Category: Cowboys History

Cowboys legend Deion Sanders dominates in 1st game at Jackson State, after Aikman cameos pre-game

Cowboys Hall of Famer Deion Sanders led Jackson State to a 53-0 win in his first game as a college head coach after coaching high school.

Hall of Famer Deion Sanders coached his first collegiate game on Sunday for Jackson State. The Tigers started their season with a dominant 53-0 win at home against Edward Waters College. Jackson State’s offense was running on all cylinders and the defense came through with a shutout in the former Dallas Cowboys star’s debut.

Jackson State’s season was postponed in the fall after the FCS decided to move their season to the spring and their eight-game slate began on Sunday.

Previously Sanders had been the offensive coordinator at Trinity Christian School in Texas before accepting the job at Jackson State as head coach. During his tenure, Sanders was a part of back-to-back state titles, coaching his son, Shedeur Sanders, at quarterback. Sanders’ son is a 4-star recruit and signed his NLI in December to play for his father at Jackson State.

Before the game, fellow Cowboys legend Troy Aikman surprised Sanders to congratulate him on his first college game.

Sanders and Jackson State will continue their season on February 27 at home against Mississippi Valley State.

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Cowboys WR Terrell Owens ‘glassy-eyed’ learning how his HoF case made by late Terez Paylor

Terrell Owens’s polarizing personality caused a two- year delay to his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The late Terez Paylor played a pivotal role in helping sway the feelings of the Hall of Fame voters and finally get the former Cowboy voted into the Hall of Fame.

Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens was a polarizing presence during his days in the NFL. Whether Owens was doing sit-ups in his driveway, pulling a sharpie out of his sock to sign an autograph after scoring a touchdown on Monday Night Football or wearing a cycling outfit to practice after a spat with Bill Parcells, Owens rubbed many during his career the wrong way.

Nevertheless, there is no denying Owens numbers; second in receiving yards at the time of his retirement with 15,934 and third in receiving touchdowns with 156. So when it came time to evaluate whether Owens career was Hall of Fame worthy, a career that should have been deemed first-ballot caliber was snubbed for two years and was on the cusp of being snubbed again in 2018.

In steps Terez Paylor, who tragically passed away last week at the young age of 37. Paylor had a much different perspective on Owen’s career. As a young Black male, the former national NFL writer for Yahoo! Sports had different viewpoint than many of the older white voters that sit on the Hall of Fame committee. Speaking to Newsday, NBC Sports Bay Area reporter Matt Maiocco and Owen’s Hall of Fame presenter in 2017 and 2018 recalled the following.

“To hear a young Black man talk about what drew him to the sport that he loved and what made an impression on him as a young man growing up was a perspective that I had personally never considered . . . Terez basically said that, growing up, that’s what a Hall of Famer in his community, among his friends and the people who shared the same experiences, looked like. Boom, that right there, that’s a Hall of Famer. I think that opened people’s eyes to a new perspective and a way of defining what a Hall of Famer is.”

If it wasn’t for Paylor being able to change voters minds Owens may still be waiting for his induction. When learning about Paylor’s bold speech on Owens behalf last week, Owens told Newsday,

“I get glassy-eyed just thinking about it. . . It’s so unfortunate that I’m learning of this after this man’s passing. Honestly, I wish I could have spoken to him to say thank you for what he did . . . For him to be that young in a room of elders and people that have been on that committee for some time, that speaks volumes.”

A former third-round pick for the San Francisco 49ers, Owens played three seasons for the Cowboys from 2006 through 2008. While his time in Dallas may be best known for his emotional “that’s my quarterback” post game speech after the Cowboys 2007 playoff loss, there is no denying how great the Hall of Fame receiver’s career was in Dallas. Over Owens three seasons with the Cowboys he posted 235 receptions, 3,587 yards and 38 touchdowns. During Owens time with Dallas fans were always sure to have their popcorn ready.

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Cowboys’ original Big Cat: Rayfield Wright’s winding road to Canton and beyond

The only offensive lineman in the Cowboys Ring of Honor took quite a journey to get there, a journey he now has trouble remembering.

Fans don’t know the offensive linemen, the saying goes, unless they screw up.

Sometimes the best offensive linemen in the sport’s history don’t really register with the average fan. Even in the world of professional football, in the very buildings where they ply their punishing trade, they can be easily overlooked while the teammates they protect and block for get all the glory.

The Dallas Cowboys have boasted some legendary offensive linemen in their six-decade history. Superstars like Staubach, Aikman, Romo, Prescott, Dorsett, Smith, and Elliott might not be what they are without their big beefeaters up front. Despite a roster packed with playmakers, for example, the Cowboys of the ’90s don’t win three Super Bowls in four years without the front five who made up “The Great Wall of Dallas.”

Twenty-two names are forever immortalized in AT&T Stadium’s Ring of Honor. But even here, where the history of O-line play is as rich and storied as anyplace in the league, only one offensive lineman resides next to those other legends. And while he played in an era when few of today’s fans got the chance to see him, there is only one Rayfield Wright.

Cowboys News: Next up for the Hall, Elliott bounce back, Dak and cap

Cowboys news and notes, including a too-early 2021 power rankings, the latest on Drew Pearson in the HOF, and a new plan for Dallas at QB?

The 2020 NFL season has officially ended with Tom Brady leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl win. While the NFL’s new league year isn’t officially scheduled to start till March 17th, ESPN has already released it’s first set of power rankings for 2021.

A star studded 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class was announced over the weekend. Find out just how the Cowboy’s newest Hall of Famer learned he would be part of football immortality. Plus, who will be the next former Cowboy inducted?

Dak Prescott’s contract situation will be a constant topic of conversation this offseason. Will he be franchised? Will he sign a new deal? Will Dallas draft a QB at 10? Only time will tell but until then we will discuss the possibilities. The salary cap is expected to drop for the 2021, find out by how much and how that affects the Cowboys.

 

 

 

DeMarcus Ware, Tony Romo headline 1st-year eligibles for 2022 Hall of Fame

The Cowboys will have three members inducted into the HoF this summer. Could more be on the way in 2022?

With the Pro Football Hall of Fame requiring candidates to be retired for at least five years before being considered for enshrinement, Saturday’s announcement for the Class of 2021 starts the clock for the next batch of eligibles. This year’s class had several easy decisions for inclusion; names such as Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson and Calvin Johnson. Those three will be enshrined along with Alan Faneca and John Lynch as the modern-era enshrinees as well as former Cowboys star Drew Pearson, Bill Nunn and Tom Flores from the senior, contributor and coach committees, respectively.

Next year though, it figures to be a harder decision on the first timers, though the Cowboys have two of the more familiar names. Defensive stud DeMarcus Ware and quarterback Tony Romo are both in their first years of eligibility after retiring following the 2016 season.

Ware is a four-time First-Team All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowler, who left Dallas after nine seasons to finish his career with the Denver Broncos. The move worked as Ware was a member of the 2015 world champions.

Ware’s career stats closely resemble those of Jared Allen, a first-year finalist this year, but stunted by the star-studded class. Ware has 138.5 career sacks to Allen’s 136 and has a slightly higher Career AV of 128 to Allen’s 125.

Pro-Football-Reference’s Hall of Fame Monitor ranks Ware as the ninth-best OLB, with a score of 95.33. The average Hall of Fame OLB’s score is 106.19.

Romo will have a much less likely chance of inclusion in his first year or any year. His career was hampered by injuries and a lack of postseason wins is normally a death knell for the chances of most quarterbacks in the game. His role as the league’s best and brightest color commentator could lead to an eventual induction though as an overall contributor to the game.

Still, his career was impressive with over 34,000 passing yards and a lifetime 97.1 passer rating.  Romo’s post-career ceiling is likely going to be the Cowboys Ring of Honor, an honor fans will likely see given to Ware this coming fall.

Owner Jerry Jones believes the honor is a prerequisite for Cowboys players making it to the Hall of Fame and it will be interesting to see if Ware is added along with long-time safety Darren Woodson, who reached the Pro Football Hall of Fame Semifinalist round for the second time in 2021.

Other first-year eligibles in 2022 include WR Andre Johnson, WR Anquan Boldin, WR Steve Smith and DL Vince Wilfork.

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Cowboys legend Drew Pearson finally elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame

After years of heartbreak, the star receiver is finally in with the rest of the elites.

It’s finally happened. After years of being overlooked and under appreciated, a Dallas Cowboys legend is finally getting his spot among the all-time elites. Wide receiver Drew Pearson, a first-team member of the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 1970s had been the highest career accolades except for one. A three-time First-Team All-Pro, three-time Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion, Pearson has been firmly entrenched in the club’s Ring of Honor since 2011.

Now, he’s also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The lone Senior Committee Finalist, Pearson was finally awarded his path to a gold jacket on Saturday evening as part of the NFL Honors celebration ahead of Super Bowl LV. He will be a member of the Class of 2021.

The original 88, Pearson accumulated a Career AV of 99 over his 156 games. He’ll forever live in NFL lore as the receiving end of the first Hail Mary, and caught 489 passes across his 144 starts. Pearson averaged 16 yards per reception and hauled in 48 career touchdowns while making three Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams. He led the NFL in receiving yards in 1977.

Pearson was famously the only member of either the first or second-team offense of the All-Decade 70s team not in the Hall of Fame. Last year, Cowboys safety Cliff Harris was the final member of the All-Decade defense to be elected.

He, along with former head coach Jimmy Johnson, will join Pearson in a ceremony this August after last year’s process was delayed due to COVID-19.

In 2019, Cowboys Wire named Pearson the No. 22 player in the team’s illustrious team history.

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Anthony Hitchens one of 3 former Cowboys seeking 2nd straight Chiefs title

Three former Cowboys are attempting to win back-to-back championships with the Chiefs. Hear what Anthony Hitchens had to say about Dallas.

The Kansas City Chiefs are preparing to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV, and that means three former Dallas defenders have yet another chance to reach the sports pinnacle.

Linebackers Anthony Hitchens and Damien Wilson, along with cornerback Charvarius Ward, all began their careers with the Cowboys, and all three are thriving after a change of scenery landed them in Kansas City.

Hitchens was the most memorable Cowboy of the bunch, as he was an integral part of the Dallas defense for his first four seasons. A prospect from Iowa, the Cowboys selected Hitchens in the fourth round in 2014.  He spoke fondly of his old team this week during Super Bowl media sessions, stating the following.

“Every path I took shaped me to who I am today. There’s no knock on Dallas or anything like that. My four years there were amazing. I had an amazing coach, coach “Flus” (Matt Eberflus) coached me, and pushed me to limits I never thought I could reach.”

Hitchens would elaborate on his influences from his time in Dallas,

“I learned how to go beyond my limits because of how we (Dallas) practiced out there. It shaped me. I had great leadership. I had Sean Lee next to me, teaching me the ropes. A lot of young guys don’t get that. So there were a lot of things that shaped me into who I am today.”

Despite it being the beginning of his career, a lot was asked of Hitchens from the moment he stepped in Dallas. The former Hawkeye started 11 games a rookie for the Cowboys, and would go on to start 48 of the teams’ 64 games during his time with the club.

Hitchens hit the open market as the Cowboys had their guys at the position with Jaylon Smith, Sean Lee, and Leighton Vander Esch, but the Cowboys would have likely kept Hitchens had they predicted the injury problems that would plague the three backers they kept.

In his first season away from Dallas, Hitchens led the Chiefs in tackles, and the team was just a play away from making the Super Bowl. The next two seasons Kansas City reached the Super Bowl, and Hitchens would finish second in tackles on the team both years.

After playing beside Hitchens in Dallas, Wilson joined Hitchens in Kansas City in 2019, and immediately showed he was capable of a larger role than the Cowboys ever gave him. Wilson finished third in tackles on the Chiefs each of the last two seasons, and both he and Hitchens started every game that they were available.

Ward was less known as a Cowboy than Wilson and Hitchens, but just like the other two, he has found his niche with the new club. Ward was undrafted in 2018, but signed a three-year deal with Dallas. Just before the season began, the Cowboys traded Ward to the Chiefs in exchange for guard Parker Ehinger.

Three years later, and Ward has developed into a solid starting cornerback on an extremely cheap deal for the Chiefs, something the Cowboys could greatly use given their current roster circumstances. Ehinger retired due to injuries.

These former Cowboys take the field this weekend and attempt to help the Chiefs become just the eighth team to win back-to-back NFL Championships.

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Emmitt Smith dishes on Elliott, Cowboys’ rough year on defense, talks McCarthy’s future

The NFL’s all-time rushing leader thinks his former team is close to returning to championship form, but needs to address a few key issues.

Emmitt Smith is the last Dallas player to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl. He went to three of them with the Cowboys of the 1990s. And he believes that despite a disheartening 6-10 campaign this season, the Cowboys of the 2020s are on the doorstep of returning.

“I don’t think we’re far away from becoming a very, very good team,” Smith says. “I really don’t.”

The league’s all-time leading rusher sat down recently with fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer Morten Andersen on the ex-kicker’s podcast, “The Great Dane Nation Podcast.” Over the course of a wide-ranging conversation, the eight-time Pro Bowler was asked if Dallas fans have already seen the best that current Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott has to offer.

“I don’t think you have,” Smith said of the five-year veteran who has won two rushing titles. “I think with Ezekiel Elliott, many people forget that Zeke had COVID-19 before the season even got started, and no one knows what COVID-19 will do to your body until you go through it. If you look at his body and play through the first five, six weeks of the season, his body structure, his weight looked a little bit different than the latter part of the season. Physically- you just look at him- he looks a lot leaner in the latter part of the season than he did in the first part of the season.”

Elliott had a down year, failing to crack 1,000 yards on the season and not topping 100 yards in a game until Week 11. He found the end zone as a rusher just six times and posted his lowest yards-per-carry tally of his career. Of arguably more concern, though, were the six fumbles he had in 2020, including five in the team’s first six games.

“Now, in the first part of the season, obviously, he had some fumbling issues,” Smith told Andersen. “Granted, they get paid on the other side of the ball like we do; not to make any excuses, but I do believe that Zeke will be better for what he has gone through this year. He will prepare and probably start to take care of himself differently for what he has gone through this year. And I think with Tony Pollard, there’s a great one-two punch.”

But the 2020 Cowboys took more punches than they delivered. And that, Smith says, is the far bigger obstacle to the team’s chances of returning to championship form.

“Defense. Defense!” the Super Bowl XXVIII MVP stressed. “We couldn’t stop a soul. We couldn’t get off the field on third down. And I understand early in the season, when we turn the ball over, the defense is out there quite a bit, and I understand that piece. But still, our defense was so much more solid last year, and I think that’s a product of the defensive change versus the players. I think you’ve got players that [are] not suited quite nicely for this style of defense. And so when you bring in new coordinators, do your players actually fit your style? And do your players actually understand your style and understand your defense totally? And do they have the discipline to make the fits work? Or are they creating more issues? And I saw our defense creating more issues, running out of zones and creating bigger zones for guys to run the ball with. That’s a problem. And that has to get corrected this offseason.”

Head coach Mike McCarthy has already taken steps toward that end, replacing defensive coordinator Mike Nolan with former Falcons coach Dan Quinn. Defensive line coach Aden Durde and secondary coach/defensive pass game coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. will also look to revamp the Dallas defense in McCarthy’s second season.

Smith’s coach, Jimmy Johnson, took the doormat Cowboys from worst in the league to the division round of the playoffs in just his third season. The Hall of Famer believes McCarthy may be on a similarly short leash when it comes to securing his place in Dallas.

“I think this year was an experimental year for Mike McCarthy,” Smith said, “to see exactly what he had: coaching style, defensive-wise, player- or personnel-wise, and all those kind of things, including coordinator-wise. And I think if he wants to right this ship, he’d better make some significant adjustments this offseason.”

The club will have the opportunity to do that with new talent come April. The Cowboys are projected to have a total of ten picks in the upcoming draft. And Smith emphasizes using those picks wisely to shore up the underachieving defensive unit.

“I think it begins with the draft. Drafting defensive players,” Smith posited. “Because think about it, Sean Lee is getting a little long in the tooth. No disrespect to Sean Lee; he’s going to give us his effort. Leighton Vander Esch obviously has sustained a number of injuries over the last two years; don’t know how long and productive he will be. Jaylon Smith is going to give us his all. These guys, they’re going to fight. They’re going to do what they’ve got to do, but you’ve got to bring in some guys to replace and back these guys up. You just cannot depend upon them all season long.”

Few players were as dependable as Smith. Over his 15 seasons as a pro, Smith missed just 11 games due to injury, and most of them came in his final two years as an Arizona Cardinal. So the workhorse knows how to maintain a long career as an NFL running back.

Smith believes that Tennessee’s Derrick Henry is currently the best rusher in the sport, but has solid advice that Elliott- who missed the first game in his career due to injury in Week 15- could no doubt benefit from, as well.

“Take care of your body. Make sure you’re getting your massages twice a week. I recommend you get a massage on Monday after a game and on Friday before the weekend comes. Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water and hydrating,” Smith suggested. “Get your proper rest. Now, once the season is over, make sure you get some rest as well. And don’t rest long; I mean, rest two weeks or something like that. Then make sure you’re doing some hot yoga or some things, light things that are not so taxing and draining on your body physically. But it’s giving you the foundation that you need to continue to build upon these building blocks that you’ve already established. Find a good chiropractor, to make sure that your body is aligned and functioning properly.”

Smith admits he enjoys acting as a mentor for today’s crop of players, just as older Cowboys legends like Roger Staubach did for him in his day.

“Lean on me. That’s what I’m here for.”

It’s been a quarter-century since Smith plunged into the end zone in the final quarter of the Cowboys’ most recent Super Bowl appearance. Maybe leaning on him now will indeed help the current squad get back there.

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Jason Witten on storied Cowboys career: ‘I gave it my absolute all’

Jason Witten is calling it a career again. He only missed one game in 17 seasons, and told ESPN’s Todd Acher he gave his all on the field.

Jason Witten retired from the NFL after the 2017 season. After a lackluster stint in the broadcast booth with ESPN’s Monday Night Football, he returned to Dallas in 2019 to rejoin the Cowboys before heading to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020.

Witten is now calling it a career, again. On Wednesday, the Cowboy’s all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards decided to leave the gridiron after 17 seasons. After a stellar career that was filled with tons of Hall of Fame credentials, Witten goes into the next phase of his life seemingly at peace with what he did on the football field.

“A coach once told me, ‘The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example,'” Witten told ESPN’s Todd Archer. “As I hang it up, I walk away knowing that for 17 seasons I gave it my absolute all. I am proud of my accomplishments as a football player on the field and the example I tried to set off of it. Football is a great game that has taught me many valuable lessons, and I look forward to passing on that knowledge to the next generation.”

Witten was an ironman throughout his career. He played in 255 out of a possible 256 games for the Cowboys and suited up for all 16 games for the Raiders this season. His only time on the sidelines came during his rookie campaign in 2003 when he suffered a broken jaw.

His accomplishments are quite impressive. Witten accumulated 1,215 receptions for 12,977 yards and 72 touchdowns (second to Dez Bryant) during his tenure with the Cowboys. For his career, his 1,228 receptions rank fourth in NFL history and second for all tight ends. He was selected to 11 Pro Bowls, made four All-Pro teams, won the Walter Payton Man of the Year (2012), and the Bart Starr Award (2013).

So what’s next for Witten? A return to the broadcast booth is highly unlikely, however, according to ESPN’s Ed Werder, coaching could be in his future.

“He has an interest in coaching and agreed to be a position coach for an NFL team if it hired a certain head coach candidate.”

No matter what direction Witten’s life goes he’s cemented his legacy as one of the greatest ever at the tight end position and has set a standard that will be hard to duplicate.

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Browns’ end-zone fumble recalls Cowboys-Raiders 2017 must-see moment

When Rashard Higgins lost the ball through the end zone during Sunday’s postseason game, Dallas Cowboys fans knew exactly what would happen.

Cleveland’s Rashard Higgins was the central character in one of the most dramatic and talked-about plays of the divisional-round weekend. The Browns wide receiver was seemingly on his way to a late-second-quarter touchdown against Kansas City after hauling in a Baker Mayfield pass. Racing Chiefs defender Daniel Sorensen to the goal line, Higgins laid out, reaching the ball toward the corner pylon. The hit by Sorensen jarred the ball free. (Ignore Sorensen’s leading-with-the-helmet hit, because the refs did, too.) The loose ball skittered into the end zone, rolled around for an agonizing moment, and then tumbled out of bounds.

Much of the football-watching world held its breath waiting to see what the result of the play would be. But Cowboys fans already knew. They’d seen it before.

In Week 15 of the 2017 season, the Cowboys were visiting Oakland, hoping to keep their postseason chances alive by beating the Raiders. Dallas had moved into a 20-17 lead on a Dan Bailey field goal. (The infamous “index card measurement” from referee Gene Steratore gave the Cowboys a first down that had extended the go-ahead drive.)

Quarterback Derek Carr led the Raiders down the field in the waning minutes and appeared poised to re-take the lead with under a minute to play. On a third down call, Carr slipped away from DeMarcus Lawrence and Taco Charlton, who were quickly collapsing the pocket. Carr tucked the ball and took off for the corner of the end zone, some fifteen yards away.

Safety Jeff Heath launched himself at about the three. Carr extended the ball for the pylon. Fumble forward. Into the end zone. Then out of bounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR8HhRLNX-E

Section 7 of the NFL rulebook covers fumbles. Article 3, Item 4 specifically addresses a fumble out of bounds in the end zone:

  1. If a ball is fumbled in the field of play, and goes forward into the opponent’s end zone and over the end line or sideline, a touchback is awarded to the defensive team

The Cowboys were awarded possession at the Raiders’ 20. They ran out the clock and won the game.

When the same thing happened to Cleveland on Sunday, the ensuing announcement from officials of a Kansas City touchback reignited a brief firestorm on Twitter over “the worst rule in football.”

The Browns, obviously, still had another half of football in which to recover, though the missed touchdown opportunity certainly changed the momentum and the team’s playcalling after the halftime break. The thought of a closer game where Kansas City is forced to play without Patrick Mahomes may indeed haunt the dreams of Browns fans for some time.

It won’t be the first heartbreaking fumble to snuff Cleveland’s postseason life. On the exact same date in 1988, running back Earnest Byner coughed it up at the 1, down by just seven points to Denver with 72 seconds to go and a trip to Super Bowl XXII hanging in the balance.

The rest of the world recalls that AFC Championship contest for “The Drive” engineered by Broncos quarterback John Elway. Browns fans instead look back in anger at “The Fumble.”

Even though Sunday’s call helped decide a playoff game, don’t expect there to be a rule change anytime soon, because, as many have argued, there isn’t a clear-cut alternative that seems fair to all parties involved. As Sports Illustrated‘s Dan Gartland points out, “Extending the ball near the goal line is a high-reward play, so why shouldn’t the risk also be high?”

Even if casual fans aren’t well-versed on the rule, most NFL coaches are. And they make sure their players know the dangers of reaching a live ball toward the goal line.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski is one of them.

“I will never ever doubt Rashard Higgins’ effort or our guys’ effort,” Stefanski told reporters after the game, as per ProFootballTalk. “Our rule there is not to reach the ball out when it is first and goal, and he knows that. Again, [I] appreciate his effort. He battled like he always does, but we have to fight that urge because it is such a big loss if it does end up being a touchback.”

For now, look for the apparent absurdity of the fumble-through-the-end-zone rule to be debated, at least by fans, and at least for a little while. Until, of course, it happens again.

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