Walt Garrison, who played for Cowboys in college and NFL and was a real rodeo cowboy, dies at 79
Walt Garrison, who led the Big 8 in rushing for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, won a Super Bowl as a fullback with the Dallas Cowboys and competed as a rodeo cowboy, has died
DALLAS (AP) — Walt Garrison, who led the Big 8 in rushing for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, won a Super Bowl as a fullback with the Dallas Cowboys and competed as a rodeo cowboy, has died. He was 79.
The NFL team said in a story posted on its website Thursday that Garrison died overnight. It did not give a cause of death.
A fifth-round draft choice out of Oklahoma State, the 6-foot, 205-pound Garrison played nine years in Dallas and retired in 1974 as the No. 3 rusher and No. 4 receiver in franchise history. He's still fourth on Dallas’ career list with 4.32 yards per carry and ninth with 3,491 yards rushing.
But it was Garrison’s rodeo career — which he called his first love — that made him the ultimate cowboy. He also was a longtime spokesman for U.S. Tobacco and its Skoal smokeless brand, with the catch-phrase “Just a pinch between your cheek and gum is all it takes” a staple of his 1970s television adds.
