In June 2011, Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine decided to count down the best of the best, the top 25 plays in franchise history. Obviously, this wasn't the easiest of tasks, but some 30,000-plus words later, we feel pretty good about the results. Now here in a 25-part summer series, we share our list for one and all. Without further ado, we continue with No. 11 and a snippet from the Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine story:
11) Two for the Price of One, Oct. 14, 1962:
Sometimes good things come in pairs. On an otherwise forgettable Sunday afternoon at the Cotton Bowl, nearly 50 years ago, on Oct. 14, a third-year expansion franchise, that being the Dallas Cowboys, became the first team in NFL history with two 100-yard plays in the same game. What made this feat all the more extraordinary is that they took place in the same quarter, the fourth.
First, running back Amos Marsh returned a kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown, which was followed later in the fourth quarter by cornerback Mike Gaechter returning an interception 100 yards for the game's final score.
Marsh's 101-yard return to this day remains tied for second in team history, just three feet shy of Alexander Wright's effort in 1991. After the game, he told reports he didn't tire in the least during the run back.
"It's different when you run and no one hits you," Marsh said. "It's like running the 100-yard dash."
Philly scored a quick touchdown after Marsh's, and not that the outcome was in question, but sure enough, the Eagles were driving again late in the fourth, to the Cowboys 6-yard line, trailing 34-19. Backup quarterback King Hill threw the ball in the direction of his receiver, Tim Brown, only to have Gaechter, a rookie, leap in front of him and corral the attempt. At this point, as he began his return down the sideline, he certainly wasn't thinking touchdown.
"I didn't think there was much chance," he said after the game, "but I thought I could go most of the way. It got pretty touch-and-go around the 50, then I got loose."
