Walt Garrison
| Date of birth: | July 23, 1944 |
| Place of birth: | Denton, Texas |
| Career information | |
|---|---|
| Position(s): | Running back |
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight: | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| College: | Oklahoma State |
| NFL Draft: | 1966 / Round: 5 / Pick: 79 |
| Organizations | |
| As player: | |
| 1966-1974 | Dallas Cowboys |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Pro Bowls: | 1 |
| Playing stats at NFL.com | |
Walter Benton Garrison (born July 23, 1944, in Denton, Texas) is a former American football fullback in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. Garrison was drafted in the fifth round of the 1966 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma State University where he was a two-time All Big Eight Conference choice.
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[edit] Early years
Garrison attended Lewisville High School in Lewisville, near Denton.
In 1962 he attended Oklahoma State University and started his freshman year on defense as a linebacker, until Phil Cutchin became OSU head coach in the spring and moved him to running back.
He finished his sophomore season only 12 yards behind rushing leader George Thomas Jr.
As a junior in 1964, he led the Big Eight Conference in rushing with 730 yards and was named All Academic Big 8.
He completed his senior season as OSU's leading rusher with 924 yards and the first win over Oklahoma University in 20 years. He was named to the All Big 8 team and his post-season highlights included appearances in the East–West Shrine Game in San Francisco, the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, where he was voted the Outstanding Back of the North team, the Coaches All-America Game in Atlanta and the College All-Star Game in Chicago against the Green Bay Packers.
Garrison was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma State University Hall of Honor.
[edit] Professional career
He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fifth round of the 1966 NFL Draft.
Known for his toughness and blocking, Garrison took over at fullback after the retirement of Don Perkins in 1969 and had a career high 818 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns.
In 1971 he showed what an excellent receiver he was, by leading the team in receiving with 40 catches and a 9.9 per catch average.
Garrison made the Pro Bowl after the 1972 season when he rushed for 784 yards and 7 touchdowns. That year he was a major part of the Cowboys three-headed rushing attack that also included Calvin Hill and Duane Thomas. The previous year, the Cowboys had ridden these 3 backs all the way to a Super Bowl VI victory.
A "real" cowboy, Garrison spent time on the professional rodeo circuit during the football off-seasons. His signing bonus with the Cowboys in 1966 season included a horse trailer. A knee injury he sustained in an exhibition steer wrestling accident at the College National Rodeo Finals in 1974 ended his pro football career.
He played in the NFL for 9 seasons, all of them with the Cowboys. He finished his career with 3,886 yards rushing and 1,794 yards receiving. Garrison retired as the third leading rusher and fourth leading receiver in Cowboys history.
One of the more humorous sports quotes was attributed to Cowboy quarterback Don Meredith speaking about Garrison's dependability, "If it was third down, and you needed four yards, if you'd get the ball to Walt Garrison, he'd get ya five. And if was third down and ya needed 20 yards, if you'd get the ball to Walt Garrison, by God, he'd get you five."
[edit] Life after football
Garrison was a long-time spokesman for Skoal smokeless tobacco, and is the current television spokesman for Bill Utter Ford near Denton, Texas. In 1988 he published his biography "Once a Cowboy" with writer John Tullius. The title is a reference to not only his rodeo cowboy career, but also his career with the Dallas Cowboys, and his college career as one of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. He is an inductee of the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame in Fort Worth.
Garrison has established the Walt Garrison Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.
Walt Garrison has also been known to recite humorous poems [1]
He currently resides in Argyle, Texas
[edit] External links
- Dallas Cowboys Top 50 players
- Walt Garrison Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame
- Oklahoma State Hall of Honor
PR Dir. Curt Mosher, ed. Dallas Cowboys Media Guide. Dallas, TX: Dallas Cowboys Football Club. p. 20.
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