My dad’s a sports fan and I’ve been asking him about famous games he attended. 

This weekend he told me about the time he took my mom to see his alma mater Cornell play Navy in Annapolis in 1962.

He said there wasn’t much to see in the beginning. The game was scoreless into the second quarter, and Navy’s offense was stuck.

Then the coach pulled a sophomore off the bench and put him in as quarterback.

The rookie started moving the ball, throwing and running, and Navy broke through before halftime. In the second half, it turned into a rout. Navy won 47–0.

The quarterback led the team to six touchdowns, passing for 99 years and rushing for 88. 

“That kid played a terrific game,” Dad said. 

The kid’s name was Roger Staubach and that game is widely regarded as his breakout moment. 

Staubach went on to win the Heisman Trophy the next year – a rarity for a junior – and later led the Dallas Cowboys to five Super Bowls, winning two, on his way to the Hall of Fame.

I remember Staubach from watching the Cowboys when I was a kid but Wikipedia filled in some facts about the man that made him a lot more interesting. 

–After graduating from the Academy, he served his full four-year military commitment.

–He volunteered to serve one of those years in Vietnam. 

–He entered the NFL as a 27-year-old rookie 

–He spent his entire 11-year career with the Cowboys.

He was also an early role model for athletes who make the transition to business after playing. 

While he was still quarterback, he started a commercial real estate firm and built it into a national business, eventually selling it for more than $600 million.

That was far more than the $2 million or so that he earned playing football. 

Impressive.