Ten figures who stoked the fire of the Redskins-Cowboys rivalry, as compiled by Kevin Dunleavy.
DEXTER MANLEY » The defensive end was mixing metaphors in 1986 when he famously said of Joe Montana, that he would “ring his clock.” If Montana needed any evidence, all he had to do was remember the hit Manley delivered to knock Dallas QB Danny White out of the 1983 NFC Championship Game. When he named his daughter “Dalis,” Manley said he could no longer hate the Cowboys.
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GEORGE ALLEN » Gave the Redskins instant credibility when he took over as coach in 1971 and kicked the rivalry up a notch. Allen took karate lessons from local TV commercial icon Jhoon Rhee and once demonstrated his prowess to his team, breaking boards to show what he would do to Cowboys coach Tom Landry if the two ever met at midfield.
HARVEY MARTIN » The Cowboys pass-rushing defensive end threw a wreath into the Redskins’ locker room after the Cowboys rallied for a 35-34 win in Dallas in 1979 that kept the Redskins out of the postseason. As the story goes, the wreath had been sent by the Redskins and read “sympathy for an impending loss.”
DIRON TALBERT » The defensive tackle was the instrument through which Coach Allen delivered his hate message to the Cowboys. After the Redskins beat the Cowboys in the 1972 NFC Championship Game, 26-3, Talbert forever drew the ire of Roger Staubach, when he said the Cowboys “played the wrong guy,” suggesting that Craig Morton would have been a better choice.
MICHAEL IRVIN » In 1991 the Redskins were undefeated in Week 13 and fans were talking 16-0, but the outspoken and ultra-confident receiver got the best of Hall of Fame cornerback Darrell Green as the Cowboys upset the Skins in Washington, 24-21. The win hinted at the Cowboys dominance-to-be, as Dallas would win three of the next four Super Bowls.
JOHN RIGGINS » In a hyped December game that matched teams with the two best records in the NFL, the Redskins, at the suggestion of Riggins, arrived in Dallas wearing military fatigues. In “The Invasion of Dallas” the Redskins won, 31-10, in a game best remembered for Tom Landry yelling into his headset, “No, Danny, no!” when QB Danny White ran an unsuccessful play on fourth down.
ROGER STAUBACH » The Cowboys QB had the cleanest image in the NFL, but lost his cool in a 1975 loss to the Redskins when he punched Pat Fischer. In 1976, with the Redskins needing a win in the season finale in Dallas, Talbert sealed it when he tipped a Staubach pass that was intercepted by teammate Dennis Johnson at the 3-yard-line. Staubach had the last laugh in 1979, however, engineering a miraculous comeback in a 35-34 win that knocked Washington out of the postseason.
KENNY HOUSTON » If one game put the rivalry in the national consciousness, it was the Redskins’ 14-7 win on Monday Night Football in 1973, most remembered for Houston’s tackle of Dallas’ Walt Garrison at the 1-yard line. On the final play of the game, Garrison had caught a pass and looked certain to score before Houston hauled him down. “That’s the biggest tackle I’ve made in my life,” said the Hall of Fame safety.
RANDY WHITE » A local hero as an All-American tackle at the University of Maryland, White became persona non grata in D.C. when he joined Dallas in 1975. During the 1987 NFL players’ strike, White was nicknamed “Captain Scab” when he crossed the picket line first, later joined by teammates Tony Dorsett and Danny White. But even with their stars, the Cowboys fell, 13-7, to a Redskins squad of free agent pick-ups on Monday night in Dallas. The game inspired the 2000 movie, “The Replacements.”
JOE GIBBS » The Redskins coach was known for his vanilla quotes, but let his guard down when he called Dallas fans “the ugliest people in the world” at a Redskins fan appreciation day in 2005. Gibbs later apologized for the “joke.” His second tenure with Washington delivered two playoff appearances in four years and rekindled the Redskins-Cowboys rivalry, which had sagged after his departure in 1993.
