When I was in college, I worked at a Phillips 66 service station on I-35 in San Marcos, Texas. This was back when there was no self-service. A big van pulled in one day and I walked around the vehicle to the drivers door in time to see it open and a GIANT of a man get out. I immediately knew it was Mr. Bob Lilly. With my eyes bulging and my mouth hanging open I asked if he wanted it filled up. He said that he did. I told him it was a pleasure to have him in our station. He was one of the nicest people I have ever met. It didn't take long for a crowd to gather, all wanting to speak with him and get an autograph. He was very gracious and signed autographs for almost an hour before he had to leave. He even waited for a buddy of mine to run to his apartment a couple of blocks away to get his camera. Mr. Lilly: a class act all the way.

Tom Landry called Bob Lilly "...the greatest player I ever coached." That should tell you enough.

God, he was so smooth. That hurdle at 1:45 is so sick.

I'm a life long Packer fan. This is the man. Bob Lilly is Mr. Cowboy indeed. 14 yrs. of professionalism.

Hands down, my all time favorite Cowboy. Made the play then back to the huddle. When they say they had to gameplan for a player, he was the mold.

He was even a pretty darn good photographer too. Those are some great shots at the end there

Bob Lilly started playing professional football about the same time I started watching it when I was a kid. Growing up in Oakland I was a Raider fan but I never missed a Cowboy game on TV because I knew Bob Lilly was going to do his thing like no one else could. He was like a force of nature. That was a good time to be a football fan, boy howdy.

This man played 14 years with Dallas, that alone is amazing. Lilly was tops, impossible too stop.

Lilly was brutal...GREAT DT!!!

Dude had elite explosiveness and acceleration ahead of his time.

I'm a big time Lions fan, but had the chance to meet Bob Lily last year. He was class all around and very nice to meet. And he's still pretty big

My dad used to work with a friend, who was Bob Lilly's family member. She got me a personalized autograph on this beautiful picture from Bob to me. Best Present Ever

Greatest defensive tackle ever.

1:45 just a d-linemen casually hurdling someone...no biggie

Back in the day I never liked my team playing the Cowboys ... and Lilly was a big reason why. They actually have a couple of clips in this video showing Lilly dominate in the 1970 NFC Championship game against my Niners. You hated playing him and yet you couldn't help but admire just how good he was. It was a pleasure to watch his play and he more than deserves to be on this list.

Coach Bill Walsh of the 49er's once said "Top 5 player of all time" ,...that says a lot

1:50 🤯 defensive linemen hurdling a running back chop block to get the TFL

Any ranking system that doesn't have Bob Lilly in the top ten is bogus!

Bob Lilly is one of the ten best players to EVER play in the NFL ..PERIOD ! PS. There will never be another Bob Lilly !

Now days they base too much on how much you can lift or how fast you are and not enough on heart and talent

Charlie Waters said that Bob Lilly usually tackled in a very soft way, to which Lilly responded, well, I was raised not to hurt anyone. But he could put the hurt on you if you were diving for a first down, or a touchdown. :-)

God what a football player! Bob Lilly, you the man!

His upper body strength was great, but his legs were more like those of a runner. His fast legs caught up to the runner with the ball and his strong arms grabbed the runner without letting go until the runner was tackled. He knew how to skillfully bring the runner down by momentum and by means of his own body weight.

Got to see Bob Lilly play in person at the Cotton Bowl Stadium and then at the Texas Stadium in Irving. I think he graduated from Texas Christian university. And as Dan Reeves said, he didn't look like a football player with bulging Popeye muscles, but he was tall, rangy, good speed, and he hustled all the time.

He was my football star when I was growing up, I played ball just like him.

Certainly in my top 3 DT's of all time and I watched them all play including Lilly. Mean Joe Greene and Merlin Olson make up that elite triad. And Aaron Donald is currently making a strong case to join that elite group.

Now this is how football was meant to be played, watching these videos these guys seemed bigger and played harder till the 2000s

He went to my Grandfather’s church and my dad knew him.

Bob Lily was deceptively FAST!

I never saw Bob Lilly play football, but this man left an everlasting impression on me way back in the 90s at a Midland Angel's AA baseball game. He was the main attraction that night signing autographs for the entire ballpark. As a kid, I brought him a mini baseball bat and a piece of paper to sign for me. I thought he was Jay Novacek. I greeted him as Mr Novacek, he signed for me, and then I saw number 74 in the sig. I then tried to correct myself and called him Ed "Too Tall" Jones. Mr. Lilly never corrected me, although an employee at the auto session promptly did. Incredibly embarrassed, I apologized to Bob, and hastily tried to leave. Bob took the time to call me back, talk to me, and got my family into the all you can eat hot dog and soda seats at the ballpark. It sounds dumb 30 years later but it was a big deal. Class act. Great person. I learned a life lesson on interacting with people that day, although it wasn't realized until years later. Thank you Mr. Cowboy.

Back in the days when QB's feared the pass rush of an interior lineman instead of a linebacker or a free safety.

Mr. Dallas Cowboy awesome 😍

I wanna see more tape on this guy

50 years later and Bob is still one of the strongest and best players ever. He could pull 800 pounds up to his chest and some of the powerlifters think they're something if they can deadlift that much.

Magnificent player. Man-oh-man.

I was 13 when I saw Lilly chase down Greise. I'd just started watching the NFL and didn't know who Lilly was. It seemed to me the game was a foregone conclusion after the play.

I've met Bob Lilly on two occasions. Class act and the guy is a MONSTER BIG human being.

Bob Lilly, Randy White, Ed Jones and DeMarcus Ware would be my all time Dallas front 4.

Mr. Cowboy. He was awesome.

I'm from Ohio but I was a huge Cowboys fan in the 70s. I now live in Dallas and recently walked into a Mexican Restaurant that had all these pictures on the wall and one big picture near our table caught my eye. I immediately recognized the man in the picture as the legendary Bob Lilly.

Bob Lilly was my favorite. He was born in Olney, Texas but lived in Throckmorton, Texas. Which is a one horse town. When you enter that town there is a big sign that says Home Of Bob Lilly. I know I have been there many times on my way to Olney. My moms family lived there. I got interested in football when I was ten years old in 1962. Didn't know one thing about it and didn't care who was playing I was watching it all by myself. I had 5 brothers and 2 sisters. When I found out there was a Dallas team that did it for me I watched them all. I watched so much football I learned the game no one taught me anything. My brothers at that time didn't play mainly to young. Then one day my mom decided she was going to watch with me to see what I got out of watching football. After that she was hooked on the Dallas Cowboys. My whole family got hooked years later. Back then football was not what it is today. I knew all the players by name they were like my family. The only regret I have I was born a girl and no football playing for me.

He was dominating 💪🏽

Keep these Cowboys videos coming!

I read a recent comment by one of the NFLs game film watchers who go over film from all NFL history saying Bob Lilly was regarded as the fastest defensive lineman ever off the ball when first hiked.

Now that's the way to start a Franchise!!!! First Draft Pick in Cowboy's history in 1960 was a Hall of Fame Player! Tom Landry knew talent when he saw it huh?

The definition of a class human being who happened to be one of the greatest football players in history.

nice . love these stories and nfl life stories . before my time. wish had jim thopre footage man . cool beans . great player . glad i looked ..

Bob is the best at all times.

Mr. Cowboys BEFORE Jolly Roger. Still the best Cowboy of all time. Easily one of the top 5 DT's of all time.

Man it's crazy watching how guys used to play the game. Before linebackers weighed 230+, and your offensive line needed to weight at least 1500 cumulative pounds to be relevant. I wish we could go back to this era of football with the same amount of protective gear players have nowadays. A lot of people will hate on me, but at least the game wouldn't be so riddled with injuries and retired veterans who are suing the NFL...

contrast listening to this all time great to today's athletes, our country has changed, not for the better.

He would dominate today

None of y’all no this but I am related to Bob and I love him so much and going to follow his foot steps

It was terrific that the Cowboys finally won the SB that year. So many great early players were still playing but about to retire. Lilly and Walt Garrison especially. They should have beaten the Colts a few years earlier if Staubach had played. Craig Morton was the biggest choker ever, never played well in the big game and sucked in the SB vs the Colts

He was the anchor of Doomsday.

The greatest Cowboys 🤠 of them all

I cried when he announced his forced retirement.

I can't stand the Cowboys, but this dude was a beast.

I've been watching pro football since 1964. I could make a "top ten", "top twenty", "top thirty", or even a "top hundred" pro football DTs, and as everyone knows, there have been many great defensive tackles since the beginning of the NFL in 1920. I'll just say that at the top of my list of the greatest DTs list is Bob Lilly.🏈

Lilly was GREAT. Deacon Jones, Allen Page, Merlin Olsen, Carl Eller all played in the 60's. I'm just sorry that Alex Karras isn't in the HOF.

He was an absolute beast. He would body slam players.

His athleticism in that era is so absurd and unprecedented, regardless of position.

And what you notice about Bob is he never used his head while tackling he used his body for a majority of his hits…it’s why he’s 82 and been able to stay alive up to this point

i was lucky enough to see roger play for three years. wish i had the opportunity to see lily, hayes, perkins, walt garrison, calvin hill, duane thomas and meredith play. i missed out.

Hey that's my great grandpa

Randy White, Bob Lily, Deon Sanders, Demarcus Ware, Charles Haley.. wow

I met Bob Lilly at a restaurant I was working at in 2001. He was there for a banquet event. For some reason I thought guys that played back in the day weren't that big. That was a dumb assumption on my part. He was like a walking doorway. Also this was like 25 years or so after he retired. He was still in good shape, no big belly or anything like that. He was very kind and spoke with me briefly and gave me an autograph.

Still remember that sack of Bob Griese in the Super Bowl. 29 yards! Great player, and I am NOT a Cowboy fan.

what a beast

RIP Dan Reeves!!

There’s No Doomsday without Bob Lilly

Ranking Joe Greene ahead of Bob Lilly is a joke. Lilly made more Pro Bowls and had 27 more career sacks than Greene. Lilly is the greatest D-Tackle in NFL history. Period.

A lot of truly great people ( not just great athletes) with the early Cowboys. Not so much now.

I met him. No way of believing he was the same man on the line. Great player, but a great personable man too.

And he looks like a gentleman when playing.Pure football no abuse

Lifelong Steeler fan, and I hate to admit it, but I believe he was a better tackle over his career the Joe Greene. Lilly was dominant for 14 yrs. Greene however peaked around his 6th yr. An arm issue caused him alot of pain much of his career.

The old days, the Cowboys were tough and respectable. So many great players on those Cowboy teams. Never been a Cowboy fan.But I lost respect for them with the arrival of Jerry Jones and the horrible treatment of Tom Landry. A man that did so much for the Cowboys organization and the NFL.

Tough to imagine 25 football players better than Mr. Lilly.

Bob Lilly revolutionized the DT position. Joe Green and Randy White took it to the next level...

He’s be a good practice squad guy these days

You can look at certain guys & tell they can play in era

a great HOFer.

I didn't know about him, ...cool

He before my dad He love photography I love photography

Him and Merlin Olsen were as tough as they come!

When I think of my Big "D" three. It's Roger, Emmitt and Bob...

0:41 John Brodie : Crap ! Not again !

man strong asf😂

which song starts at :40?

I've never seen a player hurdle a guy and proceeds to make the tackle on the ball carrier

They didn't have the field turf then, they did have the fields that were perfectly manicured and had underground heat and drainage systems - when it rained then, you went to war in the mud, the way it should be!

lol Hey that Mr Cowboy my grandfather fav Dallas Cowboy player

Bob Lilly and Jethro Pugh played next to each other on the Cowboys' defensive line for many years. Pugh was a good player but not a great one like Lilly. But they still formed a very fine DL duo for over a decade.

Lily never missed a game

Throckmorton, Texas.

26????? Roger Staubach and Bob Lilly should be top 15.

he is the opposite of aikman the most underrated cowboy of all time

best player all time

Freaking badass with near super human size and strength... Wants to take pictures of trees..

Mr. Cowboy himself