Cowboys Mount Rushmore: Skip Bayless reveals his picks

The Dallas Cowboys have not won a Super Bowl in over a quarter-century, but the franchise has produced 20 Hall of Famers, including six during the Jerry Jones era.

On Friday, Skip Bayless, a lifetime Cowboys fan, revealed who is on his Mount Rushmore of all-time Cowboys players and why they’ve separated themselves from the rest of the Dallas greats.

Bayless said he labored over his selections, but here’s who topped his list on the latest episode of “The Skip Bayless Show.”

Skip reveals his Dallas Cowboys Mt. Rushmore

Skip Bayless ranks his four greatest Dallas Cowboys of all time.

1. Roger Staubach

Staubach’s NFL tenure was unorthodox. He joined the Cowboys as a 27-year-old rookie in 1969 after winning the Heisman Trophy in 1963 as a junior at the U.S. Naval Academy. After graduating from college, he went on to serve four years of active duty, including service in the Vietnam War.

As a Cowboy, Staubach didn’t win the starting quarterback position until his third season, but went on to play in six NFC Championship Games, winning four of them, as well as winning Super Bowls VI and XII. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound QB retired in 1979, racking up 22,700 passing yards and 153 touchdowns, with a perfect passing rating (at the time) of 83.4.

Bayless’ thoughts: “He’s the greatest Cowboy quarterback ever, my favorite player ever, and somebody I got to know very well.”

2. Michael Irvin

A 2007 initiate of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Michael Irvin was drafted 11th overall in 1988 after a memorable career for the Miami Hurricanes. Between 1991 and 1998, Irvin recorded eight 1,000-yard seasons, and the Cowboys made four-straight NFC Championship Game appearances, winning three Super Bowls.

For his career, Irving caught 750 passes (62.5 per season), racked up 11,904 receiving yards (992 per season), and recorded 65 touchdown receptions (5.4 per season) en route to five Pro Bowls.

Bayless’ thoughts: “This one was pretty much a no-brainer for me because I believe Michael Irvin was the greatest receiver ever just on pure clutchness, on leadership, on fire, desire — no-brainer for me.”

3. Charles Haley

Haley, who spent 12 years in the league, was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015 after recording 100.5 sacks (8.4 per season) and six double-digit sack seasons, earning him five Pro Bowl nods. He also won five Super Bowls — three with the Cowboys and two with the San Francisco 49ers.

Haley was drafted in 1986 in the fourth round by the 49ers and traded to the Cowboys for four seasons. In those four seasons with Dallas, he recorded two double-digit sack seasons in 1994 and 1995.

Bayless’ thoughts: “He was a 49er for a long time, and he was a great one, but the Cowboys don’t win those first two Super Bowls in ’92 and ’93 without Charles Haley. They just don’t. He was the closest thing I’ve ever seen to Lawrence Taylor — and he was very close. He was banged up for the third Super Bowl, but he still played and played very well.”

4. Emmitt Smith

Smith rushed for 937 yards and 11 touchdowns en route to winning Offensive Rookie of the Year and earning the first of his eight Pro Bowl appearances. In his second season, Smith led the NFL in rushing with 1,563 yards, winning the rushing title in three of the following four seasons (1992, 1993, 1995).

Smith’s career highs came in 1995, when he rushed for 1,773 yards, 25 rushing touchdowns and added 62 receptions. Over his 15-year career, Smith rushed for 18,355 yards (1,223 per season) and 164 touchdowns (10.9 per season). He recorded 11-straight, 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

Bayless’ thoughts: “We never got along that great, but I have to go Emmitt. Even though he did get to duck and dart behind the greatest offensive line I’ve ever seen, and even though I’d take Tony Dorsett in a one-game situation, Emmitt is the all-time leading rusher. After Jerry made him sweat for that deal in 1993, and he missed the first two games, he did come back and win MVP and MVP of the Super Bowl.”