Ok so I was watching an NFL film on the top 10 worst teams ever and number 2 was The Cowboys in there first year in 60 I think, anyway it said they joined to late to draft that year, so since there best game was a tie with the giants that season I wondered who there first ever number one draft pick was?

 Bob Lilly?

http://www.cowboysplus.com/classic/recordbook/draft/ 

Yes, it was the great Bob Lilly in the 1961 draft.  The first first round draft pick made by Landry, Schramm and Brandt became a Hall of Famer...and the last first round draft pick selected by the Triumverate, Michael Irvin, is also enshrined.   To top that off the first first rounder selected by Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson, Troy Aikman, is represented in Canton as well.  Just a bit Cowboys draft trivia that I find interesting for some reason. 

..........and what a player Bob Lilly was! I remember being in elementary school and most of the boys my age would pretend to be Bob Lilly as we played football during recess. Funny thing was........I always pretended to be Bob Hayes and I was a very slow and very fat kid......ahhhhhhhhhh, the memories.

The Cowboys franchise got the green light in late January of 1960 & I still say the Skins ownership at the time helped keep us out of that first draft...I might be wrong but it sure is nice to have yet another reason to hate the skins.  We did get some pretty good players out of that 1960 Draft class when it became obvious that Dallas would have a team & other franchises basicly had to give us some of thier 'scrubs' (as they saw it)...Don Meredith was picked by the Bears that year (1960) in the 2nd or 3rd round (I Think?) but they traded him to us for future picks.  I dont think he ever played a single down for Chicago but he backed up LaBaron for 2 or 3 years. (somebody check my facts on that please)

But Bob Lilly was our first official Draft pick...& still remains my all time favorite Cowboy!

I had the great pleasure of meeting Bob Lilly years ago in Amarillo Texas.  I was in a Bar & Grille joint having a steak & a drink & Mr Cowboy walked in.  As it turned out he had a Coors Beer distributorship & was checking in with one of his many clients.  I asked if he had any photos & that I would like an autograph.  He told me he didnt have any self photos (as he called them) because he thought that it was a bit presumptuous for a person to carry around photos of themselves.  I thought that was just awesome...not to mention the fact that I was impressed that he was personally checking in with clients to assure they were getting good service.  Just like in Football, in business, Lilly was the consummate professional.  He gave me an autograph on a order ticket from the waitress & I still have that in a frame to this day...one of my most charished Cowboy collectibles!

67CowboysFan:

 Bob Lilly?

http://www.cowboysplus.com/classic/recordbook/draft/ 

You is am are right

GrizzlyBear:

..........and what a player Bob Lilly was!

 

What impressed me most about players like him was they could dislocate (or break) fingers, come to the sideline and get em taped up and go back in on the next play. Those were the days.  

67CowboysFan:

GrizzlyBear:

..........and what a player Bob Lilly was!

 

What impressed me most about players like him was they could dislocate (or break) fingers, come to the sideline and get em taped up and go back in on the next play. Those were the days.  

or just bite them off...

The man in my avatar was my all time favorite player. Bob Lilly could dominate an offensive line and strike fear into the best QB's in the league.

 He was quite a player.  When I was a kid, I saw him as an ustoppable force...superhero-like, and I wasn't too far from reality.

I met Bob Lilly in Las Vegas Super Bowl Weekend. I actually Watched the game with him in the same room. He looks good after all these years, really great guy. I got autographs and all that stuff and he told some stories about the old teams. He rolled his eyes about our loss to the giants. What a great guy!!

 

Mike

Although the Cowboys had the worst record in the NFL in 1960, they did not have the first overall draft pick the next year -- who can tell me why?