NEW YORK — Dave Edwards, a linebacker who helped lead the Dallas Cowboys to three Super Bowls and was part of the team’s so-called Doomsday Defense, died Monday. He was 76.
His death was confirmed by his brother, Timothy Edwards, who said in an interview Wednesday that his brother had died at his home in Lake Whitney, Texas, about 80 miles southwest of Dallas.
He had been scheduled to have surgery Thursday for a heart arrhythmia that was recently discovered, his brother said.
Mr. Edwards played for the Cowboys from 1963 through the 1975 season. Known for his speed and aggressiveness, he was considered a key component of the team’s defense. He was frequently listed among the linebackers with the most interceptions, according to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, which inducted him in 1998.
Charlie Waters, a safety for the Cowboys, recalled in a 2014 The Los Angeles Times article about so-called Hail Mary plays that superstition had played a role in Edwards’s game. (The term has its roots in a 1975 divisional playoff game in which Roger Staubach, the Cowboys quarterback, chucked a 50-yard desperation pass to Drew Pearson for a touchdown with 24 seconds left and later acknowledged having said the prayer after releasing the ball.)
Waters said Mr. Edwards would have the defensive players walk in the direction that the Cowboys’ offense was moving.
“It was like a stream of defensive players walking along the sidelines,’’ Waters said. “Dave was probably chanting some sort of mystical chant. But we all glanced over there when it happened, and we thought it was us — we thought that was why it worked!’’
During Mr. Edwards’s time with the Cowboys, the team won Super Bowl VI in 1972, in which Dallas beat Miami, 24-3, and played in two others, after the 1970 and 1975 seasons.
He spent his entire NFL career with Dallas, playing in 181 games, and had 13 career interceptions and 17 fumble recoveries.
He missed only one game, his brother said.
At Auburn University, Mr. Edwards was an outstanding two-way player, as a receiver on offense and at end on defense. He played during the 1959, 1960 and 1961 seasons, according to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, and was considered among the premier defensive players in the Southeastern Conference.
David Monroe Edwards was born Dec. 14, 1939, in Abbeville, Ala., to Warren and Millie Edwards.
Timothy Edwards recalled that his brother had enjoyed biking and skiing and was a standout basketball and football player in high school.
His skills extended to chain-saw carvings.
“He could carve a bear out of a log,’’ Timothy Edwards said. “He could do anything.’’
In the decades after he retired from football, Mr. Edwards worked at numerous jobs and owned several businesses, including selling land-clearing equipment and operating a bar and restaurant, his brother said.
In addition to his brother, Mr. Edwards leaves two sons, Chris of Dallas and Mike of Colorado; and three sisters, Jane Price and Susan MacDonald, both of Eufaula, Ala.; and Gloria Courtemanche of Atlanta.
