The 1964 NFL Draft is historic for many reasons. First for having produced more Hall of Fame selections than any other, 10 players in all, 11 if you count head coach Bill Parcells. Also, that draft transformed a losing expansion franchise into America's Team.
In one day, the Cowboys selected Mel Renfro, Bob Hayes and Roger Staubach, a trio who would anchor the first half of Tom Landry's 20 straight winning seasons and help win the franchise's first Super Bowl.
Renfro was actually a running back at the University of Oregon, an All-American both on the gridiron and the track. Athletically speaking, Deion Sanders is really his only peer in Cowboys history. Renfro would have been an All-Pro at countless positions –running back, wide receiver, cornerback, safety, maybe even quarterback, which he played in high school.
Hard to imagine this happening today, but Landry, for whatever reason, felt that Renfro should play safety, not tailback. If nothing else, Renfro was among the handful of players in the legendary coach's career who didn't get the rookie treatment; he was a starter from the first practice.
As for the famed Flex defense, let's just say Renfro wasn't an avid follower, saying, "The only thing I understood about the Flex was that the front seven would line up in funny positions. I have absolutely no clue to this day what the defensive line and linebackers were doing with the Flex. Luckily, it didn't apply to defensive backs."
After Landry moved him to cornerback following six seasons at safety, teams just stopped throwing in his direction altogether. Over one 10-game stretch, quarterbacks threw just 36 passes his way. Six were completed. Like the saying goes, Renfro was playing chess, the wideouts were playing checkers.
On special teams, there was no more dangerous a weapon in the game. As a rookie, he led the NFL in punt returns (32), punt return yards (418), kickoff returns (40) and kickoff return yards (1,107). To this day, not only does he still own the club records for career interceptions (52) and interception return yards (626), but he is also second in average kickoff return yards (26.4) and tied for first in kickoff return touchdowns (2). And his 10 Pro Bowl nods are tied for third in Cowboys history with Larry Allen, behind only Bob Lilly and Jason Witten's 11.
Renfro was so much more than the numbers, though. He was a winner, bringing this attitude of We can beat anyone on any given Sunday. Dallas won nine division titles and two Super Bowls with Renfro, and if for a few snaps of the ball, could have won five championships.
Of the double-digit Hall of Famers from his draft class, none went to more Pro Bowls than Renfro. He was inducted into the Ring of Honor in 1981 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
"Mel was the only teammate I ever had that from the first day and every day after, you always knew he was going to the Hall of Fame," teammate and fellow Hall of Fame member Bob Lilly said.