#44 Robert Newhouse is the subject of Cowboys countdown to kickoff

We’re continuing our countdown to the opening game of the Dallas Cowboys 2023 regular season. Each day we’ll present a new player whose jersey number represents the countdown to opening day. Today is number 44 and a historical player.

FB Robert Newhouse
Born: 9th January 1950 – Longview, Texas
College: Houston Cougars
Draft: 1972, Round 2, Pick 35, Dallas Cowboys

Career Stats:
Games: 168
Rush Attempts: 1,160,
Rush Yards: 4,784
Rush Avg: 4.1
Receptions: 120
Rec Yards: 956
Touchdowns: 36

Awards:
Super Bowl Winner 1978

College:
Robert Newsome didn’t get any Division I offers other than Houston which was strange with how productive he was in high school. He helped the team have a surge of success in the early 70’s and Houston even finished 12th in the poll one season while he played. Just as his senior year started he was involved a traffic accident and broke his pelvis, but he still would go on to play the season. He broke an NCAA single-season record and broke a school record with 1,757 rushing yards and received All-American honors for such a phenomenal season.

By the time Newsome left Houston, he held a long list of records for the school, some still have yet to be broken. Along with the single-season rush record he also had school records with most 100-yard games in a season, most consecutive 100-yard games in a season and most 200-yard games in a season. His total rush yards of 2,961 at Houston is still fifth-most to this day. During the College All-Stars game (at that time they played the previous season’s Super Bowl winner), Newhouse scored the only touchdown for the College All-Stars which was played against the Dallas Cowboys. In 1977, Newhouse was inducted in Houston’s Hall of Honor.

Cowboys History:
The Cowboys took Newhouse in the 1972 NFL Draft, he went into the second round mostly due to being considered small for his position. When he got to Dallas they moved him into the fullback position to replace the retired Cowboys legend, Walt Garrison. What made Newhouse so effective was his low center of gravity and elite levels of lower body power. Due to his ability to keep driving forward and winning off pure effort in contact or breaking tackles he earned the nickname “The House”. People referred to him as a human bowling ball. At times he was looked as though no one would bring him down and in 1975 he led the Cowboys with 930 rushing yards.

With the arrival of Tony Dorsett, it became regular to see both Dorsett and Newhouse first and second in rush yards for Dallas, and they complemented each other perfectly. They helped Dallas to win a second Lombardi. In Super Bowl XII against the Denver Broncos, Newhouse scored a touchdown by throwing a 29-yard pass to Golden Richards, he also rushed for 55 yards which was second-most by any player during the game (Tony Dorsett was first).

Over the coming years, Newhouse was used less as a running back and retired in 1983. He played for 12 years in Dallas, going to the three Super Bowls, winning one and his 4,784 career rush yards is sixth-most in Dallas. After retiring from Dallas he worked in the player-relations department for the team. He sadly passed away in July 2014 leaving behind his wife and four children. He will be remembered not just for his physical style of play and memorable Super Bowl moment, but also the guy that would happily sign every autograph, shake everyone’s hand and talk to every youngster in the hope to inspire the next generation.

In memory of Robert Newhouse.