100 Greatest: No. 2 Player - Tom Landry

Tom Landry is the Rio Grande Valley's superhero. Who else can lay claim to starring in their own comic book?

Tom Landry and the Dallas Cowboys was printed in 1973, shortly after Landry's 'Boys won Super Bowl VI. But long before his NFL coaching days, Landry already was an icon in the Valley, where he led Mission High to one of the greatest seasons in Texas high school history in 1941.

For all he achieved in Mission and beyond, Landry was voted the second-best player in RGV football history. He fell four points shy of the top spot after receiving four of 12 first-place votes, but many Eagles who came after him say Landry was second to none.

"I think Tom Landry (is No. 1)," said Nati Valdez, a Mission receiver from 1986 to 1988. "And I'm proud of that, because he's a Mission product and we played in his stadium. It was a special feeling every Friday night going in there and playing in that stadium."

Long before the stadium was renamed after him or the mural on Tom Landry Avenue was painted, Landry was born Sept. 11, 1924 in Mission. His parents, Ray and Ruth Landry, had moved to South Texas on the advice of Ray's doctor, who told him the warm weather would help his rheumatism.

Landry was shy and self-conscious until discovering football. Even before entering high school he was organizing his own teams and calling the plays, but when Landry met Bob Martin his game was elevated to another level.

The two first met in 1938, when Martin arrived in Mission to coach the Eagles' junior varsity team. Martin, who lived next door to Landry's family, made Landry his quarterback in 1940 as the two moved to varsity together.

Playing QB - and just about every other position - Landry led the Eagles to a 6-4 mark and district championship as a junior, when he received the first of two all-South Texas awards. Then came the legendary 1941 season, when Landry's Eagles went 12-0 and won a Class A regional championship.

"He was a tailback. He ran off the single wing and T formation as a running back. He was also the quarterback, the punter and a safety. He was everything," said Tony Longoria, a third-string tailback in 1941, to The Monitor in 2006.

The 1941 team outscored opponents 268-7, with the lone score coming from Donna on a mistaken pass interference call, and Landry tallied 27 touchdowns (21 rushing, six passing) while inspiring his community in the months before the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor.

After playing in the Texas High School All-Star game, Landry went to Texas on a scholarship, but was there only a short while before being inducted into the Army Air Corps, where he flew thirty B-17 missions. He later returned to Texas and led the Longhorns to wins in the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl.

After a short professional football career, Landry joined the new NFL franchise in Dallas as head coach in 1959. In 29 seasons leading the Cowboys, Landry compiled a 270-178-6 record, posted 20 consecutive winning seasons and won two Super Bowls (1972, 1978).

Before his death from leukemia on Feb. 12, 2000, Landry received many honors, including induction into the Longhorn Hall of Fame in 1971, the RGV Sports Hall of Fame in 1988, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Cowboys' Ring of Honor in 1993.

"It was an honor knowing that Tom Landry played there, too, and actually being one of the first teams in Mission to make the playoffs (in 1986 and 1987) other than Tom Landry was a great accomplishment," former Eagles QB Lupe Rodriguez said.
"I'd have to say Tom Landry should definitely be ranked No. 1."

Jason McDaniel covered high school football for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach the sports department at (956) 683-4402 or via e-mail at sports @rgvsports.com.

WHY THEY VOTED

Here's a summary of Tom Landry's career, which played a major part in the player's ranking at No. 2:

Tom Landry is best known for coaching America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys, for 29 seasons. He led them to two Super Bowl victories but already was a hero in Mission long before.

Landry led the Eagles to one of the greatest seasons in high school football history in 1941, winning a regional championship, the furthest a Class 1A team could advance at the time. He supplied 27 touchdowns that year and ran for three scores in the title-clinching 33-0 win over Hondo.

Landry went on to play in college at Texas, and with the All-American Football Conference's New York Yankees and the National Football League's New York Giants.

THE SERIES

With the 100th season of high school football in the Rio Grande Valley upon us, The Monitor will take a look at the top 25 coaches, top 25 teams and top 50 players of all time.

THE PLAYERS

1: TBA
AUG. 24

2: TOM LANDRY
Mission High

3: Bradley Stephens
McAllen Memorial

4: Bobby Lackey
Weslaco High

5: Johnnie Jackson
Harlingen High

6: Norm Evans
Donna

7: Lupe Rodriguez
Mission High

8: Nati Valdez
Mission High

9: Jim Helms
San Benito

10: Jim Hudson
La Feria

11: Maurice Hunter
Harlingen High

12: George Strohmeyer
McAllen High

13: Roberto Garza
Rio Hondo

14: Mishak Rivas
Weslaco High

15: Tony Ellis
Brownsville Hanna

16: Bobby Ply
Mission High

17: Fred Edwards
Donna

18: Willie Crafts
Brownsville High

19: Jamaar Taylor
Mission High

20: Frank Hernandez
Mission High

21: Carlos Esquivel
Edinburg High

22: Jim Norris
Mercedes

23: Abel Gonzalez
Rio Grande City

24: John Mims
Mission High

25: Leo Araguz
Harlingen High

26: Juan Castillo
Port Isabel

27: Tommy Cox
La Feria

28: Jimmy Lawrence
Harlingen High

29: Luz Pedraza
Donna

30: Billy Garza
Brownsville Porter

31: Poppy Rodriguez
PSJA High

32: Jeremy Springer
Los Fresnos

33: Shon Flores
Port Isabel

34: Phil Hetrick
PSJA High

35: Joe Marichalar
Edcouch-Elsa

36: Alfredo Garza
Port Isabel

37: Charles LeGrange
Rio Grande City

38: Alfredo Lugo
Donna

(tie): Steve Alaniz
Edinburg High

40: Matt Gorges
Harlingen High

41: Justin Springer
Los Fresnos

(tie): Eliseo Pompa
Mission High

43: Donald Guillot
Port Isabel

44: Travis Sanders
Port Isabel

45: Gerald Lambert
McAllen High

(tie): Gonzalo Garcia
Brownsville High

(tie): John Lerma
Rio Grande City

48: Manny Gomez
Harlingen High

49: Donny Martin
Port Isabel

50: Robert Cortez
San Benito