WINDSOR, Colo. -- Former Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl champion offensive lineman Tom Rafferty has died, the team announced Friday. He was 70.
Rafferty died Thursday in Windsor, Colorado, following a stroke, his daughter Rachel Powers confirmed to The Dallas Morning News. He had been hospitalized since early May.
The Syracuse, New York, native was drafted out of Penn State by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 1976 NFL Draft. He played his entire 14-year NFL career in Dallas from 1976-89, including winning Super Bowl XII over the Denver Broncos, 27-10, in January 1978.
At 6-foot-3 and 256 lbs., Rafferty played guard for his first five seasons before becoming the Cowboys’ starting center for nearly the entire 1980s. He started 182 games for the Cowboys, which ranks fourth in franchise history behind Jason Witten, Ed Jones and Emmitt Smith. He also ranks sixth in Cowboys history with 203 games played.
Following his retirement from the NFL, Rafferty went into sports equipment sales. He was inducted into the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.
In 2008, he was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, a rare neurological condition that leads to muscle weakness and pain, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Rafferty is survived by his wife Donna, his son Michael, daughter Rachel, and two grandchildren.