North Dallas Forty movie

[JohnTurney]

I am still mad that the Cowboys--Tex Schramm--failed to draft and sign Paul Warfield.

good notion. Cowboys did address that position. They took Mel Renfro who was taken to be either a RB or Flanker or defensive back. It could have gone the other way and Cowboys kept him on offense, but initially I was kind of a "we'll see where he plays best and/or where he's needed most"

I think he could have likely been a good offensive player -- except I don't know if he had NFL receiver hands like Warfield proved to be ... maybe others know more of why he ultimately settled at safety. I vaguely remember reading about it in one of his profiles over the years but cannot recall what is was. If I were to guess it was that they had two strong backs and their secondary was weak. That is what I think, anyway

[Brian wolf]

Haha ... I cant complain, they did get futures in Hayes and Staubach with Renfro making the HOF ... I just remember reading where Schramm regretting not getting Warfield, but not many people realized how natural he was as a receiver. I think Dub Jones noticed his ability and insisted the Browns draft him to play receiver.

[John Maxymuk]

Landry moved Renfro to halfback and redid his offense for 1966 with the idea of injecting more speed to the attack. Renfro hurt his ankle, I believe at the end of preseason, so second year man Dan Reeves was made the starter. Reeves started playing like Paul Hornung: nifty running, great at catching balls out of the backfield, scoring more touchdowns than any one in the league and tossing in the odd HB option pass for good measure. He and Hayes balanced each other as Meredith's key targets. By the time Renfro was healthy again at midseason, Landry decided he was more useful shoring up the secondary and moved him back to defense, although Renfro still hoped to return to the offense in the future. Instead he had his Hall of Fame career on defense. Also, there was a question as to whether Mel was big enough to hold up under the pounding he would take at HB.

[Throwin_Samoan]

Gent said in interviews the backup QB was NOT Staubach, whom he didn't know well having left the team before the 1969 season. Gent said it was a defensive player the backup QB was modeled on.

May not have known him well, but they would have spent training camps together, as Staubach would use leave from the Navy to attend camp before his commitment was over and he joined the Cowboys full-time for 1969.

[Throwin_Samoan]

But back to Gent, yeah, North Dallas After Forty is good (but sad) and I must have re-read The Franchise like four times because it's so layered and such an indictment. I always wanted that to be a film, but after Any Given Sunday covered a lot of that ground and given it would have had to be four hours long, I can see why that never happened.

I would love it as a Netflix limited series, but, yeah, it's so long and layered that it would be really hard, and, as you mention, AGS did a lot of it (though the business side was not as prominent as the dark side of the player side, from Huizenga's book) and Stone's football scenes would be hard to top.

Also, I tried to get AI to create a Texas Pistols quarterback, but it wouldn't cross the pistols on the helmet. Sorry, Taylor Rusk.

[JohnTurney]

Also, there was a question as to whether Mel was big enough to hold up under the pounding he would take at HB.

That makes sense --- I also think he was projected as a flanker in 1964, too. So that would have been a better position perhaps -- playing outside ... something akin to what Warfield could do, though he seems like he was on the open side ... I do remember reading about 1966 when he got into the Hall. It was part of the talking points used when he was up for Hall in 1996. That was the first year I went to Super Bowl game of week. Met Dr Z in person (had phone calls before) and McDonough, etc. I was disappointed in that class because it only elected 4 players... plus Gibbs.

But as far as Renfro, that bit you shared was part of the discussion. It was also featured in Dallas media --- calling him "versatile"

I remember that I thought that half-season, less than even, does not make him versatile ... what did was he was Pro Bowler at safety and cornerback and a good returner ... to me, that got played up too much. While it was accurate, it was a small part of his career and in info being used they made it more than it was in my opinion.

To the original point, I think Renfro probably would have been a fine offensive player, but likely not at running back. Could see him as a receiver, though ... at least it seems possible. I am sure Landy had no regrets playing him on defense as a rookie, but I do wonder if he'd gone the other way if he might have been great on other side of the ball.

[JohnTurney]

Also, I tried to get AI to create a Texas Pistols quarterback, but it wouldn't cross the pistols on the helmet. Sorry, Taylor Rusk.

that was a great helmet --- but their uniformed lacked, cowboys sleeves and Vikings' pants. Great book, though.

81bAtiR7zML._SL1500_.jpg (186.6 KiB) Viewed 3404 times

[Throwin_Samoan]

If the Pistols existed today, this would be one of their several alternate looks, maybe.