Amityville football legend John Niland, Cowboys Super Bowl champion, dies at 82

Amityville High School alum and University of Iowa All-American went on to a six-time Pro Bowl NFL career

John Hugh Niland, an Amityville native who became an All-American at the University of Iowa and a six-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys, has died. He was 82.

Niland passed away on Aug. 15 at his home in McKinney, Texas, surrounded by loved ones, his family announced in a Facebook post. He was born Feb. 29, 1944.

An All-State fullback at Amityville Memorial High School, Niland went on to become an All-American offensive lineman at Iowa before the Dallas Cowboys selected him fifth overall in the 1966 NFL Draft — the first offensive lineman in franchise history taken in the first round.

Niland became one of the premier guards of his era, earning three All-Pro honors to go with his half-dozen Pro Bowl appearances. He helped Dallas win two NFC championships and Super Bowl VI, a 24-3 triumph over Miami, before finishing his 11-year NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Cowboys organization in an official statement remembered Niland as an All-Pro guard who was at the core of legendary coach Tom Landry’s greatest teams and a Super Bowl champion, praising his toughness and calling him a team-first player who represented excellence.

Niland was inducted into the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 and the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.

For years, many around the sport have clamored for Niland’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“When you put Niland against some of the people that played his position or were offensive linemen,” former Cowboys player personnel director Gil Brandt once said, “I think he deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as much or more than a lot of those people that are there.”

In lieu of cards, the family is asking friends and fans to email photos, videos, stories and memories to [email protected].

Tributes have poured in from those who knew Niland growing up on Long Island. Butch Devine, who said he attended grade school, high school and the University of Iowa alongside Niland, recalled the two making the roughly 18-hour drive from Iowa City to Amityville together, stopping only for gas.

_{Top: Dallas running back Duane Thomas grinds out yardage during game on Sunday, Nov. 23, 1970, in Washington. Leading the way is guard John Niland (76) (AP Photo/JD).}