Former Cowboys LB D.D. Lewis, who won two Super Bowls with Dallas, has died at 79

D.D. Lewis, who won two Super Bowls and played in the most playoff games in Dallas Cowboys history, died Tuesday at Plano Medical City according to his daughter Melna Bourland.

He was 79.

Lewis, a linebacker, played in five Super Bowls and 27 playoff games. His best playoff performance was in the 1975 NFC Championship, when he picked off two passes in a 37-7 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.

Lewis is also noted for his quote about the Cowboys’ former home.

“Texas Stadium has a hole in its roof so God can watch his favorite team play,” Lewis famously once said.

“He was an awesome dad, he was the best dad,” said Melna Bourland, his daughter. “He would be a big jokester, he loved to do pranks on me and my sister and he loved to laugh and he was just the best dad anybody could ever have.”

Dwight Douglas Lewis was born in Knoxville, Tenn. A 6-foot-1, 225-pound linebacker, he was a sixth-round draft pick by the Cowboys out of Mississippi State in 1968.

Lewis was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and an All-American in 1967, and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

After his rookie season with the Cowboys, he served a military commitment, returning for the 1970 season. Lewis backed up Hall of Fame linebacker Chuck Howley before taking over at weakside linebacker upon Howley’s retirement in 1973.

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Lewis, whose final season was in 1981, was part of the Cowboys’ Silver Anniversary team.

“D.D. was a great player,” former teammate Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson said. “He kept Thomas Henderson from the weakside because he played it so well. D.D. was a tough guy and I wanted his job Day 1, but I never could get it because he played [coach Tom] Landry’s defense and I couldn’t interrupt that. So I ended up on the strong side, which was better for me because I got to box every down.”

Added another former teammate, Hall of Famer Cliff Harris: “D.D. was such a steady force for the Dallas Cowboys. We knew we could count on D.D. He was the weakside linebacker in our complex Flex defense and I knew or we knew whatever his responsibilities in that Flex defense was, he was going to perform. A great athlete and it’s sad to see him leave this earth early. I feel for his family.”

Lewis is survived by two daughters, Melna and Victoria, from his first wife, Margaret. He also has a grandson, Jackson. He was married to Diane Lewis, who had a son Brook, D.D.’s stepson, at the time of his passing.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

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