John Fitzgerald, Cowboys Legend, Passes Away

0:00On April 15, John Fitzgerald, the Dallas Cowboys starting center, through much of the 1970s, passed away Tuesday morning. He would have turned 78 on Thursday. Trafted in the fourth round at a Boston College in 1970, he anchored the line for a decade. Fitzgerald suited up for 137 games with Dallas, starting 1-2-A-9 of them from 1971 to 1980. He was a key piece in one of the NFL's powerhouse eras under Coach Tom Landry. As remember him as part of the Cowboys' first two Super Bowl wins, taking home rings from Super Bowl 6 and Super Bowl 12. Those victories cemented Dallas as America's team back in the day. He snapped the ball to Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach, when Landry first rolled out the shotgun formation, changing how offense is ran for years. To come, Fitzgerald leaves behind a legacy of toughness and championships that still echoes in Cowboys' lore. Boston powered to a true gridiron pioneer.