George Joseph Andrie was born and raised in Grand Rapids and attended Catholic Central High School. A 6-foot-6, 250-pound defensive lineman/slotback, he was a standout on the football team, graduated in 1958 and accepted a scholarship to play football at Marquette University.
He led Marquette in pass receiving during his sophomore and junior seasons, but as a two-way player he was better known for his presence on defense. He was among the team leaders in tackles and registered over 80 tackles as a defensive lineman in just two seasons of play. After his junior season, the football program at Marquette was eliminated in budget cuts.
Despite not playing for a senior season, Andrie was selected in the sixth round (82nd overall) of the 1962 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys as a defensive end. He won the starting job at right defensive end and made the NFL All-Rookie Team.
Andrie led the Cowboys in sacks each year from 1964 to 1967 and had a career-high 18.5 in 1966. He is credited with a career total of 97 sacks, which is fifth on the team’s all-time sack leaders list. He also had a streak of eight consecutive games with a sack, which is the fourth-longest such streak in Dallas Cowboys history. Together with future Hall of Famer Bob Lilly at right tackle, Willie Townes at left end and Jethro Pugh at left tackle, Andrie formed the front line of what was known as the “Doomsday Defense” of the Dallas Cowboys.
Andrie’s most notable moment happened in the historic Ice Bowl game. The Cowboys met the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay for the NFL title on Dec. 31, 1967 with the winner slated to move on and face the AFL champion in Super Bowl II.
At game time at Lambeau Field, the temperature was about 15 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Late in the second quarter, Packers quarterback Bart Starr fumbled when he was hit by Willie Townes near the Green Bay goal line. Andrie scooped up the football on the Green Bay 7 yard-line and ran it into the end zone for a touchdown, though the Packers went on to win 21-17.
Andrie played for the Cowboys for 11 seasons, registering 112 straight regular-season starts and only two missed games in his career, both in 1963 because of a dislocated elbow. He was selected to the Pro Bowl five times, named All-Pro first-team once and three times to the second-team, and was the Pro Bowl MVP in 1970.
Andrie stayed in Texas after his career and died in 2018. He was 78.