Tom Rafferty, a Super Bowl-winning OL with the Cowboys, dies at 70
Rafferty died Thursday in Windsor, Colorado, where he had been hospitalized since early May following a stroke, his daughter, Rachel Powers, told The Dallas Morning News.
A year after getting drafted out of Penn State, Rafferty's first season as a starter was at right guard in 1977, which ended with the Cowboys' 27-10 victory over Denver in Super Bowl 12. He played the same position a year later when the Cowboys lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-31 in the title game.
After a move to center, Rafferty threw one of the key blocks on Tony Dorsett's record 99-yard touchdown run in a 31-27 loss at Minnesota on Jan. 3, 1983. Dallas had 10 men on the field for that famous play.
Rafferty's final season was Aikman's rookie year in 1989, when he started eight games at center for a 1-15 team.
Rafferty is one of 12 Dallas players to spend at least 14 seasons with the franchise. He was teammates with seven players on that list.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
recommended
Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
12 minutes ago
- USA Today
Vikings' Kevin O'Connell opens up about the Vikings process around J.J. McCarthy
Some fans and media members questioned the Minnesota Vikings' willingness to move on to J.J. McCarthy, who missed his entire rookie season due to a meniscus tear. Sam Darnold had led the team to a 14-3 record in 2024, throwing for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns en route to his first Pro Bowl appearance. However, the Vikings' goal with McCarthy isn't exactly replicating Darnold's success in 2024, his first year as a starter. Instead, they want to ensure they build McCarthy into a quarterback who can succeed not only in 2025 but in the years that follow. Part of that requires building a contending roster around McCarthy, something that was possible this offseason with his rookie-scale contract allowing the Vikings to spend more money. Kevin O'Connell broke it all down while speaking with KFAN on Thursday. I am wildly in favor of the quarterback development process involving more than just the quarterback. Too much has probably been made of my opinions on these matters, but I will say that I believe you're supposed to put a really good football team around any quarterback that plays. When you have a younger player in this financial current NFL that we play in nowadays, you can do it a little bit more around that player with the young guy under contract for a certain amount of time before you inevitably have to start planning for what that will look like when he transitions to one of the more highly paid players on the team. If McCarthy proves he can be the franchise quarterback for the next decade, and the Vikings surround him with the requisite roster to contend, Minnesota could finally compete for the Super Bowl championship that has eluded them for 65 years.
Fox Sports
12 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Alonso Martínez has hat trick, leading New York City past Dallas 4-3
Associated Press FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Alonso Martinez scored a hat trick with a boost from a new teammate and New York City defeated Dallas 4-3 on Friday night. New York City on Friday announced the acquisition of Nicolás Fernández Mercau as a Designated Player from Elche CF of Spain on a contract through 2029. Mercau made his debut with the team on Friday, entering in the 61st minute, and assisted on Martínez' third goal. Martínez scored midway through the first half and rallied New York City with the tying goal in the 46th minute and the go-ahead goal in the 84th. In a high-scoring first half, New York's Jonathan Shore scored on a header off a corner kick by Maxi Moralez for a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. Petar Musa answered for Dallas four minutes later with a difficult right-footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner. It was Musa's 12th goal of the season. Dallas went ahead 2-1 in the 17th minute when Logan Farrington scored, assisted by Ramiro Benetti after a free kick by Shaq Moore. New York (11-8-5) drew level in the 21st minute on Martínez' first goal. Farrington made it a first-half brace when he scored from the center of the box in the eighth minute of stoppage time and Dallas took a 3-2 lead into the break. In the first minute of the second half, Martínez caught up to a lead pass by Hannes Wolf and beat goalkeeper Maarten Paes from the left side to the upper left corner. The winning goal came on another long run, this one set up by Mercau, the Argentine newcomer to the team. Dallas (6-11-7) has just two MLS win in the past four months. Up next MLS play takes a break from Sunday through July 8 for the Leagues Cup. recommended Item 1 of 1
CBS News
13 minutes ago
- CBS News
Alonso Martínez has hat trick, leading New York City past Dallas 4-3
Alonso Martínez scored a hat trick with a boost from a new teammate and New York City defeated Dallas 4-3 on Friday night. New York City on Friday announced the acquisition of Nicolás Fernández Mercau as a Designated Player from Elche CF of Spain on a contract through 2029. Mercau made his debut with the team on Friday, entering in the 61st minute, and assisted on Martínez' third goal. Martínez scored midway through the first half and rallied New York City with the tying goal in the 46th minute and the go-ahead goal in the 84th. In a high-scoring first half, New York's Jonathan Shore scored on a header off a corner kick by Maxi Moralez for a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. Petar Musa answered for Dallas four minutes later with a difficult right-footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner. It was Musa's 12th goal of the season. Dallas went ahead 2-1 in the 17th minute when Logan Farrington scored, assisted by Ramiro Benetti after a free kick by Shaq Moore. New York (11-8-5) drew level in the 21st minute on Martínez' first goal. Farrington made it a first-half brace when he scored from the center of the box in the eighth minute of stoppage time and Dallas took a 3-2 lead into the break. In the first minute of the second half, Martínez caught up to a lead pass by Hannes Wolf and beat goalkeeper Maarten Paes from the left side to the upper left corner. The winning goal came on another long run, this one set up by Mercau, the Argentine newcomer to the team. Dallas (6-11-7) has just two MLS win in the past four months. MLS play takes a break from Sunday through July 8 for the Leagues Cup.
