Neely was an underrated Sooner, Cowboy
Ralph Neely achieved the rarest of combinations. He was an underrated OU football player. He was an underrated Dallas Cowboy.
Either is hard to find. Both in the same football life is remarkable.
But that describes Neely, who died Wednesday in his home outside Dallas. Neely was 78.
Neely was not underrated by the people he played with or against. Neely was a two-time all-American at OU and a National Football League all-decade offensive tackle with the Cowboys. But Neely didn't play during any of the Sooners' great dynastic eras and rarely is remembered as an all-time OU great. Neely did star in the Cowboys' greatest era but has received little consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is not even in the Cowboys' Ring of Honor.
Neely also was an integral part of football history. He was barred from his final OU game, the 1964 Gator Bowl, after signing a professional contract, and his contract with the Houston Oilers became a huge tug o' war in the conflict between the NFL and the upstart American Football League.
Neely ended up in Dallas and was a 13-year starter on the Cowboy offensive line, 1965-77, during which Dallas made four Super Bowls, won two and became America's Team.
Neely was a lineman from Farmington, New Mexico, and at 6-foot-6, 245 pounds was perhaps the largest Sooner recruited by Bud Wilkinson.
OU historian Harold Keith wrote in his book Forty-Seven Straight that Neely's “sweatshirt would have almost fit around the Marland mansion … (he) had intelligence, desire and superior size and speed.”
Rick McCurdy, who was an OU teammate of Neely's, said “I'd never seen anyone as big as Ralph Neely. When he got mad in the Oklahoma Drill, there was no stopping him.”
Neely's nickname was Mr. Tree. McCurdy said Neely had no belly and could dunk a basketball. Neely won the standing broad jump competition as an OU freshman.
One of the most memorable OU plays of the 1960s was Neely's crushing tackle of Syracuse speedster Bill Hunter on the kickoff after OU's late touchdown in 1962, to take a 7-3 lead.
“He really leveled this guy,” McCurdy said. “Not sure how the guy ever got up.”
Neely made all-American in 1963 and 1964.
Bobby Warmack, OU's quarterback from 1966-68, was an Ada High School senior during Neely's senior Sooner season. Warmack watched Neely play and was duly impressed.
“I remember how big Ralph Neely was,” Warmack told The Oklahoman a few years ago. “When everybody got down in a stance, you could always tell who Ralph Neely was because his butt was about two feet taller than everybody else's.”
Neely played on OU's 1962 Orange Bowl team and 1964 Gator Bowl team, but just hours before kickoff of the latter, the story broke that Neely, Jim Gris
ham, Lance Rentzel and Wes Skidgel had signed pro contracts. Jones, naturally, banned them from the game, won 36-19 by Florida State.
Neely's contract was with the AFL's Houston Oilers. In the 1965 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Colts selected Neely. But the Colts traded Neely's contractual rights to the Cowboys, for punter Billy Lothridge and a future fourth-round draft pick. When Dallas got Neely's rights, he returned his check to the Oilers and signed with Dallas. Neely played for Dallas in 1965 and made the NFL's allrookie team, but the Oilers sued, citing breach of contract.
In 1966, the NFL and AFL were in major merger negotiations, which ultimately resulted in the Super Bowl and the NFL you know today. Among the terms of the merger agreement was that Neely's contract dispute be resolved. By then, Dallas knew what it had in Neely and finally agreed to send Houston four 1967 draft picks (first-, second- and two fourth-round selections), pay all court costs and to start an annual exhibition game against the Oilers.
A steep price, but worth it. Neely was a mainstay. He was a four-time all-pro on those teams of Don Meredith or Roger Staubach, Bob Hayes or Drew Pearson, Bob Lilly or Randy White.
The NFL selected a 38-man all-decade team of the 1960s. Neely made the squad, even though he only played five years in the ‘60s. Then Neely played eight more seasons in the 1970s.
All-decade usually means a ticket to Canton, Ohio. All 22 first-teamers on the all-1970s teams made the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and 19 of the 22 secondteamers did, too. Twenty-eight of the 38 on the all-1960s team were enshrined in Canton.
But Neely is one of the outsiders, and he hasn't even made the Cowboys' Ring of Honor, which includes 22 players, coaches and front-office personnel.
Profootball-reference.com has a metric called Approximate Value. Of all the former Sooners to ever play in the NFL, only Troy Aikman (if you count Aikman a Sooner) had a higher score than Neely. And it was close. Neely is ahead of Hall of Famers Lee Roy Selmon and Tommy McDonald, plus Bobby Boyd, Greg Pruitt, Keith Jackson, Roy Williams and Tony Casillas.
Neely was a landmark player. An historically great player. But amid two grand traditions, the Sooners and the silver star, Neely's status has been a little lost.
He was a private personality. Teammates remember him as friendly, but aloof. He came back to OU only on rare occasions. Perhaps he also never ingratiated himself as a Cowboy alum, which can make a difference with Jerry Jones' Ring of Honor.
No matter. Even if Neely's status slips into history the way his life has slipped away, those who saw him play at OU and studied his career in the NFL know that Neely was an all-time great.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.