Don Larry Talbert (born March 1, 1939) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

for eight years, interrupted by two years in Vietnam, in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

including the

Super Bowl VI Super Bowl VI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

champion Cowboys. Prior to that he was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

playing

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

Early life

Talbert attended

Texas City High School Texas City High School (TCHS) is a public high school in Texas City, Texas, in the Greater Houston area. It is one of two high schools in the Texas City Independent School District (TCISD), the other being La Marque High School. The main schoo ...

, where he played football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. He played college football at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, where he was a two-way tackle and a three year letterman. He missed the 1958 season with a broken leg. As a fifth year senior in 1961, he was named All-SWC, an

and was voted outstanding SWC lineman in the

Dallas Times Herald The ''Dallas Times Herald'', founded in 1888 by a merger of the '' Dallas Times'' and the '' Dallas Herald'', was once one of two major daily newspapers serving the Dallas, Texas ( USA) area. It won three Pulitzer Prizes, all for photography, an ...

poll. He helped Texas to win co-conference championships twice, tie Alabama in the 1960 Bluebonnet Bowl and win the 1962 Cotton Bowl Classic. The Longhorns finished the 1961 season ranked #3, the best final ranking since 1950. In 1992, he was inducted into the Longhorns Hall of Honor.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys (first stint)

Talbert was selected by the

in the eighth round (100th overall) of the

1961 NFL draft The 1961 NFL draft took place at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on December 27–28, 1960. The league would later hold an expansion draft for the Minnesota Vikings expansion franchise. This draft was also the first regular draft for the Dall ...

with a future draft pick, which allowed the team to draft him before his college eligibility was over. He was also selected by the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

in the 34th round (271st overall) of the 1962 AFL Draft. As a rookie in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

, although he played as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

, he was mostly the backup at right offensive tackle and got a chance to start in 4 games. Talbert was in the reserve officer program at Texas and had to miss the next 2 seasons because of military service in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, where he was a police lieutenant in Saigon. He returned to the team in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

and played in all 14 games as a backup.

Atlanta Falcons

The

selected him from the Cowboys roster in the

1966 NFL expansion draft The 1966 NFL expansion draft was a National Football League (NFL) draft in which a new expansion team, named the Atlanta Falcons, selected its first players. On June 30, 1965, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle awarded the first NFL franchise in the ...

. He was the franchise's first starter at

left tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

. He was a three-year starter. On July 3,

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, he was traded along with Errol Linden to the

in exchange for

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

men Roy Schmidt, Jim Ferguson and Jerry Jones.

New Orleans Saints

Talbert was a two-year starter at

with the

. On August 2,

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, he was traded to the

in exchange for

Doug Moore and a fourth round draft choice (#104-

Eric Allen Eric Andre Allen (born November 22, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, and Oakland Raiders from 1988 to 2001. A ...

Dallas Cowboys (third stint)

, he was a backup until replacing

Ralph Neely Ralph Eugene Neely (September 12, 1943 – January 5, 2022) was an American professional football player who was an offensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL). He played 13 seasons and 172 games for the Cowboy ...

in the starting lineup at

in the eighth game, after Neely had a motorcycle accident. Talbert promptly sprained his ankle and he was first replaced with

Forrest Gregg Alvis Forrest Gregg (October 18, 1933 – April 12, 2019) was an American professional football player and coach. A Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), he was a part of six NFL champ ...

and later by Tony Liscio. Nonetheless, he was able to be a part of the

winning team. He was waived on September 7,

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

and later put on the future list, where he remained for the rest of the season. He was re-signed in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, but was waived on September 5 and placed on the team

taxi squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scout ...

, before being waived again on September 19.

Houston Texans/Shreveport Steamer (WFL)

Talbert was selected by the Chicago Fire in the sixth round (64th overall) of the 1974 WFL Pro Draft of NFL and CFL Players. He was signed by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

. After playing 11 games, the team relocated to

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

on September 18, where they were renamed as the

Shreveport Steamer The Shreveport Steamer were a professional American football team in the World Football League. The franchise began the 1974 season in Houston, Texas, as the Houston Texans (no connection to the current NFL team of the same name), playing the ...

Personal life

Both of Don's brothers played college football at Texas as well. Charlie was a two-way starter at defensive end and receiver; the leading receiver on the 1963 National Championship team. His youngest brother

Diron Talbert Diron Vester Talbert (born July 1, 1944) is an American former professional football player who played defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, making the pro-bowl in 1975. He played four season with the Los Angeles Ra ...

played

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. Diron was also inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor, in 2005 after being all-southwest conference player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbert, Don 1939 births Living people People from Louisville, Mississippi Players of American football from Galveston County, Texas American football offensive tackles Texas Longhorns football players Dallas Cowboys players Atlanta Falcons players New Orleans Saints players United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army officers Military personnel from Texas