Bob Lilly Learns How He Inspired A Cowboys Fan 2,000 Miles Away
Lifelong Cowboys fan Claude Cramer met Hall of Famer Bob Lilly decades after choosing No. 74 in high school because of the Dallas legend.
Claude Cramer shares how Dallas Cowboys legend Bob Lilly inspired him to wear No. 74 in high school | Image by DXSN A childhood football dream more than 40 years in the making finally came full circle on Dallas Express Sports Network . In a new DXSN segment, lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan Claude Cramer shared how Pro Football Hall of Famer Bob Lilly inspired him as a young athlete growing up in Northern California, far from Cowboys country.
Cramer said he first learned about Lilly when a physical education teacher showed football game films on rainy school days. He was about 10 years old at the time, but the impact stuck. “I first met Bob Lilly through a game thing when I was 10 years old,” Cramer said.
“And I wanted to be a defensive lineman. ” When Cramer began playing high school football as a freshman, he had the chance to choose his number. He picked No.
74, the same number Lilly wore while helping define the Dallas Cowboys’ early identity. A photo from Cramer’s senior year in 1980 shows him wearing No. 74.