Former Cowboys guard Tony Hutson found dead, no cause of death reported

Former Dallas Cowboys guard Tony Hutson has been found dead at age 49, with no cause of death being reported.

An online obituary was posted saying Hutson passed away recently, and in a FaceBook post, some of his former teammates commented sharing their disbelief at the news.

Teammate Randall Godfrey said in a Facebook post:

“Our 1996 Dallas Cowboys rookies had a special bond. He made several trips to Valdosta to help with my annual football camps. I cherished every moment that he had me crying after laughing so hard. You caught us off guard with this one. Take your rest my brother. Gone too soon.”

Tony Hutson played college football at Kilgore College but transferred to Northeastern Oklahoma State University. Hutson received NAIA All-American honors while playing as an offensive tackle and in 1999, was voted to the Oklahoma college football All-Century team.

Tony Hutson's NFL career

After his college career, Tony Hutson went undrafted in the 1996 NFL draft but was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys. During his physical for the draft, a benign tumor was found on his right lung which caused him to go undrafted, and Hutson admitted he thought his career was over.

“My first thought was I would never get to play football anymore,” Hutson said in 1996, via The Oklahoman. “But then I thought there’s more to life than football. I just wanted to live my life. I talked to my mom about it and prayed about it.”

As a rookie, Hutson switched to offensive guard but failed to make the team out of camp. He spent the entire season on the practice squad but was activated to the main roster for the Divisional playoff game against the Carolina Panthers.

Hutson then spent the next season on the practice squad before being activated for the final five games.

Tony Hutson ended up playing 30 games in the NFL as he also spent time with Washington and the Oakland Raiders.