made the Top 87, with Rocket Ismail the current leader with 214 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. But he’ll not hold the position much longer.
CeeDee Lamb enters the 2023 season with 205 rushing yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. He’ll likely pass Ismail in September.
Three tight ends, led by Frank Clarke with 231 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries, cracked the list as well.
Slow Train To Nowhere
Six players finished with zero yards rushing for Dallas with mostly one or two attempts. Two were punters (Mat McBriar, Bryan Anger), one was quarterback Loren Snyder in 1987, and two were running backs (Tony Taylor, A.D. Whitfield).
The sixth member of the Zero Club was Deion Sanders. PrimeTime went nowhere when handed the ball in the backfield.
He finished with zero yards on six attempts. His career long with Dallas was eight yards. The other five attempts did not fare so well.
Wrong Way, Johnson!
There are 25 Cowboys who finished their time in Dallas with negative rushing yards. Not surprisingly, eight of them are quarterbacks and three are punters.
Some surprising names in the group are wide receivers Dez Bryant and Lance Alworth. Bryant had six carries for -3 yards despite a career-long six-yard rush.
Alworth had three rushes that ended up losing eight yards combined. His career-long was two yards.
The unlikeliest name is right tackle Rayfield Wright, until you remember his was a tight end his first two years in Dallas. In 1968 at Yankee Stadium against the Giants, Wright got his one and only career rushing attempt.
He promptly went backwards for a 10-yard loss. Tom Landry never called his number for a running play again.
That Was A Bad Idea, John
Sitting at dead last in all-time rushing yardage for the Cowboys is punter John Jett. His lone rushing attempt came on Sept. 30, 1996, in Philadelphia.
He ended up losing 23 yards and secured his place as #253 on the Cowboys’ rushing leaders. The good news is Dallas still beat the Eagles that day anyway.