Former Cowboys and Oklahoma State running back Walt Garrison died Wednesday night at the age of 79, the Cowboys announced Thursday morning.
Garrison played for Dallas from 1966-74, amassing 3,886 yards on the ground in his nine-year career. The Denton, Tex. native is currently ninth on Dallas’s all-time rushing leaderboard.
Garrison won Super Bowl VI with the Cowboys in 1972, and was selected to his only Pro Bowl as a fullback after rushing for a career-high seven touchdowns the following season. His lifetime average of 4.3 yards per carry ranks in the top 100 all-time.
Garrison played collegiately for Oklahoma State from 1962-65, and still ranks in the top 20 on its all-time rushing leaderboard. After the ’65 season, Dallas and the Chiefs took him in the fifth and 17th round of the NFL and AFL drafts, respectively.
In addition to his gridiron feats with the Dallas Cowboys and Oklahoma State Cowboys, Garrison competed as a professional rodeo cowboy, making him a cowboy three times over. Fittingly, his 1988 autobiography was titled Once a Cowboy.
