John Fitzgerald, who played center for the Dallas Cowboys across 12 NFL seasons and won two Super Bowl rings while never experiencing a losing campaign, has died at age 77.
The Cowboys confirmed his death Tuesday morning. Fitzgerald passed away Monday, April 14, 2026, with his 78th birthday just two days away. Neither his family nor the Cowboys revealed a cause of death.
Fitzgerald’s journey to the NFL began in Southbridge, Massachusetts, a small Worcester County city where he attended high school. At Southbridge High School, he competed as a fullback and also threw shot put in track and field, showcasing the strength that would become his trademark in professional football.
Boston College awarded Fitzgerald a scholarship, where he played both offensive guard and defensive tackle during three varsity seasons. His college career earned him a spot in Boston College’s Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982, just after he hung up his cleats.
Dallas selected him 101st overall in the fourth round of the 1970 NFL Draft. At 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, he spent his first season on the taxi squad while the Cowboys experimented with him on defense before converting him to the offensive line.
As a backup guard, Fitzgerald contributed to Dallas’s Super Bowl VI championship, a 24-3 triumph over the Miami Dolphins in January 1972. The Cowboys moved him to center for the 1972 season, and he won the starting role in 1973, holding it for the remainder of his career.
Between 1973 and 1980, Dallas finished in the NFL’s top 10 for total offense every year, with five seasons seeing them rank in the top three. Fitzgerald’s presence at center was crucial to that offensive dominance.
His signature achievement came in 1975 when head coach Tom Landry brought back the shotgun formation, which had largely disappeared from NFL playbooks. Fitzgerald’s precision in snapping the ball the extra distance to quarterback Roger Staubach, consistently and without mistakes, allowed the system to thrive.
The Cowboys reached the Super Bowl three times in the following four seasons, including a 27-10 victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII in January 1977.
Fitzgerald created one of football’s most memorable offensive line nicknames: “Four Irishmen and a Scott.” The 1979-80 unit featured Fitzgerald at center, Pat Donovan at left tackle, Tom Rafferty at right guard, Jim Cooper at right tackle, and Herb Scott at left guard.
That offensive line dominated opponents. Hall of Fame running back Tony Dorsett gave left guard Herb Scott major credit for his success. Donovan, part of the famous “Dirty Dozen” draft class of 1975, played nine NFL seasons without missing a single game. Fitzgerald anchored the entire operation from his center position.
Fitzgerald’s career totals included 137 regular-season games with 109 starts. He added 19 postseason appearances and 13 playoff starts, a figure that ties for 19th in Cowboys history.
The Cowboys made the playoffs 11 times during Fitzgerald’s 12-year tenure, won nine NFC Championship Game berths, competed in five Super Bowls, and hoisted two Lombardi Trophies. Only the 1974 season ended without a playoff appearance.
Pro Bowl recognition never came for Fitzgerald despite his sustained excellence. Many offensive linemen throughout NFL history have faced similar oversight when postseason honors were distributed. His teammates, however, never doubted his importance to Dallas’s offensive success.
Dallas placed him on injured reserve Aug. 31, 1981, and he officially retired Jan. 11, 1982. Tom Rafferty, his fellow “Four Irishmen” lineman, took over the center position.
The Cowboys rank Fitzgerald among the franchise’s all-time great centers, a group that includes Dave Manders, Mark Stepnoski, Andre Gurode, and Travis Frederick.
Social media filled with fan tributes and condolences after the news broke. Football historian Kevin Gallagher called Fitzgerald the “trigger man for the Cowboys’ bold 1975 reintroduction of the shotgun formation” — an innovation that transformed the game and depended on a Dallas center who could deliver the snap perfectly every time.
