Early years

After attending Littleton High School, he enrolled at Abilene Christian University without a scholarship. In 1973 as a junior, he led the nation's small colleges in passing and total offense, with 3,167 yards and 28 touchdowns. He set a school record by passing for 434 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-7 victory against Southwest Texas State University.

Longley finished the year guiding his team to 11 straight victories and the NAIA championship. He would also receive Small College All-America honors and was named along with teammate Wilbert Montgomery, to the 1973 NAIA football All Star team, which backfield included Walter Payton.

He passed up his senior year in 1974 to enter the NFL.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Because he left college before his final year of eligibility, he entered the free agent pool in 1974 where he was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals and eventually traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a fifth round draft choice. During that season he was named the backup quarterback to Roger Staubach, after having a strong training camp and the trade of Craig Morton to the New York Giants.

He is best remembered for his performance in a Thanksgiving Day game in 1974 against the Washington Redskins. Longley then a rookie, came into the game for an injured Roger Staubach with the Cowboys trailing 16-3 in the third quarter, and facing elimination from the playoffs. After hitting Billy Joe Dupree for a 35-yard touchdown pass, he led the Cowboys on a 70-yard drive capped by a 1-yard Walt Garrison touchdown run. Finally, with the Cowboys behind 23-17 and with only 28 seconds left with no time outs, Longley hit Drew Pearson down the middle for a 50-yard hail mary pass touchdown which gave the Cowboys a dramatic 24-23 come from behind victory. Because Longley had no expectation of playing in that game and was completely unprepared, Cowboys lineman Blaine Nye sarcastically called his winning effort "the triumph of the uncluttered mind." The game was named the second-best in the history of Texas Stadium by ESPN in 2008.

After a training room incident in which he punched Roger Staubach during the 1976 preseason, the team suspended and eventually traded him to the San Diego Chargers for first and second draft choices; the Cowboys used those two picks and two other picks to eventually land the No. 2 overall pick in the 1977 draft, selecting Tony Dorsett.

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers traded for him with the intention of creating a competition with Dan Fouts, but decided to waive him the following year during the 1977 training camp.

Toronto Argonauts (CFL)

He spent part of the 1977 season with the Toronto Argonauts, playing in 8 games before being released.

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals signed him in 1978, but eventually waived him before the season started.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats (CFL)

After a year out of football, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats signed him in 1980, but he couldn't make the roster.

Roger Staubach incident

Less than two years after his Thanksgiving Day heroics, Longley, under pressure from Danny White for the back-up QB role, left the Cowboys in disgrace after he landed a blindside punch on Staubach during training camp in Thousand Oaks, California. The infamous "sucker punch" occurred after Longley and Staubach had fought over a negative remark Longley made about Staubach to fellow Cowboy teammates. Staubach was putting on his shoulder pads on the last day of training camp when Longley hit him in the face without warning and from behind, requiring several stitches to close the wound on Staubach's face. Longley was immediately traded to the San Diego Chargers where he finished his career with little more success.

Later reports indicated that Longley's sole motivation was that he wanted to be traded.

Personal life

When the NFL Network did a "Top 10 One-Hit Wonders" list that included Longley, Steve Sabol said he last heard that Longley had ended up selling carpet remnants out of the back of a van in Marfa, Texas.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]