My grandfather played for the Cowboys (Mike Gaecther #27) with Bob and he also became my mother's godfather. Great man and he and my grandfather were very close. He was a hell of a player!
Thank you for that note about the great Mike Gaechter. Loved that guy, especially in the championship game in the Cotton Bowl where he intercepted that Bart Starr pass.
Mike Gaecther upended Boyd Dowler in the 1966 NFL Championship Game after Dowler caught a TD pass. The cheap shot separated Dowler's shoulder and Dowler reinjured it 2 weeks later in Super Bowl I. Dowler lasted about 4 plays before being replaced by Max McGee and the rest is history.
Tom Landry said Bob Lily was the greatest football player he ever coached.................THAT............says everything you need to know about Bob Lily...dominating with unrelenting quickness, agility, and power........a devastating combination. Roger Staubach said Bob Lily was the only player that received oohs and ahhs from his teammates every week as they watched previous weeks game film!
Being a lifelong Eagles fan, I could never like the Cowboys. But Bob Lilly was GREAT. Not flashy or mean. Not especially fast or even super strong. But he always showed up and played exceptionally well. Simply the best!
Lilly is considered one of the fastest defensive lineman off the ball ever, and might have been the leagues strongest player, he was the strongest Cowboy.
Bob was more than a football hero. He set an example of strength physical & moral. A man’s man, loving father & husband. The world needs more men like Bob.
@@t4texastom587 I will say it. Bob Lilly is the GOAT DT. Merlin Olsen, Joe Greene and Alan Page make up the rest of the NFL DT Mt. Rushmore. Reggie White was mostly a DE, and the GOAT at that with Deacon Jones a close 2nd.
In my humble opinion, as a lifelong Dallas Cowboy fan, BOB LILLY will always be MR. COWBOY and THE GREATEST DALLAS COWBOY OF THEM ALL, THE GREATEST DALLAS COWBOY OF ALL TIME.
The NFL has been in existence for over 100 years, and obviously has produced MANY great players, MANY stars, and MANY heroes. There have been many great defenses, with great players leading them. I've been watching the NFL since '64, and I have to say that as many great defensive tackles that these eyes have seen play, I have not seen a finer player than #74 of the Dallas Cowboys......... Bob Lilly🏈
My father loved watching Bob Lilly and He is the reason I used too love Football. Mr. Lilly was someone who gave me and my father a sense of commonality. Thank you Mr. Lilly, thank you!
You know what? As long as I've been a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, that's about nearly 40 years, from age 7 in 1980,,,I for whatever reason, never really paid much attention to highlights of Bob Lilly, until now!!!?? That guy was A BEAST!! He was a MAN among men Om gonna go look up some more Bob Lilly highlights
Bob Lilly was the best defensive lineman in the history of the NFL. Bar None. Also, he was (and still is) a gentleman and a class act. Further, he is the reason I bought a D-Tex metal detector back in the early seventies.
@@garygarcia4929 Yes, Reggie White was truly terrific and like Lilly, a gentleman and honorable man. White did benefit from playing end on an attack defense. I always wondered what Lilly would have done if not chained to the read and react "Flex" defense. Could you imagine those two men lined up side by side?
I have met and spent some time with some really notable NFL players. No contrast has been greater than two defensive players, Bob Lilly and Dick Butkus. I met Bob in Marfa, TX on an hosted deer hunt. I have no words that adequately describe his size, which was in direct conflict with his demeanor. He was enormous and had the largest hands I have ever seen. He was also one of the nicest men I have ever met. A true gentleman. In contrast to Bob is Dick Butkus. I first met Dick while I was in high school in 1965. At that time the Bears conducted a lot of practices at Lincoln Park (literally a public park). In those days, when a scrimmage was not in process they would allow us to visit with players that would tolerate us. Dick was not nearly as big as Bob Lilly but his demeanor and countenance were of a very serious man. While playing, Dick was "mean and vicious". Outside of play, Dick was, and still is a very direct person. He is pleasant but not charming. He speaks in pleasant but absolute terms about whatever the subject matter is. Even though he is being pleasant, his facial expression assures you that he does not suffer fools or foolishness. After moving to the Los Angeles area (where I live now), Dick performed quite a few TV commercials for local auto dealers. One of them felt he could give Dick the old "LA" treatment by stalling on payment obligations. Dick didn't contact his attorney ... he simply went to the business and "escorted" the car dealer to the bank, where payment was duly made. These days, Dick's knees are so bad that he has obvious difficulty ... that said, if you are feeling frisky and think you can display a "millennial attitude" with Dick, you'd better hope your feet are quicker than his hands. Dick don't play ...
Richard Green Even though I was a Tom Landry-era Dallas Cowboys fan, I loved Dick Butkus as a player, and almost hated it when the Cowboys were scheduled to play the Bears...lol I remember him being so rough and rugged, and very intimidating with his viscous tackling. But he was also a player that displayed skill and surprisingly, some empathy towards an opposing "victim" from time to time. I've watched several interviews of his through the years, and it's obvious he is a no nonsense type of man, but a pleasant and likeable fellow at the same time. If I were on the battlefield, I definitely would want him closeby. God bless our pro football heroes from a by-gone era 🏈
@@t4texastom587 in the mid 60's my two bro's and I would skip school, and go to Lincoln Park to watch Walter Payton and Dick Butkus practice. They were a sight to behold. We couldn't afford game tickets but were glued to the TV when there was no "black-out". Those were truly the days.
I grew up watching the Cowboys and Lilly was a Mans Man in the NFL, many times they double teamed him and he still broke through, even this film shows several trying to stop him to getting at their QB. More than once, I saw Lilly beat the offense Halfback to the ball, the QB was stunned and either ate it or fumbled it. No one has ever dominated like that.
and as much as people pay attention to edge rushers, guys who can blow up the line on the inside are statistically proven to disrupt both the run and the pass game much more. On runs they can disrupt pulling guards, attack the ballcarrier at the point of handoff, or get the inside track on an off tackle run or sweep. Against the pass, the interior rush is harder for athletic quarterbacks to avoid, and because the lineman is right in his face with arms high, it disrupts the QBs vision and results in a higher rate of interceptions and incomplete passes when the QB can actually throw the ball before taking the sack.
his back could have been used as a projection screen. He man handled people . How do you block a man if you cant get your pads on him ? YOU CANT ! LILLY HAD LEVERAGE LIKE NO OTHER ! G.O.A.T.!!!!!!
Very enjoyable video. The NFL should do more to collect highlights of players, especially historic figures like Bob Lilly, and make them available to all searchers on youtube. I'm looking for 30 minutes minumum of game film for every HoFer
Amazing plays by him on Jim Hart at 39 seconds,3:29 in the mud in 1970 in Cleveland.Now why was the play shown at 4:13 in The Ice Bowl when he was not seen?
bill walsh once said that bob lilly was the 3rd best player that he ever saw. can you image how good bob would have really been if he had not played the flex defense.
Brian Martin Coach Walsh obviously said that during his last months of suffering from dementia. As everyone knows, Bob Lilly was the greatest defensive tackle in pro football history....flex or no flex.
As a Steeler Fan I hated Bob Lilly , I can’t think of a better compliment. Their great Running Back Calvin Hill remarked Lilly taught him there is such a thing a white power.
That was #54-Chuck Howley....who OBVIOUSLY should have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame long ago. Come on guys.... what are you waiting for??🏈
JOe Greene shares nothing with Lilly or anybody else for that matter.Alan Page had a better career then he did.It is not his obsession that blinded into whatever.Its others
@@Thatmaninrio I worship no one....'cept Jesus Christ. And I certainly do not worship a ballplayer, especially today's variety. I'm sorry that you are so young that you didn't have the pleasure of watching Mr. Lilly. He was obviously fantastic, as you can read other's testimony on here. MeanJoe was great too. And definitely Long as well. The NFL won't see the likes of those 3 players again.🏈