Tom Rafferty obit

Tom Rafferty, a Dallas Cowboys stalwart known for ‘doing the right thing,’ dies at 70

Rafferty played in two Super Bowls as a Cowboy, seeing his career bridge generations from Roger Staubach to Troy Aikman.

 

He was not on the list.

Tom Rafferty, a stalwart in the Cowboys’ offensive line whose career bridged generations from Roger Staubach to Troy Aikman and who was so tough he taught himself to walk again in middle age after a neurological disorder left him with no feeling below the waist, died Thursday at 70 in Windsor, Colo., after a stroke.

Rafferty’s daughter, Rachel Powers, said her father had been hospitalized since early May.

Born and raised in New York and drafted in the fourth round out of Penn State in 1976, Rafferty inherited Blaine Nye’s spot at right guard in his second season. He started there or at center for two Super Bowls and 167 straight games in all, the longest streak in the organization’s history at the time, until Mark Stepnoski replaced him midway through the 1989 season.

Rafferty was typical of the men who populated Tom Landry’s offensive lines in the ’70s and ’80s: undersized at 6-3, 256 pounds, but quick, tough and smart. “If you look at his dimensions,” said Brad Sham, longtime radio voice of the Cowboys who started with the organization the same year as Rafferty, “he wouldn’t be playing in the offensive line today. But that’s what Tom wanted. He wanted pulling linemen and guys who could get downfield in front of (Tony) Dorsett on a screen pass.

“He was perfect for that.”

Rafferty, in fact, helped spring Dorsett on an NFL-record 99-yard touchdown run against Minnesota in 1983 when the Cowboys only had 10 men on the field. He also played a supporting, if grudging, role the same season in one of the organization’s most infamous episodes.

Let’s pay respect to Tony Dorsett’s record-setting 99-yard TD run on Monday Night Football. pic.twitter.com/TdW0sfziwd

— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) January 16, 2021

On Dec. 11, 1983, Dallas and Washington, tied at 12-2, went head-to-head for first place in the NFC East and best record in the NFL. Leading 14-10 and facing a fourth down and inches at midfield in the third quarter, Landry told his quarterback, Danny White, to use a hard count in an attempt to draw the defense offsides. If the Redskins don’t jump, Landry told him, the Cowboys would simply take the penalty and punt.

In the huddle, White, all in on the call, emphasized Landry’s orders. No one was to move. Once he approached the line of scrimmage, White got other ideas.

“They thought we were gonna punt,” he said in a phone call Thursday, “so they had the wrong personnel. Crazy lineup. I figured we could get whatever we wanted.

“Probably a touchdown.”

So White barked “Green 36!” — the call for the Cowboys’ live audible — and was about to begin his cadence when Rafferty, from his stance at center, interrupted.

“Noooooo!” he told his quarterback.

“Yes!” White said.

Rafferty refused to snap the ball on the second count. White barked some more. Rafferty didn’t budge.

On the TV call, John Madden told viewers it seemed like 22 seconds passed.

“Raff was not gonna snap the ball,” White said Thursday. “He’s not really in a great position to argue with the quarterback, so I just goosed him.

“He snapped it, they stopped us and the rest is history.”

Because the rest of the Cowboys’ line obeyed orders from the huddle and didn’t move, the Redskins blew up the run by Timmy Newsome. On the sideline, in full view of photographers and TV cameras, the normally stoic Landry lost his cool, yelling, “No, Danny, no!”

Washington took over at midfield and scored 21 straight points to take control of the division. The Cowboys subsequently lost to the Rams in the wild card game, ending a run of three straight conference title appearances.

“I still, to this day, think it was the right thing to do,” White said of his audible. “Raff was pretty upset with me.

“That was Raff, he was dead set on doing the right thing.”

Another snapshot from the ’83 season: A Philadelphia lineman tips a White pass intended for Newsome and into the hands of Rafferty, a gracious receiver, if not exactly a graceful one. By the time the Eagles dragged him down, he knew what was coming from teammates.

“I felt sure those guys were going to give me hell,” he told reporters after the game.

A photo of the play hangs in Rafferty’s home in Colorado. He and his wife, Donna, who would have celebrated their 49th anniversary June 20, moved to Colorado from the Dallas area two years ago to be closer to their grandchildren.

Rafferty, who went into sports equipment sales after his retirement from the NFL, had struggled with the debilitating effects of transverse myelitis after it was diagnosed in 2008. He remained in the hospital 48 days, refusing a wheelchair.

“He just kept at it until he could walk again,” Powers said. “No sensation below his waist, but he made it happen.

“Got a lot of physical determination.”

Besides his wife, daughter and two grandchildren, Rafferty is survived by his son, Michael, of San Antonio. Rafferty’s children remember their father, who earned his bachelor’s at Penn State and an MBA at UT Dallas and was honored as a member of the Greater Syracuse Hall of Fame, as a smart, quiet, generous man who got a kick out of teasing people he knew well.

Until the end, he remained loyal to his only professional team.

“He wasn’t diehard,” Michael said, “but he’d keep an eye on ’em.”

A memorial service is pending. Rafferty was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round (119th overall) of the 1976 NFL draft. As a rookie, he was a backup to Blaine Nye. The next year, he was named the starter at right guard, performing also as a long snapper for field goals and extra points, on a team that won Super Bowl XII over the Denver Broncos.

During this period, center John Fitzgerald nicknamed the Cowboys offensive line as the "Four Irishmen and a Scott", when it was formed by him, Rafferty, Pat Donovan, Jim Cooper and Herb Scott.

Known to his teammates as "Raff", he established himself as one of the better linemen in Cowboys history with an exemplary work ethic, durability and versatility. In 1981, he was moved to center after Robert Shaw went down with a career-ending knee injury, becoming the anchor of an offensive line that would enable the Cowboys to reach two NFC Championship Games.

Born in Syracuse, New York, Rafferty attended Fayetteville-Manlius High School in Manlius, where he received all-league honors as a defensive lineman in football and also in lacrosse.

He accepted a scholarship from Penn State University, where he played for head coach Joe Paterno and was converted into an offensive lineman. In 1973, Rafferty was a part of an undefeated season (12–0). He became a starter as a junior in 1974, was named twice to the UPI's All-East team. and once to the Football Writers' All-American team in 1975.