Professional Football Player, Broadcaster, Actor. Nicknamed "Dandy Don." For nine seasons (1960 to 1968), he played at the quarterback position with the Dallas Cowboys. Born Joseph Donald Meredith, he attended Mount Vernon High School and played collegiate football at Southern Methodist University. While with the Mustangs, he achieved All-American honors twice (1958 and 1959). Selected by the Chicago Bears during the 3rd round of the 1960 NFL Draft, Meredith was traded to the Dallas Cowboys, as they marked their inaugural season in 1960; he shared playing time with Eddie LeBaron, appearing in 6 games that season. He quarterbacked the Cowboys' squad which reached two consecutive NFL championship games (1966 and 1967, both resulting in a defeat to the Packers), including the famed 1967 NFL Title Game referred to as "The Ice Bowl." He was recipient of the Bert Bell Trophy from the Maxwell Club, when he recorded a career-high 24 touchdowns in 1966. He concluded his playing career after the 1968 season, with 104 regular season games, compiling 17,199 passing yards and 135 touchdowns; he earned Pro Bowl status three consecutive years (1966 to 1968). When "Monday Night Football" launched during the Fall of 1970, Meredith was a member of the original broadcast team (1970 to 1973 and 1977 to 1984) with Keith Jackson (later Frank Gifford) and Howard Cosell. A folksy commentator in the "MNF" booth, he was best known for singing "Turn out the lights, the party's over" when the outcome of a game was inevitable. In addition to broadcasting, Meredith focused on an acting career during the 1970s; he appeared in several TV-movies and series including "Sky Heist" (1972), "McCloud," and "Police Story," among others. He was also familiar to TV audiences, when he served as a spokesman for Lipton Tea commercials. He was named to the Cowboys Ring of Honor in 1976, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1982, and had his uniform number 17 retired by Southern Methodist University in 2008.