Tag: daryl johnston

Ranking top former Cowboys in their media careers

There’s a storied tradition that is part of the lore of playing a chunk of one’s career in a Dallas Cowboys uniform. The popularity the brand affords stars is evident in how well they often do in gaining media opportunities as retired personalities. …

There’s a storied tradition that is part of the lore of playing a chunk of one’s career in a Dallas Cowboys uniform. The popularity the brand affords stars is evident in how well they often do in gaining media opportunities as retired personalities. It doesn’t always work out for the best, see Emmitt Smith and Jason Witten’s short stints in front of the cameras, but after the extra endorsement offers die down, there’s a clear path to remaining relevant in the media world.

There are several who have proven very good at the job of explaining football to the masses. In various roles across multiple outlets, former Cowboys bring live game analysis, review and preview editorials, and function as another arm of the entermainment complex known as the NFL. Here are our 2024 rankings of those media members who formerly wore the star.


Marcus Spears (ESPN)

Ditka had been a staple on ESPN for a while, after first appearing on NBC Sports and CBS Sports following his retirement from coaching. The former Cowboys tight end had an illustrious career in all phases, but not rarely makes on-screen appearances.

Johnson had been a staple on ESPN for years, dating back to 2007 as an on-air analyst and radio show host. That relationship ended in 2023 and he since joined Skip Bayless as a Stephen A. Smith replacement on Undisputed.

The former Cowboys head coach eased right into a gig with NBC. He serves as both a studio analyst for pre and post-game histrionics, while also getting in the booth for college football and the other professional leagues that have appeared on the network.

Baldinger was a reserve lineman for the Cowboys the first five seasons of his career. He’s been on NFL Network since the middle of last decade but he ranks highly on this list for his use of social media. Baldinger’s tweets, each week, highlight a handful of standout performances from the slate of games. The way he breaks down technique and skill into digestible nuggets for the viewing public make him one of the top followers among NFL media.

If a Cowboys fan is interested in having a completely biased supporter of the organization to balance the litany of talking heads that hate the team, Michael Irvin has been their guy. The Hall of Famer makes no apologies for his level of Dallas love and brings it on air on a regular basis. Irving was recently let go of his NFL Network gig as the league-owned media company has purged a ton of their on-air talent. Now Irvin can be found as a rotational guest on FS1.

The Moose was surprisingly good in the booth off top, but he’s appeared to hit a ceiling of sorts. He was never on the top team, but he has always been solid and gotten most of the Cowboys’ early game assignments when they rarely kickoff at noon central time. Johnston has likely been bumped down to at least Team No. 3 with the arrival of Tom Brady bumping Greg Olsen.

After the first two years of his career, Romo seemed on the trajectory to be the next John Madden. Going from the field to the booth, Romo’s ascension to a mastermind in the pocket clearly translated to the microphone game. His ability to dissect plays based on formation and defense and knowing the checks the QB would make were elite cinema for the viewing audience.

It was groundbreaking and deserved all of the accolades.

Since though, Romo’s seemingly slipped in his preparation and has been heard missing what has actually happened on the play. He’s still very entertaining but some of the shine is gone.

Aikman joined the FOX booth all the way back in 2002, pairing with Joe Buck and Chris Collinsworth. He and Buck have been joined at the hip, and when their contracts were up they moved over to ESPN together to host Monday Night Football. AIkman had been the gold standard for color commentary until Romo’s arrival, and in all honesty has regained the throne in the past couple of seasons.

He’s often accused of both being too hard on the Cowboys and too soft on them, meaning he’s probably doing a great job when both sides are mad at you.

Shocked? Shouldn’t be. The former Dallas first round pick immediately moved to the broadcast game following his retirement in 2013. First on the SEC Nation and then the SEC Network, Big Swaggu made his way to the main ESPN stage starting in 2014 and has been prominently featured since around 2017.

While he’s not in the broadcast booth, Spears is an analyst for several of ESPN’s shows and is most known for providing quality, knowledgable, entertaining takes without devolving into sensationalistic muck that is often connected with the four-letter network’s productions. His work along with that of Ryan Clark and Mina Kimes are proof that ESPN can still provide top-tier analysis despite the network’s addiction to giving the lowest-common denominator fans what they crave; drama without substance.

Tony Romo, Darren Woodson headline 8 Cowboys among 2024 Hall of Fame nominees

The Cowboys are eight-deep in the recent list of nominees for next year’s Hall enshrinement ceremony. We review the careers of each. | From @KDDrummondNFL, @ToddBrock24f7

Not every player who enters the NFL has a chance to win a championship. As one of just 53 players on a roster, close to 70 if counting practice squads and 80 if counting IR, a single individual cannot change the fortunes of an entire franchise. One man can only control his own contributions, and in that vein, earning induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is the lifetime achievement every player strives for.

The Dallas Cowboys, winner of five Super Bowls, have had their fair share of both champions and Hall of Famers. After the most recent enshrinement, that total has climbed to 22 (the club claims). Will they get any more in the near future? On Tuesday, the Hall announced this year’s class of nominees, all 173 of them. Dallas has their fair share, with seven names on the list. With no first timers, the odds are unlikely any get in, but that doesn’t mean they are any less deserving of consideration.

Here’s a look at who the seven are and where they rank on the club’s Top 100.

Cowboys legends Daryl Johnston, Jimmy Johnson unbox Super Bowl LVII trophy in Canton for USFL championship

Johnston, the USFL’s EVP of football operations, helped to create a special visit for a group of players hoping to make the NFL one day. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Daryl Johnston won three Super Bowls as a key member of the Cowboys teams of the 1990s. Now, for the man they call “Moose,” it’s championship weekend once again.

Johnston, 56, has been the executive vice president of football operations for the newest incarnation of the USFL. As a way to keep costs down in the league’s first year, all eight teams played their games in Birmingham, Alabama. But when the Stars and the Stallions face off for the USFL Championship on Sunday, it will be in Canton, Ohio, on the hallowed grounds of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And Johnston can’t wait.

“It was out of necessity on our end,” Johnston admitted recently on the Hall’s The Mission podcast. The 2022 World Games (an international event for sports not included in the Olympics) was already booked to hit Birmingham in early July.

“We were able to finish our regular season, but we were not going to be able to get into our playoffs. So we were going to have to move,” Johnston said. “If you’re going to pack up and move, it doesn’t matter if you move five miles or 500 miles, you’re moving. So why not go all the way to Canton?”

The first round of the USFL playoffs took place at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium last weekend; the title game will happen this weekend.

Johnston brought the final four teams- a group of over 250 people- to tour the Hall last week. Ahead of the trip, Johnston maintained that the experience of taking in the game’s rich history in Canton would be “life-changing” for the players, most of whom are using the USFL as a second chance to one day land a job on an NFL roster.

To make sure they understood the importance of where they were, Johnston invited a special guest to personally address the group with a motivational talk.

His former Cowboys coach, and a new Hall of Famer himself, Jimmy Johnson.

“We’re trying to do anything we can to make this really, really special for our guys,” the ex-fullback explained. “It was one of those things that you’re like, ‘Yeah, I’ll give this a try, But gosh, this is a pretty big ask for a guy that probably has a million asks like this all the time.’ So we were so flattered and so thrilled when he decided to come.”

The group got an even bigger surprise when the former player-and-coach duo personally unboxed next season’s Lombardi Trophy and placed it inside the Hall’s Super Bowl Gallery.

“Coach, this represents the third one we would have won in a row if we had kept you in Dallas,” Johnston joked as he handed the iconic Tiffany-made sterling silver trophy to his ex-coach.

The trophy will reside in Canton for the duration of the 2022 regular season, but the last four standing USFL teams- and a few lucky Hall patrons- got to be the very first to see the NFL’s biggest prize.

Crystal Roth of Ste. Genevieve, Mo. was visiting the Hall of Fame for the first time. She just happened to be wearing an Emmitt Smith jersey that her late father had purchased for her nearly 30 years ago, having no knowledge of the ceremony that was planned for that afternoon. As told by Daniel May and Brendan Heffernan on the Hall of Fame website, Roth was overcome with emotion when she and her family caught a glimpse of two heroes from her favorite team.

“Maybe since Jimmy had his hands on it, we have a chance,” Roth said. “Lord knows we deserve it.”

A chance.

That’s what the Cowboys are after, a chance at adding a sixth trophy to the display case at The Star in Frisco.

But second chances are what Johnston’s spring league is all about.

“I had one of the coaches in the USFL share with me something that’s really changed my way of looking at this,” the 11-year veteran said. “These guys have been to the NFL before. They’ve had that opportunity. But they didn’t stay there. So our job is not to get them there. Our job is to make sure, when they have that opportunity the next time, that they stay there. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”

The USFL is reportedly primed to make the most of its second chance, too. According to the CEO of Fox Sports, the league will return in 2023 for a second year. It will remain at eight teams (though there is a plan to expand for 2024), but it looks to play in two to four home markets next season.

Johnston hopes, though, that the championship being held at Hall of Fame Stadium becomes an annual tradition.

“I’ve got my fingers crossed that it does,” he said. “It’s a lot of heavy lifting for a lot of people to pull this off, but I think the reward on the back side is going to be tremendous, and I cannot wait.”

Johnston, of course, has seen first-hand what makes Canton so special. He visited as a youth on a family vacation. He played in the Hall of Fame Game with the Cowboys in 1999, his final season. He went back to attend the induction ceremonies for many of his Dallas teammates, and he had more than one call him out by name during their enshrinement speeches.

“I am going to be watching these guys, championship weekend as they go through the Hall and the tours,” Johnston said, “as they just kind of soak in the history that is there. I am so excited for our guys to be able to have this experience.”

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WR Lance Lenoir, RB Mike Weber among former Cowboys with second chance in USFL

USFL exec VP “Moose” Johnston says the league is a second chance for players; several of those players got their first chance as Cowboys. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Daryl “Moose” Johnston paved the way hundreds of times for the NFL’s all-time leading rusher over the course of his storied career as a fullback for the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s. Now he’s helping pave the way for hundreds of young players to continue their dream of playing football at the professional level.

Johnston is the executive vice president of football operations for the new iteration of the USFL, the resurrected developmental league set to kick off in mid-April. Eight teams will play a ten-game schedule, with all contests being staged in one of two stadiums in Birmingham, Alabama. The championship will be played in Canton, Ohio’s Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

The entire season will wrap up by mid-June, attempting not to compete with the NFL, but to fill the gap left by its offseason. And in that way, the USFL allows its players a narrow but legitimate pathway to wearing the shield.

“There are a ton of guys who things just didn’t quite work out for,” Johnston told Fox Sports. “Football is an unpredictable game and there are a lot of things beyond your control. Just as it goes smoothly for some guys, for others it doesn’t.”

The USFL aims to offer them a second chance.

“They have chased this dream for a long time, but now the dream is almost dead,” Johnston continued. “This is a chance to keep it alive, either by elevating their status in the USFL and rejoining an NFL team, or just the chance to keep playing football and getting paid for it.”

The eight teams of the USFL held their inaugural draft this week, with several familiar names (at least to Cowboys fans) getting the call.

Todd Haley may be the most recognizable to the Cowboys faithful. After coaching the Dallas wide receivers from 2004 to 2006, Haley went on offensive coordinator and head coaching stops at four other NFL clubs. He’ll be the Tampa Bay Bandits’ head coach.

Several wide receivers who spent time in Dallas also found their way to USFL rosters. Lance Lenoir has the most experience; he spent three seasons with the Cowboys and saw action in eight games. He was drafted by the Michigan Panthers. Osirus Mitchell was a practice squadder for most of 2021; he’ll suit up for the Birmingham Stallions. Johnnie Dixon was in training camp in 2021; he’ll play for the New Orleans Breakers. Brennan Eagles was an early cut in 2021’s camp, but he’ll get another shot with the Philadelphia Stars.

Quarterback Clayton Thorson served on the Cowboys practice squad for the 2019 campaign and was in 2020’s camp. He was the fifth overall draft pick by the Houston Gamblers on Tuesday night.

Running back Mike Weber is a former seventh-round draft pick by the Cowboys. After taking over Ohio State’s backfield when Ezekiel Elliott went pro, the two were reunited in Dallas in 2019. Weber failed to make the team in Dallas, but stayed on with the practice squad that season. After stints with the Chiefs, Packers, and Giants, he’ll now tote the rock for the New Jersey Generals.

Several other players who had a moment with the Cowboys will get a new opportunity in the USFL, too, including defensive tackle Shahir Soto (Breakers), safety Tyree Robinson (Stallions), and tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty (Bandits).

It’s a long shot for them all. But in speaking of the planned trajectory of the USFL as a whole, Johnston said the goal of season one is simply to hit the field, season two is to get better, and to be great by season three.

A handful of former Cowboys are now a step closer to meeting that first goal for themselves.

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Cowboys great Daryl Johnston honors John Madden with vintage sweatshirt during broadcast

On a Sunday when the entire league remembered the football legend, Daryl “Moose” Johnston shared a special story of his own during his game. | From @ToddBrock24f7

On the Sunday when the NFL honored the late John Madden with a moment of silence at each of its home stadiums, legendary Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston literally wore his respect for the iconic coach and broadcaster on his sleeve.

Coming back from a commercial break in the third quarter of FOX’s early-afternoon Buccaneers-Jets telecast, the network ran a short video montage of moments from Madden’s remarkable football career. At the conclusion of that tribute, viewers were treated to a 1992 clip of Madden introducing Johnston as a member of his hand-picked “All-Madden Team” for that season.

Johnston was wearing the commemorative sweatshirt from that accolade when cameras joined him and play-by-play partner Chris Myers in the booth, and the longtime Cowboys star spent a moment sharing what Madden meant to him and his career.

“One of my most prized possessions, ” Johnston said of the 30-year-old sweatshirt with its leather throwback helmet design. “I think one of the things that John really helped everybody with: I was not a player whose statistics were going to be something that John Madden would recognize; my role was to block for Emmitt Smith. There weren’t a lot of numbers behind what I did. It was John’s knowledge of the game and his ability to bring that to the viewer in an amusing and important way. I will always be indebted to John Madden for everything he helped me with with my career.”

And if Madden helped introduce the casual fan to Johnston- by then in his fourth season- during the early years of the Dallas dynasty, he’s the one Johnston credits with popularizing the nickname given to him during his rookie season by Cowboys backup quarterback Babe Laufenberg.

“I lost my name in ’92. I was no longer Daryl Johnston; from that point on, I was just ‘Moose,’ because that’s what John Madden called me during Sunday games.”

Madden passed away Tuesday at the age of 85.

Johnston wasn’t the only Cowboys player sporting a wardrobe item memorializing Madden. Quarterback Dak Prescott had a special shirt, too, for his pregame warmups.

The Cowboys had a video tribute planned prior to their late-afternoon game versus Arizona that would also include former player-coach Dan Reeves, who passed away early Saturday morning.

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NFL Week 10 announcers’ schedule

The assignments are out for Week 10 of the NFL season

Some nice matchups on the schedule in Week 10 as the Seattle Seahawks face the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs meet the Las Vegas Raiders, and Tennessee Titans welcome the New Orleans Saints.

What broadcast teams have been assigned to NFL games this week?

Thursday Night Football (8:20 p.m. kickoff)

Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins (FOX, NFL Network, Amazon Prime Video): Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews, Kristina Pink

1 p.m. ET Kickoff

Buffalo Bills at New York Jets (CBS): Spero Dedes, Jay Feely

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Washington Football Team (FOX): Adam Amin,  Mark Schlereth, Shannon Spake

Atlanta Falcons at Dallas Cowboys (FOX): Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen, Pam Oliver

New Orleans Saints at Tennessee Titans (CBS): Kevin Harlan, Trent Green, Melanie Collins

Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts (CBS): Andrew Catalon, James Lofton, Sherree Burruss

Detroit Lions at Pittsburgh Steelers (FOX): Chris Myers, Daryl Johnston, Jen Hale

Cleveland Browns at New England Patriots (CBS): Ian Eagle, Charles Davis, Evan Washburn

4:05 p.m. ET Kickoff

Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Chargers (FOX): Kevin Kugler, Mark Sanchez, Laura Okmin

Carolina Panthers at Arizona Cardinals (FOX): Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma, Sara Walsh

4:25 p.m. ET Kickoff

Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers (CBS): Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson

Philadelphia Eagles at Denver Broncos (CBS): Greg Gumbel, Adam Archuleta

Sunday Night Football (8:20 ET kickoff)

Kansas City Chiefs at Las Vegas Raiders (NBC): Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michelle Tafoya

Monday Night Football (8:15 ET kickoff)

Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers (ESPN): Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Louis Riddick, Lisa Salters

 

The Two Moose: Cowboys’ Kellen Moore used two players to scheme the fun back into the F-back vs Eagles

A breakdown of how Kellen Moore’s continuous creativity used a callback to the 90s against the Eagles, bringing back F-back memories. @DailyGoonerRaf shows how McGovern and Schultz were schemed into greatness.

The Dallas Cowboys lost receiver Michael Gallup early in the season opener due to a calf injury. Gallup’s absence raised fears the Cowboys attack, assumed by many to rely on its “big 3” receiving trio of Amari Cooper, Gallup and CeeDee Lamb, would see diminished explosiveness.

As I have shown in previous pieces on the what worked against the Buccaneers and Chargers game plans, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has had no issues working with a balanced formation. Moore has rarely used three-receiver sets in this young season, relying heavily on one back, two tight end sets and on a two-back, one tight end change up.

Monday night against the Eagles, Moore went positively old school, turning the F-back, that complementary second tight end into a major weapon. In fact, Dallas’ passing game revolved around Dalton Schultz, who lined up at times as a true tight end, but who created big plays as the F-back, the role Daryl Johnston made his own in the go-go ’90s.

The college game does not produce do-it-all F-backs like Johnston anymore, but Moore created a Moose starter kit against Philly, using a backup guard and a shifty blocking tight end. A look at Dallas’ first two scoring drives shows how Dr. Frankenkellen stitched together a Moose monster.

News: Cowboys-Cardinals coverage, Will McClay speaks, Zack’s rare gift

The desert loss was costly. Also, catching up with Terrance Williams, Moose’s HoF chances, and a rookie stays out of trouble with Mama. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Friday evening got off to a promising start, with Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott out on the field throwing in pregame warmups, even though he wouldn’t be playing versus the Cardinals. But things in Glendale turned gloomy as the team not only lost a close game, but lost a handful of players in the process.

Apart from the second preseason contest of the offseason, we take a deep dive into one of the things that makes Zack Martin so good, the seldom-heard-from Will McClay talks about what’s impressed him in training camp, and there are roster predictions to mull over. Also, where does the Cowboys offense rank heading into 2021? One rookie is watching his mouth around the HBO cameras, one former Dallas receiver has found a new way to extend his football career, one iconic fan favorite remains outside gold-jacket talk, and the team says goodbye to Cali and comes home to Texas. Welcome to the News and Notes.

NFL fans had lots of jokes about Daryl Johnston’s really long coat at Rams-Packers

LOL.

The Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers are currently battling out at Lambeau Field in a divisional round playoff game that will send the winner to the NFC title game, which is very serious business.

So let’s get away from serious stuff for a bit and take a look at something that is funny and brings joy. I’m talking, of course, about Daryl Johnston’s coat.

The Fox Sports analyst is calling the game at Lambeau Field so he has to do his best to keep warm. I totally get that and would do my best to do the same.

But this is the coat he picked?

That is something!

NFL fans had jokes:

‘A special man:’ Cowboys coaches, players reflect on Markus Paul’s team impact

The Cowboys were forced to play their last game after just losing a beloved member of the coaching staff. Now they must finish the season.

On the field last week, the Dallas Cowboys suffered their eighth loss of the season. Off the field, the organization suffered a far more profound loss, the kind that the players and coaches won’t be able to just shake off and put behind them with the next film session or team walk-through.

Markus Paul, the Cowboys’ strength and conditioning coordinator, suffered a medical emergency at the team facility on Tuesday; the day’s practice was quickly canceled. Paul passed away Wednesday at the age of 54. He was clearly on the minds of his players and fellow coaches during their 41-16 loss at the hands of Washington on Thursday. Afterward, they tried to put into words the emotions of the previous days.

“We kind of have our football life and then we have our real life. It’s like we live two lives,” wideout Amari Cooper said in his postgame remarks. “What happened over the past week, it was tragic, and we kind of had to cope with it and intertwine those two lives and still try to focus as much as we can on football while dealing with something in our personal lives.”

“Markus was a special man,” head coach Mike McCarthy shared after the Thanksgiving Day game. “He’s definitely someone that, when I think of him, he obviously had a lot of success in his professional life. But if you really look at the mark of a man, it’s more about significance over success. I can’t tell you the impact that he made on our football team- really, the whole organization. Obviously, I’d only been working with Markus since January. but it was clearly evident throughout these last 48 hours, 72 hours what he means to everybody… His memory and his impact has touched a lot of people and will always live with us.”

The team met Wednesday night for a gathering that linebacker Jaylon Smith classified as both emotional and celebratory.

“Just getting an opportunity to celebrate his life, his impact, everything that he instilled in each individual that he touched or met,” Smith said of the meeting to honor Paul.

Paul touched the lives of many in the sport, dating back over two decades as a strength and conditioning coach with the Saints, Patriots, Jets, Giants, and Cowboys. Prior to that, Paul played five seasons for the Bears and Buccaneers.

Legendary Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston was Paul’s college teammate at Syracuse.

“People ask me sometimes, ‘Who hit you the hardest in your football career?’ Three guys: One, Ronnie Lott. Two, Chuck Cecil. Those wouldn’t surprise anybody. But three, Markus Paul,” Johnston told Peter King of Sports Illustrated. “Back in the eighties, spring football was pretty serious. You got padded up. Practices were like games. One practice, I ran the ball through the middle, kind of got stood up there, and here comes Markus. Wham! Sort of smiled and said, ‘I got you good.’ It was the kind of hit where my whole circuitboard shut down, burner down my right side. What a hit.

“When I heard what happened, I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the hospital to see Markus. I just really wanted to say goodbye. I’m so happy I was able to do that. He looked so peaceful. Like Markus was.”

The cause of Paul’s death has yet to be revealed, although team owner Jerry Jones said in a Friday interview with Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan that he was told Paul had suffered a stroke.

That it apparently happened inside team headquarters, in front of others on the team, only adds to the tragedy for those who witnessed it.

McCarthy said he entered the room just moments after Paul’s medical emergency occurred, but declined to elaborate on the details.

“Respectfully, I don’t want to talk about it,” the coach said on a Friday conference call. “I was there. Most of us were there. That’s why, like I said earlier, this is so very personal. For all of us. Not only just because how we feel about Markus, but also how it happened and where it happened and when it happened. As far as canceling everything [on Tuesday], frankly, to me, it was a no-brainer. My instinct was I wanted everybody with family. I wanted everybody to be where they felt they needed to be.”

After the sudden scrapping of Tuesday’s session, the team reassembled Wednesday to try to prepare for an important divisional game just 24 hours later.

The team knelt in prayer prior to the start of Thursday’s contest. They wore helmet decals bearing his initials. The stadium observed a moment of silence during pregame. Several players, including linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, were clearly battling very raw emotions just moments before kickoff.

“I’ll say this, just being truly honest here: I had no idea how we were going to play. And that’s a feeling you never have as a coach,” McCarthy admitted. “You go through weeks of preparation, you line up, and you usually have a feel for where the matchups and the challenges are going to be, try to anticipate them and so forth. We started the game and had adversity, some injured players, and our guys just kept battling. They gave everything they had. And I appreciate that.”

Now the team must find a way to move forward. They’ve been granted the gift of a few extra days to do that, as a result of Thursday night’s Ravens/Steelers game that was postponed long enough to also push the Cowboys’ upcoming trip to Baltimore.

As The Athletic‘s Jon Machota points out: “Had Dallas’ game at Baltimore remained as originally scheduled, the Cowboys would’ve practiced over the weekend. Instead, players had Saturday and Sunday off. The extra time to be around family and friends is probably a good thing for a group dealing with the loss of a friend and someone they worked closely with on a daily basis.”

“To lose somebody so suddenly like that, that you see every day, is never easy,” center Joe Looney told media members after Thursday’s game. “Markus loved football. He loved ball, loved his family, had his faith. It’s definitely tough. But he made a lot of people around here better men.”

And even in death, Paul made others better, as his daughter shared via social media.

Now, his Cowboys family will look to put into the practice some of the lessons Paul taught them about taking care of themselves and one another.

“It was definitely an emotional week for everyone,” running back Ezekiel Elliott told reporters Thursday night. “Markus had such a big role in all of our lives. Every day, he’s the one leading the stretch. So we’ll line up for practice, getting ready to stretch, and you get that reminder that he’s not here with us anymore. It’s definitely tough. We’ve got to lean on each other and help each other get through this tough time.”

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