Chuck Howley, of Warwood, West Virginia, was one of the most impressive all-around athletes in West Virginia University sports history - a rare five-sport letterwinner at WVU who later went on to a Hall of Fame career in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys.
Competing in track, swimming, men's gymnastics, wrestling and football, Howley was the first, and likely the last, Mountaineer athlete to win letters in five different sports. He was a sprinter and weightman on the track team, a trampolinist in gymnastics, won the Southern Conference 1-meter diving championship in swimming and also competed on Steve Harrick's Mountaineer wrestling team as a heavyweight.
His greatest accomplishments, however, were on the gridiron where he excelled as a guard and center on offense and linebacker and middle guard on defense for coach Art "Pappy" Lewis. During Howley's three years playing with the varsity, WVU compiled a 21-8-1 mark including a 21-7 victory over Penn State in 1955 - the last time West Virginia defeated the Nittany Lions until 1984.
Howley was the team's starting left guard on offense and middle guard on defense as a sophomore in 1955. He switched to center and linebacker in 1956 before moving back to guard for his senior season in 1957. He also kicked off and was occasionally used as a punter as well.
Although hampered by injuries throughout a good portion of his career, Howley still managed to receive third-team All-America recognition by the Williamson Rating Service as a senior. Injuries forced Howley to miss the final two games of his sophomore season, and then a broken jaw suffered in practice before the Penn State game required him to miss the final month of his senior year in 1957. Still, Howley managed to captain the All-Southern Conference team and was awarded the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, presented to the top blocker in each college football conference.
He also out-polled West Virginia All-American basketball player Hot Rod Hundley and nationally known amateur golf champion Bill Campbell to be named the state's Amateur Athlete of the Year for 1957. Howley played in three college all-star games -- the East-West Shrine Game, the College Football All-Star Game and the Senior Bowl, where he caught the eye of the Chicago Bears. The Bears selected Howley in the first round of the 1958 draft (No. 7 overall pick), making him just the third Mountaineer football player at the time to be selected in the first round by an NFL organization.
He played one season for the Bears before a serious knee injury during training camp in 1959 caused him to miss most of the next two years. He spent that time on the NFL's inactive list while recuperating from the injury. In the meantime, he worked at a service station in his hometown of Wheeling.
In 1961, however, the newly formed Dallas Cowboys and their young coach Tom Landry decided to take a chance on Howley and it paid off in a big way. Howley became the Cowboys' regular outside linebacker for the next 12 years as an important piece to the team's famous "Doomsday Defense".
He was named All-Pro six times while teaming with Lee Roy Jordan and Bob Lilly to give the Cowboys one of the most feared defenses in the NFL. Howley played in the 1967 NFL championship game against the Green Bay Packers, known as the “Ice Bowl” and considered one of the most memorable games in NFL history.
His greatest moment, however, came in Super Bowl V in 1971 playing against the Baltimore Colts. Although Dallas lost the game to Baltimore, 16-13, Howley still won game MVP honors. It was the first time and only time in Super Bowl history a player on a losing team won MVP honors.
In 1972, the Cowboys again reached the Super Bowl, this time defeating the Miami Dolphins. Howley had another outstanding game with a 41-yard interception return, but quarterback Roger Staubach won the MVP award that year.
After retiring in 1973, Howley owned and operated a lucrative uniform rental business in Dallas and was involved in a foundation dedicated to breeding quarterhorses at his Happy Hollow ranch in Wills Point, Texas.
Howley is a member of the "Cowboy Ring of Honor" in 1977 and was named an inaugural member of the Mountaineer Legends Society in 2016.
In 2023, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
