Bob Lilly Inducted To Big Country HOF [VIDEO]

I saw in this morning's Abilene Reporter News that Bob Lilly is being inducted into the Big Country Athletic Hall Of Fame.  He was one of my earliest heroes when I started watching the Dallas Cowboys in 1969.

Bob Lilly had incredible skill at getting to quarterbacks.  He was big, but agile and very quick off the line.  I still haven't seen a defensive lineman anything like him.  It seemed like he was in on every tackle.

What I didn't realize until this morning, was how close to Abilene he was born.  Olney, Texas is about 90 miles from here.  Bob grew up in Throckmorton and ended up playing his college football at TCU.

I had another connection to Bob Lilly when I worked for a guy named Lloyd Mynatt.  Lloyd played football for TCU at the same time Bob was making a big impact there.  Both got  drafted into the NFL around the same time too.  I got a lot of interesting stories about their friendship and escapades during that time period.  Let's just say they were colorful tales.

Bob is now 71 years old.  He played 14 years for the Cowboys from 1961 to 1974, and was a big part of the legendary "Doomsday Defense".  He played in two Super Bowls, with the Cowboys winning the big game in 1972 over the Miami Dolphins, 24-3.  The video here is a reasonably good tribute to Bob Lilly, especially the highlight footage of him ruining a day for a quarterback.

The 10th annual Hall Of Fame banquet is scheduled for 6:30 pm, May 9th at the Abilene Civic Center. (story at reporternews.com)