John Niland, the former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman who helped the franchise win its first Super Bowl championship, died Saturday morning in McKinney at age 82.
Niland was a key part of Dallas’ rise in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Cowboys selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 1966 NFL draft, and he went on to play nine seasons in Dallas before finishing his career with one season in Philadelphia after the 1975 season.
What John Niland accomplished
Niland’s career was built on consistency and recognition. He made the Pro Bowl for six straight seasons from 1968 through 1973 and was named a first-team All-Pro three times. He finished with 111 starts in 124 games, a strong run for an offensive lineman during an era when that kind of durability mattered.
His place in Cowboys history is secure in part because of the Jan. 16, 1972 Super Bowl, when Dallas beat the Miami Dolphins, 24-3, to win the franchise’s first championship. Niland was part of that team and part of the group that helped establish Dallas as one of the NFL’s premier organizations.
Beyond the NFL, Niland also had ties to Iowa. He was a Quincy native who was later adopted and grew up in Amityville, N.Y., and he was inducted into the Hawkeyes’ Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.
Niland’s death marks the loss of one of the more accomplished players from an important era in Cowboys history, one whose career included individual honors, team success and a long run as a dependable starter.
