1981 Dallas Cowboys Roster
National Football League (NFL)
Team Record: 12-4
Finishing 1st in the NFL's East Division of the National Football Conference
Postseason: 1-1 Lost Conference Championship
Coach: Tom Landry (12-4)
Location: Dallas, Texas
1981 Dallas Cowboys StatisticsTeam Record: 12-4
Finishing 1st in the NFL's East Division of the National Football Conference
Postseason: 1-1 Lost Conference Championship
Coach: Tom Landry (12-4)
Location: Dallas, Texas
1981 Dallas Cowboys Results
The Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League ended the 1981 season with a record of 12 wins and 4 losses, finishing first in the NFL's East Division of the National Football Conference. The team compiled a postseason mark of 1-1.
Dallas piled up points with 367 points, while the defense conceded 277. Tony Dorsett powered the ground game, running for a 1,646 yards for the Cowboys.
Danny White threw for 3,098 yards. Tony Hill hauled in 46 passes for 953 yards. Drew Pearson was targeted regularly, too.
The opportunistic defense pounced on 53 turnovers. Everson Walls intercepted 11 errant tosses from the opposition.
Tom Landry coached the team. The 1981 Dallas Cowboys lost in the Conference Championship.
Click on column headings to sort.
| # | Player | Pos. | Birth Date | Height | Weight | College | Hometown | GP | GS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Benny Barnes | DB | March 3, 1951 | 6'1" | 190 | Stanford | Lufkin, TX USA | 16 | 1 |
| 76 | Larry Bethea | DT-DE | July 21, 1956 | 6'2" | 251 | Michigan St. | Florence, SC USA | 16 | 0 |
| 53 | Bob Breunig | MLB | July 4, 1953 | 6'2" | 226 | Arizona St. | Inglewood, CA USA | 16 | 16 |
| 59 | Guy Brown | LLB | June 1, 1955 | 6'4" | 223 | Houston | Palestine, TX USA | 16 | 6 |
| 18 | Glenn Carano | QB | November 18, 1955 | 6'3" | 201 | UNLV | San Pedro, CA USA | 5 | 1 |
| 61 | Jim Cooper | RT | September 28, 1955 | 6'5" | 262 | Temple | Philadelphia, PA USA | 16 | 16 |
| 84 | Doug Cosbie | TE | March 27, 1956 | 6'6" | 236 | Holy Cross | Palo Alto, CA USA | 16 | 0 |
| 51 | Anthony Dickerson | LB | June 9, 1957 | 6'2" | 220 | SMU | Texas City, TX USA | 16 | 0 |
| 83 | Doug Donley | WR | February 6, 1959 | 6'0" | 175 | Ohio St. | Cambridge, OH USA | 11 | 0 |
| 67 | Pat Donovan | LT | July 1, 1953 | 6'5" | 253 | Stanford | Helena, MT USA | 16 | 16 |
| 33 | Tony Dorsett | RB | April 7, 1954 | 5'11" | 192 | Pittsburgh | Rochester, PA USA | 16 | 16 |
| 26 | Michael Downs | FS | June 9, 1959 | 6'3" | 205 | Rice | Dallas, TX USA | 15 | 15 |
| 89 | Billy DuPree | TE | March 7, 1950 | 6'4" | 225 | Michigan St. | Monroe, LA USA | 16 | 15 |
| 78 | John Dutton | LDT | February 6, 1951 | 6'6" | 266 | Nebraska | Rapid City, SD USA | 16 | 16 |
| 27 | Ron Fellows | DB | November 7, 1958 | 6'0" | 178 | Missouri | South Bend, IN USA | 16 | 0 |
| 71 | Andy Frederick | T | July 25, 1954 | 6'6" | 257 | New Mexico | Oak Park, IL USA | 16 | 0 |
| 58 | Mike Hegman | LLB | January 17, 1953 | 6'1" | 227 | Alabama A&M | Memphis, TN USA | 11 | 10 |
| 80 | Tony Hill | WR | June 23, 1956 | 6'2" | 199 | Stanford | San Diego, CA USA | 16 | 9 |
| 14 | Gary Hogeboom | QB | August 21, 1958 | 6'4" | 205 | Central Michigan | Grand Rapids, MI USA | 1 | 0 |
| 86 | Butch Johnson | WR | May 28, 1954 | 6'1" | 187 | California-Riverside | Los Angeles, CA USA | 16 | 7 |
| 72 | Too Jones | LDE | February 23, 1951 | 6'9" | 271 | Tennessee St. | Jackson, TN USA | 16 | 16 |
| 23 | James Jones | KR | December 6, 1958 | 5'10" | 200 | Mississippi St. | Starkville, MS USA | 16 | 0 |
| 57 | Angelo King | LB | February 10, 1958 | 6'1" | 224 | South Carolina St. | Columbia, SC USA | 15 | 0 |
| 50 | D.D. Lewis | RLB | October 16, 1945 | 6'1" | 225 | Mississippi St. | Knoxville, TN USA | 16 | 16 |
| 79 | Harvey Martin | RDE | November 16, 1950 | 6'5" | 260 | Texas A&M-Commerce | Dallas, TX USA | 16 | 16 |
| 44 | Robert Newhouse | RB | January 9, 1950 | 5'10" | 209 | Houston | Longview, TX USA | 16 | 0 |
| 30 | Timmy Newsome | RB | May 17, 1958 | 6'1" | 232 | Winston-Salem St. | Ahoskie, NC USA | 15 | 0 |
| 88 | Drew Pearson | WR | January 12, 1951 | 6'0" | 184 | Tulsa | South River, NJ USA | 16 | 16 |
| 65 | Kurt Petersen | RG | June 17, 1957 | 6'4" | 264 | Missouri | St. Louis, MO USA | 16 | 14 |
| 64 | Tom Rafferty | C | August 2, 1954 | 6'3" | 256 | Penn St. | Syracuse, NY USA | 16 | 15 |
| 70 | Howard Richards | G-T | August 7, 1959 | 6'6" | 263 | Missouri | St. Louis, MO USA | 16 | 0 |
| 87 | Jay Saldi | TE | October 8, 1954 | 6'3" | 225 | South Carolina | White Plains, NY USA | 16 | 5 |
| 68 | Herbert Scott | LG | January 18, 1953 | 6'2" | 254 | Virginia Union | Virginia Beach, VA USA | 16 | 16 |
| 1 | Rafael Septien | K | December 12, 1953 | 5'10" | 176 | La-Lafayette | Mexico City, Mexico | 16 | 0 |
| 52 | Robert Shaw | C | October 15, 1956 | 6'4" | 245 | Tennessee | Tuscaloosa, AL USA | 3 | 3 |
| 60 | Don Smerek | DT-DE | December 20, 1957 | 6'7" | 255 | Nevada-Reno | Waterford, MI USA | 2 | 0 |
| 55 | Danny Spradlin | LB | March 3, 1959 | 6'1" | 235 | Tennessee | Detroit, MI USA | 16 | 0 |
| 20 | Ron Springs | FB | November 4, 1956 | 6'0" | 213 | Ohio St. | Williamsburg, VA USA | 16 | 13 |
| 77 | Bruce Thornton | DE-DT | February 14, 1958 | 6'5" | 263 | Illinois | Detroit, MI USA | 12 | 0 |
| 32 | Dennis Thurman | RCB | April 13, 1956 | 5'11" | 176 | USC | Los Angeles, CA USA | 16 | 16 |
| 63 | Glen Titensor | G-C | February 21, 1958 | 6'4" | 263 | UCLA | Bellflower, GA USA | 16 | 0 |
| 24 | Everson Walls | LCB | December 28, 1959 | 6'1" | 194 | Grambling St. | Dallas, TX USA | 16 | 12 |
| 41 | Charlie Waters | SS | September 10, 1948 | 6'1" | 193 | Clemson | Miami, FL USA | 16 | 16 |
| 54 | Randy White | RDT | January 15, 1953 | 6'4" | 257 | Maryland | Pittsburgh, PA USA | 16 | 16 |
| 11 | Danny White | P | February 9, 1952 | 6'2" | 193 | Arizona St. | Mesa, AZ USA | 16 | 15 |
| 45 | Steve Wilson | DB | August 24, 1957 | 5'10" | 195 | Howard | Los Angeles, CA USA | 16 | 4 |
| 73 | Steve Wright | T-G-TE | April 8, 1959 | 6'6" | 271 | Northern Iowa | St. Louis, MO USA | 16 | 0 |
