In 2021, Charlie Waters stood in Canton and introduced his longtime Dallas Cowboys teammate, Cliff Harris, as the latter finally took his place among football’s immortals. The two had been intertwined since arriving in Dallas in 1970, forming one of the NFL’s most feared safety tandems while helping define the Cowboys’ dominant defense of the era.

Now, the roles have seemingly come full circle. Years after Waters helped usher Harris into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Harris is making a case for Waters to receive a different honor closer to home: a place in the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor. And Harris believes Waters’ resume makes the omission increasingly difficult to justify.

“Charlie is a great guy,” said Harris on his recent appearance on the Sunset Lounge DFW podcast with Norm Hitzges. “…He needs to be in the Dallas Ring of Honor. They need to put Charlie Waters. He’s got the interception record. I mean, he was a great player, Norm, and I think he really needs to be in there, and Jerry needs to recognize him, or whoever makes that decision needs to recognize Charlie Waters.”

The Cowboys selected him in the third round of the 1970 NFL draft. And across his 12-year NFL career with the Cowboys, Waters orchestrated multiple franchise records. He finished his career with nine postseason interceptions, tying the NFL record with Bill Simpson, Ronnie Lott, and Ed Reed.

At the same time, Waters is third in Cowboys history in interceptions with 41 regular-season interceptions. Only Ed “Too Tall” Jones and Mel Renfro are ahead of him. But Waters’ legacy wasn’t only defined by his interceptions.

In fact, he played 12 seasons for Dallas without experiencing a losing season. Besides, he missed the playoffs only once, reached nine NFC Championship Games, and played in five Super Bowls, winning two. However, when asked about Jerry Jones and the Cowboys not inducting him into the Ring of Honor, Waters gave a telling answer.

“It’s discouraging and I’m trying to get over it,” said Waters. “But it’s a struggle. I don’t know the answer to why I’m not in. You’ll have to ask Jerry, the committee of one.”

During his Cowboys’ tenure, it was his partnership with Harris that turned the two into an elite safety duo. Once Waters settled into the strong safety role, he and Harris became the Cowboys’ primary safety pairing. With Harris and Waters anchoring the secondary, Dallas’ defense ranked among the NFL’s top 10 for 10 consecutive seasons and led the league in 1977.

“We were almost the same size. We were Caucasian. We came in together. We both were longshots. Our names started with a ‘C’. We played for a long time, and he was (No.) 43 and I was 41,” Waters said about his time with Harris in Dallas, while also adding, “…We were good alone and good together. Our personalities are very different, but we enjoy each other. Countless times, he covered for me and I covered for him. We fill each other’s voids. It was a real special bond we had.”

For Waters, the question now goes beyond numbers or accolades. Instead, it is about whether the legacy he helped build in Dallas will finally receive the recognition he feels it deserves. With Harris now making that case publicly, the decision ultimately returns to the one person Waters himself once called the “committee of one”: Jerry Jones.