Roger Staubach

The legendary quarterback Roger Staubach was the star of the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970s, famed for his daring fourth quarter plays. A high school standout in basketball, baseball and football, he attended the United States Naval Academy, where he won the 1963 Heisman Trophy as the nation's outstanding collegiate football player of the year. He served in the U.S. Navy for four years, serving one tour in Vietnam, before joining the Dallas Cowboys in 1969. In Dallas, he was regarded as an inspirational leader. Sportswriters praised his agile, zig-zag scrambling on the field, and he repeatedly brought his team to victory with startling come-from behind plays in the fourth quarter. The most famous of these came in the 1975 playoff with the Minnesota Vikings, when he threw a 50-yard pass to score the winning touchdown in the closing seconds of the game. Staubach told reporters he had said a Hail Mary after throwing the ball; since then, Americans have used the phrase "Hail Mary pass," to refer to any risky last minute ploy to reverse a seemingly inevitable outcome. Staubach led his team to nine winning seasons, and was the starting quarterback in four Super Bowl games, winning the championship in Super Bowls VI and XII. When he retired from football in 1980, he was the highest-rated passer of all time. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. Following his football career, he concentrated on a highly successful commercial real estate venture, the Staubach Company. In this audio podcast, recorded at the Academy of Achievement's 1981 Summit in Dallas, Texas, Roger Staubach reflects on his career with the Cowboys. He recalls Coach Tom Landry's system of meticulous planning and setting specific goals. Staubach extols the importance of setting goals in sports, life and business. He points out that success in any field requires hours of unspectacular preparation and urges the Academy's student delegates to focus on their own goals and learn something new every day.