Captain America: Roger Staubach proves nice guys do finish first.

This isn't a sports story. And it's not a real estate feature either. This is about a sports icon-turned-businessman who succeeded by being a nice guy and by doing what he says he'll do.

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Legendary Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach translated his winning record on the field into entrepreneurial success, but his intention was not to cash in on his football fame. When he launched his commercial real estate firm in 1977, he opposed naming it after himself. Although other people ultimately convinced him otherwise, Staubach planned to earn his clients' trust the old-fashioned way. He didn't want to "be another football guy putting his name on something."

Staubach was a sharp contrast to flashier Cowboys compatriots such as "Dandy" Don Meredith. He had a wholesome image that kids could look up to--an image that was needed in the game, his coach Tom Landry once said. Staubach had married his high-school sweetheart, Marianne, and together they raised a big Catholic family. He had earned his chops in real estate during off seasons. After starting his company, he led the Cowboys to two more winning seasons.

Today, he's known for running his business with integrity and honesty. By all accounts--from Pro Football Hall of Fame annals to everyday encounters with average Joes--Staubach is the rare example of a nice guy who didn't finish last.

The Staubach Team

The former quarterback of America's Team, nicknamed Captain America and Captain Comeback, is a bit sheepish about flaunting his Cowboys successes in the business world. In his Dallas offices, you won't find framed jerseys, signed footballs or glass trophy cases with his Heisman or Super Bowl trophies. On a visit one day this spring, boxes littered the hallway as the company prepared to move offices. Sitting atop one open box was a framed photo of Staubach with former quarterback-turned-television-broadcaster Troy Aikman and others at a charity event. Staubach says he's got a whole closet of similar items he doesn't know what to do with; he says he keeps his Heisman and two Super Bowl trophies on display in his home office and out of the workplace. The separation is important to the reserved Staubach.

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When he founded The Staubach Company, he brokered real estate the traditional way--representing commercial landlords looking for tenants. But several years into his entrepreneurial venture, he changed his approach and began representing potential tenants, acting as their advocate. That innovation paved the way for a tables-turned approach in real estate and helped cement Staubach's credibility as a different kind of businessman. To that end, he created a "Guarantee of Value" that tied brokerage fees to his clients' satisfaction, and it worked: The Staubach Company expanded its offices beyond Dallas and took on national, established commercial real estate firms as competition. Just as he was in the limelight as quarterback of America's Team, Staubach was again in the national eye as an up-and-coming real estate man.

Of course, The Staubach Company wasn't a one-man show. He attracted the brightest broker talent by offering them a stake in the company and then leaving them alone to succeed. "In business, I'm not a great operational guy," he admits. "I believe if you ask someone to do something, they'll do it. I trust people a great deal, and in most cases, I haven't been disappointed." When The Staubach Company was sold to Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle in 2008 for $613 million, a whopping 88 percent of the stock was employee-owned. Staubach didn't walk away without a well-earned share; he netted approximately $87 million and the rest went to the cohesive team, some of whom had been with him since the beginning. "I wholeheartedly wanted to reward the people who worked so hard to build this company," says Staubach, who has stayed on with Jones Lang LaSalle as executive chairman for the Americas. "I had enough money, so I'm proud the bulk of it went to the team. I feel that's significant."

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Staubach has been noted for his team approach to management. In the 2008 book The Breakthrough Company, author Keith McFarland narrows 7,000 firms down to nine that he sees as breakthrough companies. "Roger Staubach, like George Washington, had come to understand that the success of his venture did not rest on his shoulders alone," McFarland Writes. "It was only when he empowered his entire organization to operate independently did The Staubach Company really take off".

Off-Season Training

Staubach's early influencers quickly pinpointed his leadership potential. High-school football coach Jim McCarthy at Cincinnati's Purcell High School, an all-boys Catholic school, switched him to quarterback in high school "and it changed my life," Staubach says. "But at the time I told him, 'Coach, I don't want to be quarterback. 'I was a receiver and a defensive back. I asked why he wanted me, and he told me, 'Because the other guys listen to you.'"

In college, Staubach started garnering national media attention. Described by Sports Illustrated in a Sept. 23, 1963 article as "Shy, modest and handsome," he broke records in his three years as starting quarterback at the U.S. Nacal Academy, and won the 1963 Heisman Trophy as a junior. His coach, Wayne Hardin, told Sports Illustrated he changed his offense to meet Staubach's style as a scrambling, running quarterback. Time magazine penciled an illustration of him for the cover of its Oct. 18, 1963 edition. And Life magazine was going to press with a cover of Staubach for its Nov. 29 issue, which was pulled after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

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With a four-year naval commitment to serve, Staubach was drafted in 1964 by the Dallas Cowboys, in the 10th round. After his required service, including a tour in Vietnam, he joined the Cowboys in 1969 as a 27-year-old rookie--"an old rookie," Staubach says. "I was married with three children, had a mortgage and responsibilities to my family. And they didn't pay quarterbacks what they do today." The second-string quarterback made only $25,000.

Staubach spent his off-seasons working for the Texas-based real estate firm Henry S. Miller. He held an engineering degree--"that was basically what you got when you went to the Naval Academy," he says--but had an affinity for business, particularly real estate. He worked as a commission salesman, pounding the pavement every day to earn his paycheck. "I really liked getting out there every day and working hard to make a sale," Staubach says. And although you'd think it would be strange for an NFL star to be showing you an empty office space, he insists it wasn't. Or if it was, Staubach didn't let that interfere with his promising real estate career. "I just followed the great example set by my mentor, Henry S. Miller, 94, who preached integrity and trust," he says. "He's responsible for keeping me in the real estate business."

Another mentor, the late Cowboys coach Landry, was supremely important to him. "He was a great man who put up with my running [Landry wasn't particularly fond of Staubach's brand of run-and-gun offense]. He saw my leadership and had confidence in me right from the start, even after being out of football and in the service for four years. When Don Meredith retired, he didn't go out and get another veteran quarterback. He made me the second-string quarterback as a rookie, which is really amazing."

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Trust and Leadership

Staubach worked hard to earn the trust of Miller and Landry, and now at 67, he has reached that stature for others. "Having the ability to take out of life and give back is what I look for in someone I can trust," he says. "This is someone who'll say they are sorry when they make a mistake, say thank you when they're appreciative and have the ability to put themselves in someone else's shoes. They have balance in their life and put others above their own pursuits. Those are the people you can trust, and those are the ones we've built our company with."

Staubach has made his personal life a priority. He's actively involved in his church, serves on several charitable boards, works out every morning and enjoys time with his five grown children, Jennifer Anne, Michelle Elizabeth, Stephanie Marie, Jeffrey Roger and Amy Lynn. He and Marianne just finished building their dream house, which she planned and designed. "It's her house and she lets me live there," he says with a laugh.

Not quite ready to spend his days retired in that dream house, Staubach continues to pursue new ventures. In April, he teamed with Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, Cowboys Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith and others to petition for bringing the National College Football Hall of Fame from South Bend, Ind., to Dallas. In 2007, Staubach was named chairman of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee, which helped bring the 2011 Super Bowl to the Cowboys' new stadium. But his new pursuits don't detract from his leadership role at Jones Lang LaSalle; the red plastic folder he keeps on his desk with action items never gathers dust.

"A leader has responsibilities to be what they say they are," Staubach says. "If people in this company thought I made great decisions in real estate, but in my personal life, I made poor decisions and did things I shouldn't do, I'd find that to be a real problem. Some people in the business world get away with that and still manage to lead people. But I feel that, to be a good leader, you have to understand teamwork and place your trust in people who have tremendous perseverance to be who they say they are." And Staubach is just that.

Roger Staubach's

SUCCESS TRATEGIES

Value Guaranteed

FIND A MENTOR. "My coach switched me to quarterback in high school and it changed my life."

BE A PERSON OF INTEGRITY. "Having the ability to take out of life and give back is what I look for in someone I can trust."

TAP INTO YOUR INNOVATION. Staubach created a "Guarantee of Value" that tied brokerage fees to his clients' satisfaction, and it worked.

BELIEVE IN YOUR TEAM. "I believe if you ask someone to do something, they'll do it."

KNOW YOUR PRIORTIES. Staubach is actively involved in his church, serves on the board of several charitable organizations, works out every morning, enjoys time with his five grown children and is devoted to his wife.

He's Still Got It

Sixty-seven-year-old Roger Staubach is in great shape. Weeks after laser back surgery, he says the pain he felt down his spine is gone. He cocks his arm back in a throwing motion--a vivid reminder that he is, after all, a two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback--and says he's excited to play again in a charity flag football game versus fellow former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Danny White in an annual event sponsored by a local sports radio station. "Danny and I are 1-and-1 winning the Quarterback Bowl, so we have to go again," he says with a smile.