When the Dallas Cowboys eased past the Denver Broncos with a 27-10 win, the league witnessed its first-ever Indoor Super Bowl in 1978. Popularly known as the Doomsday Defense, led by an extremely talented linebacker, the Cowboys suffocated Denver to a total of 61 yards. Now, years later, the linebacker is opening up about what really went on behind the scenes.

Thomas ‘Hollywood’ Henderson openly admitted that he played Super Bowl XII under the influence of liquefied cocaine, and still walked away with the win.

Henderson put up a solid performance in Super Bowl XII, even making Dallas’ first two tackles of the game, including a five-yard loss on Broncos RB Jon Keyworth. After Danny White punted the ball to Denver returner Rick Upchurch, Henderson launched himself into Upchurch’s left shoulder and received a 15-yard penalty. He says it was his favorite play of the game.

“Mike Ditka (then a Dallas assistant) had come up to me and said, ‘I don’t care where the ball is, I want you to hit Upchurch,’ ” Henderson said. “We wanted to put something in his head. I was aiming for his throat, but I missed him and just kind of hit him on the shoulder.”

The Cowboys ended up winning the game, with Dallas defenders Randy White and Harvey Martin getting co-MVP recognition. It was the only time that has ever happened in NFL history, while the 1978 Dallas team became one of the most dominant teams anybody has ever seen.

That was also the year in which Henderson picked up the “Hollywood” nickname, courtesy of teammate Robert Newhouse, after Henderson showed up to practice in a limousine. It was all going as he would’ve wanted it to. He was a first-round pick, reached three Super Bowls in his first four seasons, and he looked like one of the most dominant defenders in football.

Henderson even made the Pro Bowl in 1978, but dr*gs and erratic behavior slowly pulled his career off track. His downfall became public in 1983, when he was arrested for smoking c*caine with two teenage girls.

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How did addiction get the better of Thomas Henderson?

The dr*g use followed Henderson throughout his football career. By his own admission, during a couple of those games, he kept an inhaler in his pocket, filled with liquid cocaine. When he tried to make things better by admitting himself to rehab, he ended up doing dr*gs on the stairs before entering the clinic.

“Dr*gs just got me,” Henderson said. “Dr*gs have been a major contribution to my downfall. I lost friends, family, and career. Dr*gs almost forced me into bankruptcy. If I hadn’t stopped at this point, I would owe the world.”

The breaking point came in 1979, when the Cowboys played the Washington Redskins. Dallas was getting beaten badly, 34–20, and Henderson’s head was not in the game. Instead, he was playing to the cameras and waving handkerchiefs with the Cowboys logo. Head coach Tom Landry couldn’t deal with that mentality, and Henderson was benched for the rest of the season.

The following year turned out to be his last in the league. After a highly controversial incident involving two young girls in 1983, Henderson served 28 months in the California Department of Corrections. Following the incident, he said that “Hollywood” died on November 8, 1983, and has been sober ever since that day.

Since then, Henderson has worked to rebuild what he lost. Over time, he even made peace with Landry.

“Tom Landry came to my 10-year sober anniversary (in 1993), and he got up on stage, and he said to the audience, ‘If Thomas would have been playing, we might have won three or four more Super Bowls,’ ” Henderson said.

Now, he’s a sober family man, and dr*g-free for decades. He could never make a return to football, but turning sober again was the biggest challenge of his life, and, safe to say, he’s been able to overcome that quite successfully.