Walt Garrison, Dallas Cowboys and Rodeo Legend, Dead at 45
FRISCO – Walt Garrison, the former Dallas Cowboys running back who gained national fame for being a “real Cowboy,” has passed away at the age of 79.
Garrison, a native of Denton, Texas, who starred at Lewisville High School, started his high-profile football career at Oklahoma State, where the mascot is also the “Cowboys.” It is a theme that followed him through his fine career in football, as a rodeo standout and as a celebrity spokesman as well.
In college, in his senior season, he racked up 924 rushing yards, 107 receiving yards and five touchdowns. That raised his profile for the NFL, as the Cowboys then selected their home-town guy Garrison in the fifth round of the 1966 NFL Draft. He spent the early part of his career as a special-teams contributor before increasingly taking on a role in the backfield, including as a fullback.
Garrison finished his career in Dallas with 3,886 rushing yards, 1,794 receiving yards and 39 total touchdowns, with an on-field highlight of Garrison’s career here coming when he and the Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI.
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Garrison was recognized on the franchise’s 25th anniversary team. Garrison was also inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2012 and into Oklahoma State Athletics Hall of Honor in 2000. He also gained a level of celebrity thanks to his TV ads for Skoal smokeless tobacco.
Garrison served in the military, oversaw the Walt Garrison Multiple Sclerosis Foundation and is survived by his wife Debbie Garrison and his son, Marty Garrison. Another son, Carl “Ben” Garrison, passed away earlier this year.
