Recalling the NFL’s Best Offensive Tackles of the 1970s

 By Joe Zagorski 

Every football coaching staff realizes that a stalwart offensive tackle can bring your offense success.  Whether it be through his ability to stop a charging defensive end from destroying your pass pocket, or by walling off an outside linebacker from getting close to a running back, an offensive tackle who is adept at his craft can indeed be advantageous to a team’s offensive production. 

Offensive tackles represent the outside bookends to every offensive line. True, there are no real statistics that can be attributed directly to offensive tackles, except for quarterback sacks permitted and team rushing yardage gained.  Nevertheless, during the 1970s, the NFL saw many exemplary offensive tackles who exemplified the strength and the power of their respective teams. Below is a list of just some of them who stood out the most, and they are listed in random order, not in any best-to-worst order. 

Ron Yary was a 14-year offensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings.  He played his final year in pro football (1982) for the Los Angeles Rams. Yary was named All-Pro in seven consecutive seasons from 1971 to 1977. He also was named to seven Pro Bowl squads during that time, and he was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1970s. 

While he was with the Vikings, Yary experienced winning 11 division titles. He also was a member of all four of Minnesota’s trips to the Super Bowl.  Yary’s physical stature and strength (he was 6-foot-5, and he weighed 255 pounds) made him a difficult obstacle for opposing defensive ends to get past along the line of scrimmage.  He missed only two games during his pro career due to injury, and he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

Rayfield Wright (6-6, 270) was a 13-year offensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys from 1967 to 1979. He played his 14th and final year in pro football in 1980 as a practice squad member of the Philadelphia Eagles. Wright was a veritable man-mountain at right offensive tackle for the Cowboys.  

Known as the “Big Cat,” Wright played in sixth NFC Championship games and five Super Bowls, winning two of them (Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl XII). He was also a member of six straight Pro Bowl teams.  Wright was named to six straight All-Pro squads, and he experienced 10 division titles as a member of the Cowboys. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

George Kunz (6-5, 257) was one of the most outstanding blockers of the 1970s. He split his 12-year career evenly between the Atlanta Falcons (1969-1974) and the Baltimore Colts (1975-1980). You knew what you were going to get with Kunz. He was as steady as they came. 

He would practically remove any vestige of success from the opposing defensive end that he faced on a weekly basis. Kunz earned All-Pro recognition five times and played in seven Pro Bowls. He started 126 of the 129 games that he played.  He was a vital member in helping the Colts to return to their winning tradition from 1975 to 1977.  

Art Shell of the Oakland Raiders was another in the line of huge offensive tackles. He stood 6-5 and weighed 265, and he had the strength of a bear. He presented a most difficult problem for opposing defensive ends, as they tried to get around him. In Super Bowl XI, he kept veteran Minnesota defensive end Jim Marshall from making one single tackle in that game.  

Shell played 15 years in the NFL from 1968 to 1982, and all with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. He was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1970s, and he was a member of three winning Super Bowl teams. Shell appeared in eight Pro Bowls, and he achieved All-Pro recognition four times during his career.

Leon Gray (6-3, 256) was another one of those unheralded offensive tackles who did not distinguish himself until he got to the pros. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 1973, then released and picked up by the New England Patriots. While at New England from 1973 to 1978, Gray was overshadowed by his fellow linemate, Hall of Fame offensive guard John Hannah. Despite that fact, Gray proved himself to be one of the best offensive tackles in the game. 

Thanks in large part to his efforts, the Patriots became one of the best-rushing teams in the league. In 1978, they ran for an NFL-best 3,165 yards.  Gray was traded to the Houston Oilers in 1979 and played there for three seasons.  He was vital in leading the Oilers to the 1979 AFC Title Game. Gray played two more years in pro football with the New Orleans Saints from 1982 to 1983. He achieved All-Pro designation from 1978-1980, and he played in four Pro Bowls.

Like Leon Gray, Stan Walters (6-6, 275) also played for more than one team. The durable Walters began his career in Cincinnati and played there from 1972 to 1974. Then in 1975, he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, where he remained until his retirement from pro football following the 1983 season. Walters did not receive as many honors as those offensive tackles listed above. 

Nevertheless, he was a steady and reliable anchor who was an outstanding run blocker and a very efficient pass blocker. Walters typically faced some of the quickest defensive ends in the league.  Dallas Cowboys defensive end Harvey Martin listed Walters as “…the best I ever went up against.” Walters helped the Bengals win a division title in 1973, and he helped the Eagles to playoff berths in four consecutive years, and to the NFC Title in 1980. He was named to one All-Pro team and two Pro Bowls during his career.

Norm Evans (6-5, 250) was another offensive tackle during this era to play for more than just one team.  He represented a steady and reliable influence on the Miami Dolphins' offensive line for over a decade.  But he began his pro football career as a 14th-round draft selection of the Houston Oilers in 1965. He then became the only player in the sport’s history to be selected in two expansion drafts. He was chosen by the Miami Dolphins in 1966. Evans stayed in Miami for 10 seasons, then he was selected by the expansion Seattle team in 1976, where he remained until his final year in the NFL in 1978. But it was in Miami where Evans experienced his greatest successes.  

Like most offensive linemen, Evans did not get a lot of credit for his efforts. But he was a vital cog in helping to seal off opposing defensive linemen from penetrating the Dolphins’ backfield. Miami had one of the strongest running attacks in the league during the early 1970s, and it was their ground game that led the way to three straight Super Bowl appearances (1971-1973) and two straight Super Bowl victories (1972 and 1973). Evans served as a reliable component to the success of the Dolphins’ running backs during that era. He played in two Pro Bowls during his career.

There may have been several other great offensive tackles who played in the NFL and who have not been listed here. But these have been listed to inspire and recognize the natural debates that arise whenever fans wish to discuss the merits and achievements of all pro players. Men like Yary, Wright, Kunz, Shell, Gray, Walters and Evans represent just some of the great offensive tackles who played pro football during the 1970s.

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Joe Zagorski is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Pro Football Researchers Association. His upcoming book, The 2,003-Yard Odyssey: The Juice, the Electric Company, and an Epic Run for a Record, is scheduled to be released by Austin-Macauley publishers later in 2023.