Losing to the New York Giants in the last game of the 1963 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers failed to win the Eastern Conference Title. Coach Buddy Parker decided to rebuild the Steelers. He traded Buddy Dial to the Dallas Cowboys for the rights to sign Scott Appleton, a defensive tackle from Texas. This was before the days of the combined draft of both the AFL and NFL. Combining the draft removed the choice of college players and helped hold salaries down.
Initially the Dial trade incurred the wrath of Pittsburgh fans. After all, Buddy Dial was possibly the greatest wide receiver in the teams’ history. What most fans did not know was that Dial had almost had reached the end of his playing days stemming from a chronic pinched nerve in his shoulder. In the mean time, Scott Appleton signed with the Houston Oilers leaving Steelers with nothing to show for the deal. Check out Buddy Dial’s numbers from 1959 to 1963.
Here are Buddy Dial’s receptions in his three years as a Cowboy.
1964-BD caught 11 passes for 178 yards and no touchdowns. Nevertheless, he did get a measure of revenge in Pittsburgh’s trip to Dallas on the last game of the season. Dial had five of his 11 receptions for 100 yards. Dallas 17 Pittsburgh 14.
1965-Dial caught 17 passes for 283 yards and his first touchdown as a Cowboy. He caught three passes each in three games.
1966-This was the first year of the Cowboy dynasty which lasted until 1985. Dial caught four passes for 82 yards in a 56 to 7 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. A few weeks later he caught four passes for 72 yards and a touchdown in a 28 to 17 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Both of these games were at home. For the season BD caught 14 passes for 252 yards and the touchdown.
So in three years, Buddy Dial caught just 42 passes and two touchdowns for the Dallas Cowboys.