Roger Staubach
Roger Thomas Staubach (/stɔːbɑːk/, -/bæk/; STAW-bahk, -back; born February 5, 1942), nicknamed "Roger the Dodger", "Captain America", and "Captain Comeback",[1] is an American former football quarterback who played for 11 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL).
No. 12
February 5, 1942
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
197 lb (89 kg)
Purcell Marian
(Cincinnati, Ohio)
1964 / Round: 10 / Pick: 129
1964 / Round: 16 / Pick: 122
2,958
2,958
1,685
57.0%
153–109
22,700
83.4
2,264
20
1965–1969
He attended the U.S. Naval Academy, where he won the 1963 Heisman Trophy playing for the Midshipmen. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Navy, including a tour of duty in Vietnam.
Staubach joined the Dallas Cowboys in 1969, becoming the team's second major franchise quarterback after the retirement of Don Meredith in 1968. Staubach played with the Cowboys during his entire career. He led the team to the Super Bowl five times, four as the starting quarterback. He led the Cowboys to victories in Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl XII. Staubach was named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl VI, becoming the first of four players to win both the Heisman Trophy and Super Bowl MVP, along with Jim Plunkett, Marcus Allen, and Desmond Howard. He was named to the Pro Bowl six times during his 11-year NFL career. Staubach is one of ten players to both win the Heisman Trophy and be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the only quarterback.[2] He was the executive chairman of the Americas region of Jones Lang LaSalle until his retirement in 2018. The same year, he received a Presidential Medal of Freedom. He is regarded as one of the best quarterbacks of all time.[3]
Early years[edit]
Staubach was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the only child of Elizabeth (née Smyth) and Robert Staubach.[4][5] He is of partial German descent, and grew up in Silverton, a northeastern suburb of Cincinnati.[6] He was a Boy Scout as a youth,[7] attended St. John the Evangelist Catholic School, and graduated from the Catholic high school Purcell High School in Cincinnati (now named Purcell Marian High School) in 1960.
[edit]
During his junior year at the Naval Academy, Staubach's color-blindness was detected and he was commissioned directly into the Supply Corps, which did not necessitate being able to tell the difference between red (port) and green (starboard) lights or to discern the color differences in electrical circuitry.[17]
After graduating from the Naval Academy in June 1965,[18] Staubach could have requested an assignment in the United States, but he chose to volunteer for a one-year tour of duty in South Vietnam. He served as a Supply Corps officer for the Navy at the Chu Lai Base Area until 1967. Staubach supervised 41 enlisted men.[19]
Staubach returned from South Vietnam in September 1967,[20] and spent the rest of his naval career in the United States. He played football on various service teams to prepare for his future career in the National Football League. During his tour at the naval air station in Pensacola, Florida, he quarterbacked the Goshawks, a team consisting of fellow U.S. Navy officers like himself, and played games against college football teams. He had access to the Dallas Cowboys playbook, and the Goshawks defeated many of the college teams they played against.
Personal life[edit]
Real estate[edit]
In 1977, he started a commercial real estate business, The Staubach Company, in partnership with Robert Holloway Jr., an associate of Henry S. Miller.[36] He had prepared by working in the off-seasons from 1970 until 1977 for the Henry S. Miller Company. Staubach began working with real estate because "I couldn't have retired at my age and just played golf. First of all, they didn't pay quarterbacks what they do today. And I was 37 with three kids. I kept thinking about [what would happen] if some linebacker takes off my head and I can't play anymore." He said "Henry Miller Jr. was a lot like [legendary Cowboys coach Tom] Landry. They both had similar haircuts ... they both had phenomenal integrity, great work ethic, and they could transfer their strengths to other people."[3]
The Staubach Company has been his primary endeavor since retirement from football. The company first developed several office buildings; Holloway managed construction while Staubach found tenants. In 1982, Staubach bought out Holloway and shifted the company's emphasis from commercial development to representing corporate clients seeking to lease or buy space. This proved fortuitous as a boom in Dallas office construction followed by a recession in the Texas oil industry left the city with excess office space, so companies representing tenants wielded greater influence. The company has worked with major businesses including AT&T, McDonald's Corporation, Hospital Corporation of America and K Mart Corporation. The company was also involved with residential development, with ownership stakes in 27 apartments and other real estate projects in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Some of these were in partnership with Cowboys teammate Bob Breunig through S.B.C. Development Corporation, then a subsidiary of the Staubach Company. Others were collaborations with local developers and investors, including Ross Perot.[36] He served as its chairman and CEO until June 20, 2007, when he announced he would resign as CEO of the multibillion-dollar real estate company he started 30 years earlier.
On July 11, 2008, The Staubach Company was sold to Jones Lang LaSalle for $613 million.[37] Staubach and his children's trust would gross more than $100 million from the sale by 2013. The sale provided an initial payment of $9.27 per Staubach share with additional payments due during the ensuing five years for a total of approximately $29/share. Staubach took half of his first payment in Jones Lang LaSalle stock which was then trading at approximately $59.50/share. Staubach served as executive chairman of the Americas region of Jones Lang LaSalle until his retirement in 2018.[3][38]
Other[edit]
During the 1970s and early 1980s, he was a spokesperson for the men's clothing retailer Anderson-Little, appearing in both print and television advertisements. Later, he did television advertisements for Rolaids as well.
During the early 1980s, Staubach worked for a brief time as a color commentator for CBS Sports' NFL telecasts. On November 9, 1980, during a close game between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys, Staubach broadcast a nostalgic comment by exclaiming he would like to be "right down there in the middle of it". The Cowboys lost 38–35.
Staubach jointly owned Hall of Fame Racing, a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series team, with fellow former Cowboy and hall-of-famer Troy Aikman, which began racing for the 2006 season.
In 2009, Staubach was honored with the "Lombardi Award of Excellence" from the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation. The award was created to honor coach Lombardi's legacy, and is awarded annually to an individual who exemplifies the "spirit" of the coach.
On December 27, 2011, Staubach wrote the foreword for a book titled The Power in a Link,[39] published by John Wiley & Sons, authored by United States Military Academy graduate, David Gowel.