Roger Staubach on succeeding in real estate: It’s all about teamwork

Legendary Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Roger Staubach remembers buying his first house in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for $49,500 area after joining the team — with a $25,000 salary in 1969. Staubach shared football stories with REO professionals and related them to his 30-year career in the commercial real estate industry during Monday’s keynote luncheon speech at the Five Star Default Servicing Conference and Expo under way this week in Dallas. Staubach, who played for the Cowboys from 1969-1979 and coined the famous phrase, “Hail Mary pass,” went to work in the off-season for Henry S. Miller Co., noting that “they didn’t pay quarterbacks then what they do today.” The experience propelled him into the commercial real estate industry via mentor Henry Miller, who he equated with his Cowboys mentor and coach, Tom Landry, two men of similar demeanors with high integrity. Staubach went on to create The Staubach Co. in 1977, a highly successful commercial real estate services firm with 1,600 employees and more than 60 offices that was acquired in 2008 by Jones Lang LaSalle. Staubach serves as chairman emeritus at JLL. Noting that he’s also recently secured his own dog, he quipped, “I’m enjoying the fourth quarter with Jones Lang LaSalle.” Staubach commiserated with the crowd, noting that the difficulties in the residential market are similar to problems the commercial sector also faces. Success, he said, comes in part from great teamwork and setting aside personal agendas. Such was the case with the 1971 Cowboys, whose season propelled them into Super Bowl VI, where they defeated the Miami Dolphins, Staubach said, while telling football tales from that season and how talented players needed to work together to succeed as a team. “I learned a lot about teamwork and resiliency and perseverance in football,” he said, “and that translates well into business.” Write to Kerry Curry.