Clint Longley

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Howard Clinton Longley, Jr. (born July 28, 1952 in Wichita Falls, Texas) is a former American football quarterback in the NFL. He played two seasons for the Dallas Cowboys and one for the San Diego Chargers. He attended Abilene Christian University.

Longley is probably most remembered for his performance in a Thanksgiving Day game in 1974 for the Cowboys against the Washington Redskins. Filling in for an injured Roger Staubach, Longley, then a rookie, came in with less than a minute left, and threw a game winning 50 yard touchdown pass to Drew Pearson.

Unfortunately for Longley, the story doesn't end there. Less than two years later Longley left the Cowboys in disgrace after he landed a blindside punch on Staubach during training camp in Thousand Oaks, Calif. The infamous "sucker punch" occurred two days after Longley and Staubach had fought over a negative remark Longley made about receiver Drew Pearson. It is reported that Roger was taking off his jersey when Clint hit him in the face without warning requiring several stitches to close the wound on Staubach's face. Clint was immediately traded to the San Diego Chargers where he finished his career with little more success.

After his NFL days, Longley went to Canada and played with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League for 6 games in 1977.