Jim Doran James Robert Doran ( born August 11 , 1927 in Beaver , Iowa ) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Detroit Lions ( 1951 – 1959 ) and the Dallas Cowboys ( 1960 – 1961 ) . He played college football at Iowa State University . He was a two - way player , playing both on offense and defense . He played 94 games as a defensive lineman , usually defensive end , and 115 games as a tight end . Injuries forced him to also become a tight end during Detroit ' s 1953 Championship season , and he scored from that position in the 1953 Championship game . He was left unprotected in the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft , and Dallas drafted him . He was the Dallas Cowboys first Pro Bowl player . Early life . Because of the small size of Beaver High School , back then it had no football program , so he practiced basketball and baseball . His first exposure to the sport was at Buena Vista College in the fall of 1947 , on the " B " team , joining after a short stint in the navy during World War II . He played defensive tackle despite being a relative lightweight at 175 pounds . He transferred to Iowa State University in 1948 , joining the track team as a sprinter and throwing the shot put . In 1949 he helped the team post a 5 - 3 - 1 record , the school ' s first winning football season in a span of 14 years , and being named to the all - Big Seven team at offensive end , with 689 yards on 34 catches , breaking the single - season Big Seven receiving mark by over 200 yards . In 1949 Doran set a National Collegiate record against Oklahoma University by catching eight passes for 203 yards . A mark that remains unbroken in the Iowa State University record book . His 652 yards on 42 receptions and six touchdown s as a senior , earned him first - team All - America and all - Big Seven honors . He was the Cyclone ' s only football All - America n in two decades , and more recently he was voted to the modern all - time all - Big Eight team . Doran closed out his Cyclone career owning virtually every Iowa State University and Big Seven receiving mark . He also played in the 1951 Hula Bowl and East – West Shrine Game . In 1983 he was inducted into the Iowa High School Football Hall of Fame , despite never playing high school football . Doran was deemed an " outstanding example for the young men of the state of Iowa " . In 1997 he was inducted into the inaugural Iowa State University Athletics Hall of Fame . In 2005 he was inducted into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame . Professional career . Detroit Lions . Doran was selected by the Detroit Lions in the 5th round of the 1951 NFL Draft and became a starter as a rookie , not as a pass receiver , but at defensive end . In 1952 he was voted the most valuable player on a Lions team that won the 1952 NFL Championship Game . His team mates nicknamed him the Graham Cracker , because of his ferocious rushing of Otto Graham as a defensive end , in all of the Detroit - Cleveland games he played in . During the 1953 season he started playing both offense and defense . The biggest play of his pro career occurred in the 1953 NFL Championship Game , when he cached a 33 - yard touchdown pass , that pulled out a 17 - 16 victory . Doran remained playing the offensive end position and led the Lions in receiving in 1957 . After the 1959 season , because of his age , the Lions left him off their list of players who were exempt from the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft . Dallas Cowboys . At 33 years of age , he was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft . Doran was converted to the tight end position , from where he led the team in receptions and yards , during its inaugural season , with 31 catches and 554 yards . At the end of that first season , he had the distinction of becoming the Cowboys ’ first Pro Bowl player in franchise history , and also scoring the Cowboys ’ first touchdown in franchise history , a 75 - yard pass from Eddie LeBaron against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 9 / 24 / 1960 . Doran started the franchise ' s legacy of Pro Bowl tight end s that includes : Dick Bielski , Lee Folkins , Mike Ditka , Billy Joe Dupree , Jackie Smith , Doug Cosbie , Jay Novacek and Jason Witten . He was released after playing 2 seasons in Dallas and a total of 11 seasons in the NFL , compliling 212 receptions for 3 , 667 yards and 24 touchdown s . Denver Broncos . On July 22 , 1962 , he signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos of the American Football League , but his season ended after injuring his back during a victory against the Dallas Texans on August 25 . Personal life . He joined his old Detroit Lions head coach , Buddy Parker , as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 1964 and 1965 seasons . Leaving football after the 1965 NFL season , Doran returned to Iowa to farm . Doran died on June 29 , 1994 , of a heart attack .