Turf Wars

Most of the time, Cliff’s physical style-of-play was his angle. Football players are, by nature, territorial. Cliff’s territory, the middle of the field, was sacred ground to him. He defended it physically and with passion and prejudice. He made sure everyone was aware of the consequences if any were foolish enough to come across his territory.

Sweetness

As Walter attempted to turn the corner, I cut him off and then exploded into him. Problem was, he wasn’t there. Like Houdini, he disappeared. I got nothing but air as I fell harmlessly face first into the Texas Stadium turf. I looked up in time to catch his #34 running the other way. He had stopped, dipped, spun and changed direction in a flash. He now was reversing his field.

The Catch

Under heavy siege, Montana slung a desperation effort over the outstretched hands of a pursuing D. D. Lewis and Ed “Too Tall” Jones. The ball drifted to the back of the end zone and I calculated the trajectory. Surely this “duck” would fall incomplete, far past the back line of the end zone. But, just as I had that thought, Clark, looking as though he had bounced off a trampoline, leaped into the air, hung there and not only did he catch the pass, he somehow managed to come down with his feet inside the line. Touchdown! “The Catch.”

Impossible is Always Harder

Under normal circumstances, covering two guys is virtually impossible. On a Brown formation, though, the chances were remote that both guys would come out at the same time and both Landry and I knew that. I felt though that I needed to mention to Coach Landry that I knew he had confidence in me, but did he know he had me covering both backs at the same time? He said confidently that he knew and that both backs would not come out at the same time.
I hesitated then said, “But, Coach, what if they do both come out at the same time?”
Again, he said they wouldn’t.
“But just what if they did?”
“They won’t.”

It is not an easy task for a free safety to not give a blitz away. You must line up 10 yards deep, away from the potential receiver, usually the speedy halfback, and still cover him. If the quarterback reads the blitz and quickly dishes it off to the halfback, you need to be right on him. If you are a few yards off , then you’ve really got your hands full trying to catch a quick halfback with a lot of field in front of him and everyone upfield blitzing, no help in sight. Under normal circumstances, covering two guys is virtually impossible. On a Brown formation, though, both Landry and I knew the chances were remote that both guys would come out at the same time. It did give me a chance to see how Coach Landry would answer my question though.

I mentioned to Coach Landry that I knew he had confidence in me, but did he know he had me covering both backs at the same time? He said confidently that he knew and that both backs would not come out at the same time I hesitated then said, “But, Coach, what if they do both come out at the same time?”
Again, he said they wouldn’t.
“But just what if they did?”
“They won’t.”

Roger Staubach

Our race always started the same. First, I would tell Roger I didn’t want to walk with him because I knew that he would want to race on the warm-up lap. Then he would tell me that he was not going to race today. I knew it was a lie, but I would agree to walk with him anyway and run the warm-up with him. We would start out slowly around the track on our first lap, then with about 220 yards left on the second lap Roger would try to edge just a little ahead of me. I knew what he was doing and I would pick my tempo up…..

Tom Landry “The Look”

When we performed poorly on the field, he wouldn’t yell, either. But he would give you a certain look of complete disdain—better known as “The Look.” You did not want to get The Look, because that meant you were responsible for a major mess-up. Coach Landry did not mind physical mistakes as much, but mental mistakes always earned The Look. I only got The Look a few times in my career.

One of those times was on a cold and windy afternoon in Chicago. The score was Chicago 21, Dallas 17. It was the fourth quarter….. TL called me over to the sidelines from my safety position and started giving me instructions. He told me, “Cliff, fair-catch the punt. Got it?” He always said, “Got it?” to reinforce what he had just told you. Of course, I said, “Yes!”…..……I had all intentions of fair-catching the ball. But it was a low punt—the best kind to return!