Roger Staubach - Beginnings

Beginnings

The American sportsman of German descent was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in suburban Silverton, Ohio. Roger attended St. John the Evangelist Catholic School, and graduated from a Catholic high school, Purcell High School (now called Purcell Marian High School). After one year at New Mexico Military Institute, Staubach played quarterback for the United States Naval Academy. As a third class midshipman (sophomore), he got his first opportunity to play in the third game of the season, against the University of Minnesota on October 6, 1962. Staubach relieved starter Ron Klemick as the Minnesota defense, led by Bobby Bell and Carl Eller, was stifling in its 21–0 victory. Staubach was 0–2 passing and was sacked twice for a minus 24 yards. A week later, against Cornell, with the offense misfiring, Wayne Hardin decided to put Staubach into the game to see if he could spark the team's offense. Staubach went on to lead Navy to six touchdown drives, throwing for 99 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 88 yards and another score, as Navy won 41–0. A few weeks later, Staubach started again in the famed Army–Navy game, which featured president John F. Kennedy (himself a former Naval officer), who just 37 days earlier had negotiated the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis, performing the coin toss. Staubach led the team to a 34–14 upset over Army, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another.

In his second class (junior) season of 1963 he won the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award while leading the Midshipmen to a 9–1 record and a final ranking of #2 in the nation. The Midshipmen lost the national championship to #1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl. That year he led Navy to victory in their annual rivalry with Notre Dame. Navy did not beat Notre Dame again until 2007. In his three seasons at Navy, he completed 292 of 463 passes, with only 19 interceptions, and gained a school record 4,253 yards of total offense. Staubach is the last player from a military academy to win the Heisman Trophy.

He was a 10th round draft pick in the 1964 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys, but due to his military commitment, did not begin playing until 1969 as a 27-year-old rookie. He was also drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 16th round (122nd pick overall) of the 1964 American Football League Draft. After graduating from the Naval Academy, Staubach could have requested an assignment in the States, but he chose to volunteer for a one-year tour of duty in Vietnam where he served as a Supply Corps officer for the Navy Chu Lai until 1967. During his junior year at the Naval Academy, Staubach's color-blindness was detected. He was permitted to become the Naval Academy's first graduate to be commissioned directly into the Supply Corps, which did not necessitate being able to tell the difference between red (port) and green (starboard) lights or to discern the color differences in electrical circuitry. He spent the rest of his Naval career in the United States, playing football on various Naval service teams to prepare for his future career in the National Football League.

In 1969, Staubach resigned his commission, just in time to join the Cowboys training camp. The Naval Academy retired Staubach's jersey number (#12) during his graduation ceremony after his senior season. In 1981, Staubach was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. In 2007, Staubach was ranked #9 on ESPN's Top 25 Players In College Football History list. He was also rated number 1 on NFL top 10's quarterback of the 1970's