Clint Longley

Clint Longley

Position(s) Quarterback Jersey #(s) 19, 16
Born	July 28, 1952 (1952-07-28) (age 59) Wichita Falls, Texas
Career information
Year(s)	1974–1977
Supplemental Draft	1974 / Round: 1 (By the Cincinnati Bengals)
College	Abilene Christian
Professional teams
NFL Dallas Cowboys (1974-1975) NFL San Diego Chargers (1976) CFL Toronto Argonauts (1977)
Career stats
NFL TD-INT	5-4
NFL Yards	441
NFL QB Rating	67.1
Stats at NFL.com
Career highlights and awards
No notable achievements

Howard Clinton "Clint" Longley, Jr. (born July 28, 1952) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League. He played two seasons for the Dallas Cowboys (1974–1975) and one for the San Diego Chargers (1976). Longley earned his nickname the "Mad Bomber" for bouncing passes off of Coach Tom Landry's coaching tower in the Cowboys' training camp. He played college football at Abilene Christian University.

Longley is probably best remembered for his performance in a Thanksgiving Day game in 1974 for the Cowboys against the Washington Redskins. Longley, then a rookie, came into the game for an injuried Roger Staubach with the Cowboys trailing 16-3 in the third quarter. He hit Billy Joe Dupree for a 35-yard touchdown pass. He led the Cowboys on a 70-yard drive capped by a 1-yard Walt Garrison touchdown run. And then, with the Cowboys behind 23-17 and with only 28 seconds left with no time outs, Longley hit Drew Pearson down the middle for a 50-yard touchdown pass which gave the Cowboys a dramatic 24-23 victory.^[1][2] The game was named the second-best in the history of Texas Stadium by ESPN in 2008.^[3] Because Longley had no expectation of playing in that game and was completely unprepared, Cowboys lineman Blaine Nye sarcastically called his winning effort "the triumph of the uncluttered mind."^[4]

Unfortunately for Longley, the story doesn't end there. Less than two years later Longley, under pressure from Danny White for the back-up QB role, left the Cowboys in disgrace after he landed a blindside punch on Staubach during training camp in Thousand Oaks, California.^[5] The infamous "sucker punch" occurred after Longley and Staubach had fought over a negative remark Longley made about Staubach to fellow Cowboy teammates. Staubach was putting on his shoulder pads on the last day of training camp when Longley hit him in the face without warning and from behind, requiring several stitches to close the wound on Staubach's face. Longley was immediately traded to the San Diego Chargers^[5] where he finished his career with little more success.

After his NFL career, Longley went to Canada and played with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League for six games in 1977. When the NFL Network did a "Top 10 One Hit Wonders" list that included Longley, a Steve Sabol said he last heard that Longley had ended up selling carpet remnants out of the back of a van in Marfa, Texas.^[4]

References

1. ^ “Clint Makes ‘Skins Eat Crow Instead”, St. Petersburg Independent, The Associated Press, Evening Independent Sports, 1-C, Friday, November 29, 1974.
2. ^ Rookie Rises From Obscurity to Help Dallas Shock Redskins, The Milwaukee Journal, from press dispatches (Dallas, Tex.), Part 2-14, Friday, November 29, 1974.
3. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=luksa_frank&page=hotread1/luksa
4. ^ ^{a b} http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d8074317a/Top-Ten-One-Shot-Wonders-Clint-Longley
5. ^ ^{a b} "Camp can drive some over edge". ESPN. July 23, 2007. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp07/news/story?id=2942587. Retrieved October 20, 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Longley, Clint
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 28, 1952
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death