It's a Lone Star State showdown this Monday night as the Cowboys face off with the Texans for only the seventh time since Houston was granted a second team back in 2002. In those games, Dallas holds the upper hand with a 4-2 mark and has yet to lose a matchup at home against its I-45 rival.
Of course, the Cowboys' history versus Houston goes further back as they faced the old Oilers squad on eight occasions before that franchise moved to Tennessee. For what it's worth, Dallas also came out on top in that series, 5-3, but was just 2-2 in home contests.
So given this upcoming prime-time showdown between old friends (or perhaps enemies), why not go all-in with the theme and come up with our all-time Texas team? Here then are the top players at each position who grew up in our fair state and went on to start for the Cowboys.
Here are the top players at each position who grew up in our fair state and went on to start for the Cowboys.
HC Tom Landry • Mission, Texas • Cowboys (1960-88)
Wade Phillips is a Texan as well, but c'mon, this is an easy choice. Not only did Landry grow up in the border town of Mission, he played his college football for the Longhorns. Needless to say, he was a perfect fit or the upstart expansion team in Dallas. Over 29 years at the helm, the Hall of Famer guided the Cowboys to five Super Bowls, two Lombardi Trophies and a record 20 consecutive winning seasons. He still ranks fifth all-time in the NFL for regular-season wins (250) and is third for playoff victories (20).
QB Don Meredith • Mount Vernon, Texas • Cowboys (1960-68)
A two-time All-American for SMU, Meredith was the first player ever signed by the Cowboys, inking a personal services contract before Dallas had even been awarded a team. "Dandy Don" would go on to become the first face of the franchise as well, earning three Pro Bowls and the 1966 Bert Bell Award over his nine seasons with the Cowboys. He was enshrined in the Ring of Honor in 1976.
RB Robert Newhouse • Hallsville, Texas • Cowboys (1972-83)
Duane Thomas should also be recognized here as the Dallas native helped the Cowboys to consecutive Super Bowls in 1970-71. However, those were the only two years the mercurial Thomas spent with the team. Meanwhile, Newhouse played his entire 12-year career with the Cowboys, both as a running back and fullback, and went to three Super Bowls, winning one. He's still sixth in franchise history with 4,784 rushing yards.
FB Walt Garrison • Lewisville, Texas • Cowboys (1966-74)
A true cowboy who actually competed in rodeos as a steer wrestler during the offseason, Garrison was just as tough on the football field. He never experienced a losing season with Dallas, playing in two NFL championships and two Super Bowls, and he won the Lombardi Trophy in 1971. One of the funniest players to ever wear the Star, Garrison ranks ninth on the Cowboys' all-time list for rushing yards with 3,886.
WR Dez Bryant • Lukin, Texas • Cowboys (2010-17)
A star at Lufkin High School in East Texas, Bryant somehow got away to Oklahoma State for college but made his way back when the Cowboys selected him in the first round of the 2010 draft. Over the next eight seasons, he was a force, finishing first in franchise history for career touchdown catches (73), third in receptions (531) and fifth in receiving yards (7,459). Bryant earned Pro Bowl honors three times and was named first-team All-Pro in 2016.
WR CeeDee Lamb • Richmond, Texas • Cowboys (2020-present)
Although born in Louisiana, Lamb's family had to move to the Houston area when he was just 6 years old following Hurricane Katrina. Flash-forward and in his senior season at Foster High School, he posted 2,032 receiving yards, the fourth-highest total in state history. And he hasn't stopped since, topping the 1,000-yard mark in his last three seasons with the Cowboys to earn Pro Bowl honors in each and an All-Pro nod in 2023.
TE Martellus Bennett • Houston, Texas • Cowboys (2008-11)
If we were looking for a blocking tight end, the choice could be Dan Campbell. The current Lions head coach is a Glen Rose native, went to Texas A&M and played three seasons in Dallas (2003-05). Bennett, though, brought more offense. Also a former Aggie, he was selected by the Cowboys in the second round of the 2008 draft and went on to record 85 catches for 846 yards over four years with the team.
C Andre Gurode • Houston, Texas • Cowboys (2002-10)
The Cowboys' second-round pick in the 2002 draft, Gurode was on the verge of being labeled a bust. Originally tabbed a guard, he had lost his starting spot by 2005. But the next season, he was moved to center and everything changed. Over the following five years, Gurode started every game in which he played and earned Pro Bowl honors in each, tied for the most by a center in team history.
G Leonard Davis • Wortham, Texas • Cowboys (2007-10)
Davis grew up in the small town of Wortham, but there was certainly nothing small about him. The 6-5, 355-pound lineman went on to star at the University of Texas before being selected second overall by the Cardinals in 2001. Primarily used at tackle in Arizona, Davis signed a free-agent deal with Dallas in 2007 and was moved to guard. There he earned Pro Bowl nods in three of his four seasons with the Cowboys.
G Connor Williams • Coppell, Texas • Cowboys (2018-21)
Having grown up in the Dallas suburb of Coppell, Williams was lucky enough to play for the team he grew up loving. Plucked out of Texas in the second round of the 2018 draft, he played left tackle for the Longhorns but was immediately moved to left guard by the Cowboys, where he earned the starting nod as a rookie. He eventually played 57 games over his next four years in Dallas with 51 starts.
OT Tyler Smith • Fort Worth, Texas • Cowboys (2022-present)
Smith was a beast at North Crowley High School in south Fort Worth before going on to star at the University of Tulsa. Selected by the Cowboys in the first round of the 2022 draft, he built off a solid rookie campaign at left tackle to then become a Pro Bowler at left guard in 2023. Now the anchor of the team's offensive front, he's becoming one of the best young offensive linemen in the game.
OT Terence Steele • Cibolo, Texas • Cowboys (2020-present)
After earning first-team All-Area honors from the San Antonio Express-News in his senior season of high school, Steele headed to Texas Tech, where he blocked for one of the most prolific passing attacks in the country. In 2020, he then earned the starting right tackle job for the Cowboys as a rookie, despite being signed as an undrafted free agent. He's basically held down the position ever since.
DE Harvey Martin • Dallas, Texas • Cowboys (1973-83)
The hometown kid did good. A graduate of South Oak Cliff High School, Martin was the Cowboys' third-round pick in the 1973 draft. Not until 1975 did he become a full-time starter, though, but once he did, he terrorized opposing quarterbacks. The Defensive Player of the Year in 1977 and the co-MVP of Super Bowl XII, Martin finished his career with 114 team-credited sacks, a record that stood for 30 years.
DE Thomas Henderson • Austin, Texas • Cowboys (1975-79)
Henderson was Micah Parsons before Micah Parsons. He was a linebacker with enough speed to return kickoffs, and while he didn't solely rush the passer like his current-day counterpart, he was better in coverage and at defending the run. Credited by many as the first to dunk the ball over the goalpost, Henderson was seen as a potential Hall of Famer if his career hadn't been derailed by drug use, an addiction he later overcame.
DT Bob Lilly • Throckmorton, Texas • Cowboys (1961-74)
It only makes sense that Mr. Cowboy – the first player drafted by the team, the first to be inducted into the Ring of Honor and the first Cowboy to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame – would actually be a native Texan. Lilly grew up in the small town of Throckmorton and played his collegiate football at TCU before spending his entire pro career in Dallas, earning seven All-Pro honors and 11 trips to the Pro Bowl.
DT Dorance Armstrong • Houston, TX • Cowboys (2018-23)
We'll bend the rules a little here as Armstrong is in truth a defensive end, but he certainly lined up in the middle plenty of times. Position-flex, you know. Having attended the same high school as Andre Gurode (North Shore in Houston), Armstrong was a fourth-round pick of the Cowboys' in 2018 and became a key piece of the defensive-line rotation. Over his six seasons in Dallas, he totaled 23.5 sacks.
LB Eugene Lockhart • Crockett, TX • Cowboys (1984-90)
Mean Gene, the hitting machine. Although a sixth-round pick out of the University of Houston, Lockhart would go on to enjoy seven years with the Cowboys, topping 100 tackles six times, the lone exception being in the strike-shortened 1987 season when he still recorded 86. He led the team in takedowns on four occasions, including a 222-tackle effort in 1989 that remains the most in franchise history. He also ranks ninth in Cowboys record books with 897 career tackles.
LB Dat Nguyen • Rockport, Texas • Cowboys (1999-2005)
After his family fled South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, Nguyen was born at a refugee center in Arkansas. But his family eventually located to Rockport, where he grew up and earned all-state honors … as a punter. A member of the Texas A&M Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame, Nguyen was a third-round pick of the Cowboys who quickly became a fan favorite. He wrapped up his career with 665 tackles, ranking 15th in team annals.
LB Jerry Tubbs • Breckenridge, Texas • Cowboys (player, 1960-66; coach, 1966-88)
Selected in the 1960 expansion draft as one of the original Cowboys, Tubbs was the first in a long legacy of middle linebackers in the franchise's storied history. He started 81 of his 85 career games in Dallas, earning his lone Pro Bowl invite in 1962. In 1966, Tubbs made the transition to player-coach and then remained an assistant on Tom Landry's staff for the next 22 years.
CB Kevin Smith • West Orange, Texas • Cowboys (1992-99)
Smith played his entire career in the state of Texas. He was a two-time state champion at West Orange-Stark High School down near the Gulf Coast, and then earned All-America honors at Texas A&M. Dallas' first-round pick in 1992, he became a part of the team's dynasty that won three Super Bowls in four years. Smith led the Cowboys in interceptions twice (1993, 1996) and is still tied for 14th in franchise history for career picks (19).
CB Everson Walls • Richardson, Texas • Cowboys (1981-89)
Having grown up not too far from the Cowboys' old practice facility, Walls played only one season of high school football but earned a scholarship to Grambling, where he became an All-American. Although signed as an undrafted free agent, he then burst onto the NFL scene by leading the league with 11 interceptions, a team record that was matched by Trevon Diggs in 2021. Walls ranks second in Cowboys history with 44 career interceptions.
S Michael Downs • Dallas, TX • Cowboys (1981-88)
Another graduate of South Oak Cliff High School, Downs went across town to play his college football, hitting the TCU campus in Fort Worth. What's often lost from his rookie season is that Downs actually had seven interceptions that year, which normally would have led the team … except fellow rookie Everson Walls totaled 11. Still, Downs went on to finish with 35 picks in his nine years with Dallas, ranking 10th in franchise record books.
S Mel Renfro • Houston, TX • Cowboys (1964-77)
Renfro went to high school in Portland and starred for the University of Oregon, but he actually spent his early years in Texas, so we'll claim him. And why wouldn't we? After all, he played his entire 14-year career with the Cowboys, earning 10 Pro Bowl invites and two Super Bowl titles. On his road to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Renfro also totaled 52 interceptions as both a safety and cornerback, the most in team history.
K Brandon Aubrey • Plano, TX • Cowboys (2023-present)
As has been well-documented, Aubrey grew up in the Dallas suburb of Plano, where he actually starred on the soccer field. He went on to Notre Dame, earning first-team All-ACC honors, before then playing professionally in the MLS with Toronto. After his soccer career fizzled out, he gave kicking a shot in the USFL, his success there catching the attention of the Cowboys. Now he's simply one of the best kickers in the game.
P Toby Gowin • Jacksonville, Texas • Cowboys (1977-99; 2003)
Although primarily a punter, Gowin was quite familiar with kicking duties as well. In fact, he was an all-state kicker at Jacksonville High School, handled both roles at the University of North Texas and once signed by the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 1997, also took care of kickoffs. Overall, Gowin is still third in team history for both average gross punting yards (41.7) and net average (35.5).
RET Kevin Williams • Dallas, Texas • Cowboys (1993-96)
There are a few options here, including DeSoto native Patrick Crayton and Little Elm's Cole Beasley. But over a four-season span in the 1990s, Williams led the Cowboys in both punt and kickoff returns three times, finishing among the league's top 10 for kick returns in each year and twice in the punt category. He is still first in Cowboys record books for combined returns (239) and return yards (4,329) and is tied for first in return touchdowns (4).
ST Danny McCray • Houston, Texas • Cowboys (2010-13; 2015)
We need a special teams ace on this squad and McCray definitely fits the bill. While he started 10 games at strong safety in 2012 and posted a career-high 87 team-credited tackles, his bread-and-butter was in the third phase of the game. In his rookie season of 2010, he was credited with 28 special teams tackles, the third-most in team history and the most since 1996. Overall, he was tabbed with 77 career special teams takedowns with Dallas.
