Staubach Finds Success at Every Turn
DALLAS–Roger Staubach has had a great career. Five of them, in fact.
To wit: Heisman Trophy winner while leading the Naval Academy to a Number 2 ranking in 1963; four years as a commissioned officer in the Navy, including two tours in Vietnam; an 11-year career with the Dallas Cowboys, leading the team to four Super Bowls (two championships), named Super Bowl MVP and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame; founder of a successful commercial real estate firm with 1,600 employees and 70 offices; and a successful merger with Jones Lang LaSalle, where he currently serves as Executive Chairman.
Speaking here at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Mortgage Servicing Conference & Expo, Staubach said much of what he learned on the field as a football player translated into his career in commercial real estate finance.
“When I joined the Cowboys in 1969 I was eager to diversify my experience,” Staubach said. During the off seasons he worked with The Robert Miller Cos., a Dallas-based commercial real estate firm, which he parlayed into creating The Staubach Co. in 1977.
“My favorite saying is ‘there is no traffic jam on the extra mile,'” Staubach said. “Sports teach you a lot about hard work and perseverance. You learn a lot about people when things are down–you deal with adversity. You pick yourself up and move on.”
The company grew quickly, adding more than 1,000 employees in its first years. “We moved to the forefront of helping companies manage their real estate investments. Many companies need that kind of help and we were able to meet those needs.”
Joining up with JLL represented a natural fit, Staubach said, enabling the Staubach Co. to provide its services with the backing of the JLL brand.
“Not that we didn’t have issues,” Staubach noted. “Our first office outside Texas was in Washington, D.C., and a lot of people in Washington don’t like me very much,” he said. “I remember going to one company’s meeting and seeing a man at the end of the table wearing a Cowboys’ jersey. So I said, ‘It’s good to see some Cowboys fans here,’ and they replied, ‘No, he’s the only Cowboys’ fan.'”
