Chuck Howley

At 88 years old, Chuck Howley has this physical status:

Professional career

Howley was ranked seventh overall in the 1958 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears, playing for two seasons before undergoing what seemed to be a career-ending knee injury in August 1959 at training camp in Rensselaer, Indiana. He appeared in only three games late in the season and was inactive in 1960. He returned to West Virginia earlier this year to work at a gas station, intending to withdraw from professional football permanently.

Following a West Virginia alumni game, Howley decided to make a comeback in 1961. In the 1963 NFL draft, the Bears traded his rights to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for second (#20-Steve Barnett) and ninth (#118-Monte Day) round draft picks.

Dallas had gone 0-11-1 in their first season before acquiring Howley, but the new team was also keen to play for the new squad. "I went back because I realized there were better things to do than running a gas station," he said. "I thought it would be a great opportunity to play for Dallas, a team that was just getting off," says Also.

Although Howley began as a strongside linebacker in 1961 and 1962, he switched to a weakside linebacker in 1963. Howley was named to the Sporting News All-East football team for the first time at the end of the 1963 season. Howley holds the second most interceptions by a linebacker in a season with six, which he earned in 1968.

Howley appeared with the Cowboys for 165 games in three NFL championship games and two Super Bowls. Since intercepting two passes and causing a fumble in the Cowboys' 16-13 loss to the Colts, he was named the first defensive player and non-quarterback to be honoured. He is currently the only player from the losing team to win the award. Howley said he didn't care about the award, which meant nothing to him because Dallas had lost, and that the honor was only accepted because it included the gift of a brand-new station wagon that he could give to his wife as a gift.

Dallas made it back to Super Bowl VI this season, and Howley's 24-3 victory over the Miami Dolphins featured a fumble recovery and a 41-yard intercept.

Howley intercepted 25 passes during his career, returning them for 399 yards and two touchdowns. For both the 1968 and 1971 seasons, he had more than 100 yards in interceptions. He also recovered 18 fumbles, completing them for 191 yards and one touchdown. With his 17 fumbles recovered, he is second in Cowboys' history. His 97-yard return of a fumble during a game against the Atlanta Falcons on October 2, 1966, is still the second longest game in Cowboys history. He had a large number of tackles and quarterback fireds along with his resume, but these numbers were not released until Howley's tenure ended, so his unofficial sack total for the Dallas Cowboys was 26.5, with a career high of 5.5 sacks in 1965. Howley, a six-time Pro Bowler, was voted to the All-Eastern Conference team in 1963 and was voted first-team All-Pro five times in his career.

In the victory over the Redskins late in the 1972 regular season, Howley sustained a left knee injury after a crackback block by Charley Taylor. He missed the playoffs and retired in June. He made a brief return to the team and appeared in one game before pulling out for good. His thirteen seasons with the Cowboys ties him to his second longest franchise tenure. In 1977, Howley was inducted into the Ring of Honor at Texas Stadium, becoming the fourth player to be honoured. He was also inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2007, he was one of the 17 finalists chosen to be seniors candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Howley is ranked as the third-best player not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, according to the website notinthehalloffame.com. Howley was one of the three finalists selected by the senior committee in 2006 for induction in the 2023 NFL Hall of Fame class.

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