“Zero, my hero…how wonderful you are…”
Obert Logan’s honorary pallbearers at his funeral included the following: Lee Roy Jordan, Don Meredith, Bob Lilly, Walt Garrison and Tex Schramm. That says something about what the Cowboys thought of him–even if he only played two years with Dallas.
Obert’s probably better known for wearing the number zero when he played for the expansion New Orleans Saints. The “0” is fitting, though it doesn’t represent him as a person.
Oh–or rather, “O”–the name “Obert” was passed down from his father, a minister. Claude Crabb and Fair Hooker could sympathize with that fate. But his nickname was “Butch”, which carried more weight on the football field.
Obert was small–5’10” and 160 pounds–but he was known for his courage and full-out style of play. This was handy when the Cowboys didn’t know what to do with him. He was an undrafted player who stunned the team when he made it as a flanker, but was soon moved to safety when Mel Renfro suffered from injuries. He even played in the “Ice Bowl”.
And, by looking at his pallbearer list, he made a lot of friends and impressed his teammates.
In the 1967 expansion draft, Obert was selected by the Saints, who gave him permission to wear #0 on his jersey, which was pretty clever. The NFL wasn’t so impressed, as he was the last person allowed to do this until 2023–fifty-six years later. He started for the Saints, but was released the following year. The Cowboys remembered him, though, and brought him back to play on their taxi squad.
Eventually Obert faded from the NFL, and became involved with Texas rodeos, ranching and coaching high school football. But the Cowboys remembered. While Obert was a high school coach, Tom Landry’s first public appearance after Jerry Jones fired him was to meet with Obert’s football team and speak at their awards dinner. Other Cowboys would stop by as well, because of how much they liked and respected him.
When he died, Lee Roy Jordan said, “Obert was just a nice guy. I loved being around him. He was undersized and under-everything else but he proved right away that he was a great competitor. He represented the Dallas Cowboys well.”
A good player, and a better man. No zeros, there.
Here’s a highlight clip of the great Obert Logan!
