Chuck Howley Charles Louis " Chuck " Howley ( born June 28 , 1936 , Wheeling , West Virginia ) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League . He spent his career with the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys . Early years . Howley attended Warwood High School ( later Wheeling Park High School ) . He letter ed in football , basketball and baseball . In football he was first team all - West Virginia and all - OVAC as a senior . As a teenager he competed in gymnastics . While attending West Virginia University , Howley played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers , where he was a three - time All - Southern Conference selection and the Southern Conference Player of the Year in 1957 . Howley played guard and center during his three years at varsity , in which the Mountaineers compiled a 21 - 8 - 1 mark during his tenure , including a 21 - 7 victory over Penn State which would be the last until 1984 . He played in three college all - star games — the East - West Shrine Game , the College Football All - Star Game and the Senior Bowl , which helped him get noticed by the Chicago Bears . He is the only athlete in West Virginia University history to letter in five sports - football , track , wrestling , gymnastics and swimming ( He won the Southern Conference one - meter diving championship ) . Howley was inducted into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame , the West Virginia University Athletics Hall of Fame , the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of Fame , and the West Virginia University Academy of Distinguished Alumni . Professional career . Chicago Bears . Drafted out of West Virginia University by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 1958 NFL Draft , Howley played for the Bears for two seasons before retiring after what appeared to be a career - ending knee injury he sustained during the 1959 training camp in Rensselaer , Indiana . When he decided to make a comeback in 1961 following a West Virginia alumni game , the Bears traded his rights to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2nd - round , along with 9th - round draft choice in the 1963 NFL Draft . Dallas Cowboys . Tom Landry , the head coach of the newly formed Dallas Cowboys , made the gamble to trade for him , looking to perfect his ' Doomsday Defense ' . The gamble paid off and Howley remained a phenomenal athlete , even after the knee injury . Perhaps his most noteworthy physical attribute was his speed . Landry once said that Howley might have made it in the NFL as a running back if he hadn ' t been too valuable to move from linebacker . Although he started in 1961 and 1962 as a strongside linebacker , in 1963 he embraced the switch to weakside linebacker , when it was decided that Dave Edwards had more upper - body strength . The move paid off as , at the conclusion of that season , Howley was named to The Sporting News All - East NFL team for the first time . Howley played with the Cowboys for 165 games over thirteen seasons , playing in two NFL Championships and helping the Cowboys reach two Super Bowl s . The Cowboys finished in the top seven in the NFL in scoring defense and yards allowed in 10 of Howley ’ s 13 seasons with the team . He was also named Super Bowl MVP for Super Bowl V , intercepting two passes and recovering a fumble in the Cowboys 16 - 13 loss to the Colts . It was the first time a defensive player received the honor ; to this day , it is also the only time a player from the losing team has ever won the award . The following season , Dallas made it back to the Super Bowl , and again Howley had a great performance , recording a fumble recovery and a 41 - yard interception in the Cowboys 24 - 3 win over the Miami Dolphins . His performance was under MVP - consideration , but his teammate Roger Staubach won the MVP honor . During his career , Howley ' s athletic ability made him one of the greatest coverage linebacker s of all time , intercepting 25 passes , returning them for 399 yards and two touchdown s . He finished with more than 100 yards in interception returns for both the 1968 and 1971 seasons . He also recovered 18 fumbles , returning them for 191 yards and one touchdown . He is second in Cowboys ' history with his 17 fumbles recovered . His 97 - yard return of a fumble during a game against the Atlanta Falcons on October 2 , 1966 is still the second longest in Cowboys history . He also had a large number of tackles and quarterback sack s , but these statistics were not compiled until after Howley ' s career ended so his unofficial sack total is 26 . 5 according to the Dallas Cowboys with a career high of 5½ sacks in 1965 . Howley was named first - team All - Pro five times in his career , was a six - time Pro Bowl er and was named to the All - Eastern Conference team in 1963 . Howley retired after the 1973 season . His thirteen seasons for the Cowboys , ties him for the second longest tenure in franchise history . In 1977 , Howley was inducted into the Ring of Honor at Texas Stadium , the fourth player to receive that honor . He also was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame . In 2007 he was among the 17 finalists to be seniors candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame . Post NFL activities . Following retirement , Howley ran a successful uniform rental business in Dallas and is now involved in a foundation dedicated to breeding quarterhorses at Happy Hollow — located in Wills Point , Texas . His broodmare herd consists of more than 50 mares . He lives in Dallas .