Super Bowl Champion and Former Cowboys Star Duane Thomas Dies at 77

Duane Thomas, a former NFL running back who won a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys, has died. He was 77.

The Cowboys confirmed Thomas' death to Pro Football Talk and the Dallas Morning News.

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Duane Thomas, #33 of the Dallas Cowboys, carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the NFC NFL Championship Game on January 2, 1972, at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. (Focus on sport/Getty Images)

“The great Duane Thomas passed away yesterday. He was a great cowboy. When he came back he was one of my roommates in Thousand Oaks. Lots of laughs and moments. RIP DUANE THOMAS,” the running back’s former teammate, Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson, wrote on Facebook.

Thomas played only four years in the NFL. He was selected in the first round of the 1970 NFL Draft by the Cowboys while at West Texas A&M.

He started his rookie season with 803 rushing yards and five touchdowns and helped the team advance to Super Bowl V against the Baltimore Colts, in which Dallas narrowly fell short.

Thomas was considered the Cowboys' running back of the future. But a contract dispute and a war of words with head coach Tom Landry led to a trade in 1971. Originally traded to the New England Patriots, then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle nixed the deal.

Dallas Cowboys running back Duane Thomas, #33, runs with the ball but is tackled from behind by Indianapolis Colts linebacker Ted Hendricks. (Focus on sport via Getty Images)

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Thomas returned to the Cowboys and took a vow of silence. In that second year, he led the NFL with 11 rushing touchdowns and rushed for 793 yards.

According to Pro Football Talk, Thomas finally broke his silence ahead of the team's Super Bowl VI victory over the Miami Dolphins.

“If this is the ultimate [game]”How come they're doing it again next year?” he said.

He rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown in the 20-3 victory.

The win didn't seem to change Thomas' perception. He was traded to the San Diego Chargers, where he didn't participate in training camp. He was traded to the Washington Redskins and played two seasons with the team.

He rushed for 442 yards and five touchdowns in 24 games.

Duane Thomas in action, rushing against the Miami Dolphins, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Walter Iooss Jr./Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

Thomas played a second stint with the Cowboys in 1976, but was released before the season began. He attempted to revive his career in the Canadian Football League and with the Green Bay Packers, but failed to play in the regular season.

He told the Houston Chronicle in 2004 that he appreciated the game and what it meant to him.

“What the game meant to me at that moment was setting a goal and achieving it. The differences you may have had, the controversies, tend to be insignificant.

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“I remember those things, but what I remember most is the meaning of friendship, teamwork, the ability to face adversity and achieve a goal. That’s what it was about for me. I was at peace with myself, even with everything that was going on.”

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