Former Dallas Cowboy John Niland Talks North Dallas Forty

[@jeffpierce6594]

One of the best sports movies, ever. RIP Mac Davis.

[@randyjames693]

North Dallas Forty was an Awesome Movie!

[@georgesouthwick7000]

Perhaps the best sports movie ever made…definitely the best football movie. The NFL naturally hated it. Fred Biletnikoff was a technical advisor on the film. He said after the movie came out, he applied for several coaching jobs, but had been blackballed.

[@randyjames693]

@@georgesouthwick7000 I always thought Nick Nolte was imitating Biletnikoff......and he actually was!

[@williamrowlett740]

Biletnikoff didn't play for the Cowboys and his style always worked for the Oakland Raiders; not a Tom Landry team. But I see the similarities between him and Elliot (the 1 bar face mask and great hands).

[@randyjames693]

@@williamrowlett740 Nolte based his character, as far as on the field receiving on Fred's style.

[@bdevenyn]

I remember seeing Niland in Dallas around 1972 or 73, when I was about 10 years old. My Dad & I had just been to Sears and had driven over to the McDonald's next to Valley View Mall for lunch. Niland was sitting by himself at an outdoor table eating a huge meal. He was eating at least two burgers, fast, with fistfuls of fries and a big drink. My Dad tried to get me to go over and ask for his autograph, but I remember thinking he looked scary. And he was big! He's probably a really nice guy, but he sure made me nervous when I was a kid. :)

[@bravobravoh1344]

Boy I remember Valley View Mall back in the day.

[@williamrowlett740]

I saw John Niland several times in the early 1990's hanging out in the coffee shop area of Skaggs Albertson's located at Midway and NW Hwy. He was very nice and actually remembered me the subsequent times I saw him there. I called him "76" and he liked it I still remembered his Cowboys days and number.

[@ronsmac]

The movie came out in 1979. Niland was long retired by then. He wasn’t in his 3rd year in the Nfl. Now if he’s talking about the book then he was still on the Cowboys when that came out.

[@rhgamecock1]

Was going to mention the same thing. His last year in the league was 1975 and his last year with the Cowboys was 1974. Lee Roy Jordan's last year was 1976. He seems to clearly be talking about the movie so maybe he is mixed up.

[@tatesinclair6837]

Maybe a few too many hits in the head and few too many "wild" nights.

[@billybergendahl3515]

This man played in The Ice Bowl game.

[@stevesherrell9487]

Great movie

[@riccarrasquilla379]

thanks for the video

[@tomloft2000]

By his own admission, he was the character Joe Bob Priddy.

[@derekcabanaw1789]

Wasn't Seth Maxwell (Mac Davis) supposed to portray Don Meredith? Still, this is great.

[@OnePost909]

Yes, and G.D. Spradlin portrays Tom Landry. And Tom Landry comes across in that movie as a holy rolling martinet that you do not want to know, much less play for. And after a while Don Meredith couldn't play for him anymore.

[@ronniebishop2496]

I thought Don Perkins was one of them and Elliot like Lance Renzel. lol

[@williamrowlett740]

Delma Huddle was probably more based on "Bullet" Bob Hayes. Seth Maxwell was Don Meredith. Phil Elliot was Pete Gent. Art Hartman was Staubach. Coach was definitely Coach Landry. I lived in Dallas in the 60's and knew the Cowboys. There was an Oak Farms player at the end of every game in the Cotton Bowl. Murphy Martin was broadcast announcer. I was an eyewitness. Those were memorable times.

[@derekcabanaw1789]

@@williamrowlett740 You would definitely know more than I, considering that was a year old when North Dallas Forty came out. Good stuff.

[@gregford2103]

@@OnePost909 Landry was an enigma, at best. Off the field, he was supposedly one of the nicest men you could meet, but one it, he was said to be a close-minded martinet who wouldn't accept any criticism of his style, not take any blame when things went wrong on the field. Also, I believe Dabney Coleman's character, a self-righteous penny-pinching general manager, was supposed to be Tex Schramm.

[@porflepopnecker4376]

What a great movie. I'm glad to hear that it's authentic from one of the classic Cowboys players. I remember when some of the Cowboys, including Niland, appeared in the horror film HORROR HIGH.

[@elcuhmiklo3105]

Just met him lives in McKinney Tx

[@ronniebishop2496]

Roger played in lots of championship games. So Leroy Jordan was that crazy Joe Bob .

[@georgesouthwick7000]

I believe the character of linebacker Tony Douglas was based on Leroy Jordan.

[@ronniebishop2496]

@@georgesouthwick7000 You’re right.

[@cassidy109]

From what I’ve read the character Joe Bob Priddy was supposedly based off of offensive tackle Ralph Neely.

[@ronniebishop2496]

@@cassidy109 Well I’m from Oklahoma where Ralph played and I never heard he was that crazy at all, Oklahoma just didn’t recruit those types of players, at that time. Lol 😂

[@cassidy109]

@@ronniebishop2496 If you google Ralph Neely and North Dallas Forty you’ll run across an old Washington Post article talking about the Jo Bob character. Neely is quoted as saying that certain aspects of Jo Bob are him. The article also mentions that others think that Jo Bob was based on Don Talbert and George Andrie. At any rate, if I had to venture a guess Jo Bob from the book and movie was likely a composite character along with a healthy dose of fiction.

[@jimhresko9102]

is the player who didn't want to take the shot supposed to be Bob Hayes?

[@davanmani556]

I want to say Pettis Norman.

[@wesleyhite8203]

The quarter back was Meredith, not Staubach!

[@ronsmac]

Correct, and the movie came out in 1979 and Niland and Lee roy Jordan retired 3 years before the premiere. His timeline is way off.

[@scottarivett496]

The backup QB was the Bible thumper in the movie. Dropped the snap for the PAT and lost the game. I’m assuming his religious lifestyle was based on Staubach. Not much else.

[@basketballspinner]

everything happened to Niland, everything. Even, “when I was a child, I spake as a child, I acted like a child. When I became a man, I put away childish ways.” Yeah, even that happened.

[@billobrien5140]

Seth Maxwell : "Dammit, they're shooting at cows." Phil Elliot says, "What the hell?" Seth says, "Don't worry, they're too drunk to hit anything."

[@Prof.DonR.Mueller]

Everything happened good and bad.

[@ToryLowe-g3k]

DARK, DARK MOVIE.

[@jimnightday1239]

I hate every time a movie comes out that was me no it's not

[@rogersmith6411]

BLACK men with white women