Tag: local

CeeDee Lamb 27 yards away from joining exclusive Cowboys club

From @ToddBrock24f7: Lamb is on the verge of his 4th straight 1,000-yard season. Michael Irvin is the only other player in team history to accomplish that feat.

At just 5-8 and on the brink of official elimination from playoff contention, there wouldn’t seem to be much left for the Cowboys to play for. But there is one star player who will have a noteworthy accomplishment well within his grasp when the team lines up to face Carolina in Week 15.

CeeDee Lamb needs just 27 receiving yards to post his fourth straight 1,000-yard season.

While some will argue that the 1,000-yard milestone doesn’t mean what it used to since the inception of the 17-game schedule (28 pass-catchers did it in 2023), it’s still a benchmark achievement.

And how rare is doing it four times in a row? Assuming Lamb hits 1K, he’ll become just the second Cowboy in franchise history to surpass 1,000 receiving yards in four consecutive campaigns.

Only Michael Irvin has pulled off that particular feat, topping the millennium mark five times in a row, every season from 1991 to 1995.

In fact, as hard as it may be to believe, Irvin and Jason Witten are the only Cowboys players with four or more 1,000-receiving-yard seasons at all in their careers. Dez Bryant didn’t do it. Drew Pearson didn’t do it. Not Tony Hill, Bob Hayes, or Frank Clarke.

After 64 years of Cowboys football, Lamb will be just the third member of that exclusive club.

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

He does still need to gain those 27 yards, but in the 79 regular-season games Lamb has played in since joining the team, he’s failed to hit that number just six times.

The three-time Pro Bowler suffered a shoulder injury in Week 9 but has nevertheless played through it and even leads the league in targets, so mathematically speaking (and knock on wood; he’s been limited in practice this week) it’s just a matter of how soon it happens on Sunday.

“Trying to play as hard as I can, I’m obviously putting myself out there for the benefit of the team,” Lamb said this week. “And of course, myself, I love to compete, but it’s bigger than me.”

Officials certainly won’t stop the game on Sunday to recognize Lamb’s 1,000-yard season. The moment may not even warrant a mention from the broadcast booth. Yes, Lamb’s 27th receiving yard this weekend will put him in elite company within the Cowboys record books, but he’d be the first to say that adding to the left-hand column of the team’s 2024 win-loss record is the more important contribution anyway.

“Be able to win the game, regardless, at the end of the day, you’ve still got to win the game,” he explained, “That’s the motivation.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[lawrence-newsletter]

Cowboys become first sports franchise ever to reach $10 billion valuation

From @ToddBrock24f7: The numbers from Forbes also show that the Cowboys have the highest operating income, and- by far- the most valuable brand in the NFL.

The Cowboys, though not not yet mathematically eliminated from playoff contention this season, will almost certainly extend their championship drought to a 29th year.

Nevertheless, they are continuing their dynasty as the most valuable sports franchise on the planet… by far.

Forbes has released its annual list of the NFL’s most valuable teams, and the Cowboys have come out on top for the ninth straight year, with a hefty margin separating them from everyone else.

The team that Jerry Jones bought in 1989 for a then-record $140 million now has a valuation of $10.1 billion. That figure is up 12% from last year and makes the club the first franchise- in any sport- to hit a staggering eleven digits.

Dallas was also the first team to reach the $5 billion threshold (in 2018) and the $6 billion mark, in 2021. To further illustrate how exponentially the NFL’s coffers have exploded in recent years, consider that even the Cincinnati Bengals, the league’s least valuable franchise for 2024, have now reached $4 billion, a number that was an unthinkable record when the Cowboys hit it… only nine years ago.

The Cowboys’ current $10.1 billion valuation is $2.5 billion ahead of the second-ranked team, the Los Angeles Rams, and more than double that of 11 other NFL teams.

Worth noting, though: that latter group of clubs includes Baltimore, Buffalo, and Detroit, teams that all have a much better chance of winning a ring before the 5-8 Cowboys… as well as the Kansas City Chiefs, who seek to win an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl this season.

One has to wonder if Jones would trade a sliver of his valuation for some of the success those teams are enjoying this year. (The most jaded fans assume he would not.)

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

A further breakdown of the Cowboys’ $10.1 billion valuation shows that nearly $800 million in 2023 came from local revenue, meaning ticket sales, sponsorships, merchandise, and other streams specific to the Cowboys. No other NFL team even topped $400 million.

Almost four billion dollars of the $10.1 billion total is the Cowboys’ portion attributable to revenue shared among the league’s 32 teams. The size of Dallas’s market counts for another $2.27 billion. AT&T Stadium as a venue counts for $1.99 billion of value, and the Dallas Cowboys brand itself contributes $1.91 billion.

That last number is especially impressive. No other NFL team comes even close to Dallas’s $1.91 billion; the New England Patriots have the league’s second-most valuable “brand,” at $694 million, but that’s still more than 2.5 times less than the Cowboys’.

The Cowboys’ operating income is also tops in the league, pegged at $564 million; the Rams spend essentially half that, at $286 million.

But they’re still turning an absurd profit. When Forbes first ranked the NFL’s teams by valuation in 1998, Dallas led the pack at $413 million. This year’s $10.1 billion represents a mind-boggling 2,346% increase. Try getting that kind of ROI on absolutely anything else. It’s no wonder private equity firms are scrambling to own even the tiniest crumbs of ownership now being offered by some clubs.

But all of those astronomical dollar figures pale in comparison to the number that’s supposed to mean the most in professional football: five. That’s how many Super Bowl trophies stand in the lobby of the Cowboys’ team headquarters. That total hasn’t changed since 1996.

Until it does, no matter how many digits and commas there are in this year’s bottom line, the word valuation has very little value whatsoever to Cowboys fans, who continue to wait for their team to make the cover of something other than a money magazine.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[lawrence-newsletter]

Cowboys’ Trevon Diggs surprises local high school QB with national award

From @ToddBrock24f7: The former Alabama star presented Duncanville QB and Crimson Tide commit Keelon Russell with the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award.

A talented high school quarterback from the Dallas-Fort Worth area is in the midst of what could be a third straight championship run with an eye toward joining the Alabama Crimson Tide next fall.

So when he was chosen this week to receive one of the country’s top honors, it was only fitting to have Trevon Diggs deliver the news.

The Cowboys cornerback and Alabama alum showed up in Duncanville on Tuesday to surprise Keelon Russell with the trophy naming him the 2024-25 Gatorade National Football Player of the Year.

Leading the Duncanville Panthers to a 13-0 mark so far this year, Russell has put up 3,874 passing yards and a staggering 54 touchdowns, but the National Honor Society member also carries a 3.4 GPA and is a regular volunteer in the community with Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Now the 40th Gatorade Player of the Year, Russell’s name will be alongside legends like Pro Football Hall of Famers Peyton Manning and Emmitt Smith, who were also once honored with the prize. In all, six winners of the award have gone on to become first-round draft picks in the NFL.

Photo credit: Joe Greer/Gatorade

“The Gatorade Player of the Year Program has a 40-year history of recognizing young athletes on their journey to greatness,” said Gatorade’s Anuj Bhasin. “Russell’s accomplishments have earned him a spot on the trophy alongside so many iconic athletes, and we can’t wait to see the legacy he will leave behind.”

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

He may be the No. 2-ranked recruit in the nation, but Russell and Duncanville still have unfinished business to attend to.

The undefeated Panthers are set to play in the 6A Division I state semifinals on Saturday. Listed by MaxPreps as the No. 3 high school team in the country and the top-ranked team in Texas, they’ll square off against 14-0 North Crowley (ranked 9th in the nation) in a legitimate clash of titans.

“This is a great opportunity,” Diggs told the Panthers team after their practice on Tuesday. “You worked hard, for sure. Putting your head down, working hard, you see where it got you. I just want you to keep that same mindset, especially going into college.”

Diggs had words of encouragement for Russell, too, hinting that one Sunday in the not-too-distant future, he may be trying to intercept some of the youngster’s passes on an NFL field.

“You’re a great player, that’s a great award,” Diggs told him. “You’re going to go far. I’m going to see you soon.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[lawrence-newsletter]

‘Trying to make a play’: Cowboys come to teammate’s defense after costly blocked punt mistake

From @ToddBrock24f7: The mishandling of a blocked punt decided the outcome of Week 14’s game, but Amani Oruwariye’s teammates don’t want it to define him.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy put it bluntly during his postgame press conference Monday night.

“This one stings.”

But the most painful part is, this particular bug has bitten Cowboys fans before.

Amani Oruwariye’s mishandling of a blocked punt gave the ball back to the Bengals with under two minutes to play in a tie game. Instead of the offense trying to better navigate for a walk-off winning field goal, the defense ended up allowing Cincinnati to score the deciding touchdown just a few snaps later.

It was a gut-wrenching turn of events for the Cowboys, now 5-8, that left the locker room “really devastated,” according to owner Jerry Jones.

“That mistake we made at the end was very impactful, is all I can say.”

Jones hinted in his traditional tunnel Q&A session that the coaching staff had a block-attempt called on the fateful fourth-down play, but McCarthy explained otherwise.

“We actually had a return called,” McCarthy told media members. “The tackle released, the guard went down. The B-gap was exposed. Nick [Vigil, linebacker] took it, and we were able to get the block.”

It was a fortuitous moment, until the deflected ball went beyond the line of scrimmage. Left alone, it would have been whistled dead. Dallas would have taken over, already within the range of kicker Brandon Aubrey.

Instead, Oruwariye, the cornerback who had just re-joined the active roster a few hours earlier, tried to reel in the bouncing ball. When he was unable to, the ball became live again, and the Bengals recovered for a fresh set of downs without having to advance it past the original line to gain.

McCarthy said Oruwariye was simply taken by surprise when the ball ended up in front of him, and the six-year veteran didn’t hear the Cowboys sideline- all the way across the field and 50 yards away- yelling the “poison” command that signals to leave the ball alone.

“He understands the rule of crossing, once the ball crosses the line,” the coach explained after the 27-20 loss. “His response when he turned, when he heard the crowd: the ball was there, and he reacted to it.”

“That’s a play that happens not very often,” McCarthy said. “Definitely a tough learning opportunity.”

Cowboys fans, however, were able to immediately recall two other occasions where the same set of circumstances cost them dearly.

The most infamous was Leon Lett’s botched recovery of a blocked field goal versus Miami on Thanksgiving 1993. After the batted kick skittered around on the snow-covered Texas Stadium turf and past the line of scrimmage, Lett tried to pounce on it and slipped. The Dolphins regained possession and kicked a game-winning field goal on the next snap.

More recently, Nahshon Wright muffed a blocked punt after it, too, crossed the line of scrimmage, in a 2021 game against Denver. Down 16-0 at the time, Wright was trying to turn the tide of the game with a return for a touchdown. Instead, the demoralized Cowboys got further manhandled and lost by a 30-16 final.

This felt like déjà vu all over again.

But while the play ultimately decided the outcome of the Week 14 game, Oruwariye’s teammates refuse to let the moment to define him.

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

Micah Parsons was visibly distraught in the aftermath of Oruwariye’s flub. Other Cowboys players struggled to explain what had happened. McCarthy and Jones were clearly disappointed. Special teams coordinator John Fassel will undoubtedly be grilled about it the next time he takes the podium.

Several of Oruwariye’s teammates came to his defense, though, even with the heartbreaking loss still raw and fresh.

Longtime Cowboys special teams ace C.J. Goodwin was there for Wright’s gaffe three years ago and even shielded the rookie from reporters afterward. He did the same thing for Oruwariye after Monday night’s loss.

“Y’all think it’s football … but there’s life outside of football,” Goodwin said, per the team website. “When I see my man going through something mentally, I’m not going to have [the media] bringing up the play over and over. We’re not going to do that.”

Cornerback Jourdan Lewis also tried to put the mishap- merely the latest in a series of bad breaks that have defined the Cowboys’ 2024 season- into a larger perspective.

“Big plays happen, and everybody sees it,” Lewis said. “We have to stay with [Oruwariye] and keep encouraging him. We don’t want that moment to define him. We have to stay behind him. That’s just football. Some things roll your way, and some things don’t. I can’t blame him trying to make a play.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[lawrence-newsletter]

‘More severe than an ACL’: Promising young Cowboys LB suffers devastating knee injury

From @ToddBrock24f7: A serious knee injury Monday night left his teammates devastated, but DeMarvion Overshown himself is already eyeing his next comeback.

One of the few bright spots in the Cowboys’ gloomy 2024 season has been snuffed out. And while the darkness may linger for some time, the player at the center of it is already igniting a new flicker of hope.

DeMarvion Overshown, the promising second-year linebacker who was playing in just his 13th game as a pro, went down with a leg injury during the fourth quarter of Monday night’s gut-wrenching 27-20 loss to Cincinnati.

This injury may be even worse than the preseason ACL tear that cost him his entire rookie campaign in 2023.

“It’s of serious nature, I’m told, that’s really all I know,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said after the game, per the team website. “It didn’t look good.”

Overshown entered the contest as the team’s second-leading tackler, with more sacks- five- than any Cowboys defender apart from Micah Parsons, with a team-best eight tackles for loss, and having recorded the only interception return for a touchdown of Dallas’s season so far.

But when his right leg was rolled up on by Bengals center Ted Karras, it was cause for immediate concern. Cowboys teammates quickly called for assistance, and Overshown was taken directly to the locker room with help from two team trainers. He was ruled out of the remainder of the contest within minutes.

Clarence Hill Jr. of AllCity DLLS reports that the team believes that Overshown “ruptured several ligaments in his knee” and that the injury is “more severe than an ACL.”

Overshown’s 2023 ACL tear was in his left knee.

Although Overshown will undergo further testing on Tuesday, the gravity of the former Longhorn’s injury was already obvious to the rest of the Cowboys locker room.

Parsons was visibly shaken while speaking with reporters about the teammate he’s taken to calling his “little bro.”

“I cried,” Parsons said. “He don’t deserve that, either. He really don’t. To just understand what he’s going to go through- physically and mentally- it’s so challenging. He’s so talented. The year he was having, I mean, I really just don’t think that’s fair.”

Veteran linebacker Eric Kendricks acknowledged that injuries are a part of the game but admitted that seeing Overshown go down was especially tough.

“I’m just feeling for him right now,” he said. “I know how hard he works, and it means a lot to him. Means a lot to me. It’s not really fair. Football is not really fair. You never know.”

“I know it definitely hit a lot of the guys,” McCarthy said.

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

It hit Overshown, too. The Texas native gave an update on social media late Monday night that hinted at the severity of his latest injury.

“Wouldn’t want this for anyone else!” he posted. “One of God’s Toughest Soldiers (prayer hands emoji) Keep me in your prayers…”

By Tuesday morning, though, he was already on the comeback trail, at least mentally. An X influencer account called Attack! on Cowboys posted, “hoping DeMarvion Overshown doesn’t become one of the greatest ‘what if’ stories of all time.”

Overshown himself offered a short and sweet response.

“Guarantee I won’t.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[lawrence-newsletter]

Cowboys open roof for ‘Monday Night Football’… without incident this time

From @ToddBrock24f7: Three weeks after a piece of metal crashed to the playing surface hours before a game, the Cowboys have opened their roof for Week 14.

With a two-game win streak under the Cowboys’ belt, the sky is no longer falling in Dallas.

And now as the team gears up for a Week 14 primetime bout with the Bengals, neither is the roof over their heads.

The retractable roof at AT&T Stadium has been opened for the Monday night matchup, just three weeks after a large piece of sheet metal crashed to the playing surface hours before the team’s Nov. 18 game against the Texans.

No one was hurt in that incident, and the roof was closed in plenty of time for the evening’s game, which Dallas lost by a 34-10 score. The piece of metal turned out to be a covering lid to a cable tray located within the inner workings of the roof. High winds in the area that day had loosened the lid, and a heavy gust sent it flying only a couple hours prior to kickoff.

Crews later determined that there were no structural issues with the stadium. The venue stayed open and then hosted another game Thanksgiving Day, although the roof remained closed.

The Monday forecast in Arlington called for temperatures around 56 degrees at kickoff after a sunny and wday in the area.

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

The roof at the 15-year-old stadium has been open for less than 25% of all Cowboys home games since its grand opening. Monday night will mark the first time it’s been left open for a Cowboys game since Oct. 30, 2022.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[lawrence-newsletter]

Cowboys’ Zack Martin to have season-ending ankle surgery

From @ToddBrock24f7: The 9x-Pro Bowler suffered an ankle injury in Week 11 and has been out since. Questions will now be raised about a possible retirement.

It’s the end of the season for one of the Cowboys’ all-time greats, and maybe even the end of the line.

Right guard Zack Martin will require surgery to repair the damage from a right ankle injury he suffered in Week 11, according to head coach Mike McCarthy, who made the announcement in his Thursday press conference. The injury occurred during the fourth quarter of the team’s 34-10 loss to Houston and had kept Martin sidelined the past two games.

The team had originally hoped Martin could rehab the ankle with a Week 14 return in mind, but his progress did not go as planned and led to this decision, which Martin and the club reached on Wednesday.

Undrafted Brock Hoffman has gotten the start for Martin in both contests of the Cowboys’ current two-game win streak, and he looks to be the primary replacement once again on Monday when Dallas hosts the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night.

“He’s gonna be missed. We’re not gonna replace Zack Martin, by no means,” McCarthy told reporters of the nine-time Pro Bowler who was just announced earlier in the day as a nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. “He brings so much to the team, to the team culture. We all recognize what a great player he has been here in Dallas for his whole career, but what he gives us as a person- people gravitate to him and he does a really good job of bringing people together. That offensive line room is really an illustration of his leadership, and he’ll definitely be missed in that area.”

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

Both the Nov. 18 injury and Thursday’s announcement immediately raised questions about the future of the 34-year-old, who was the Cowboys’ first-round draft pick out of Notre Dame in 2014 and is now on the final year of his contract. After being absent for just two games over his first six pro seasons, Martin will have missed 16 contests over his last five years by the time the 2024 regular campaign ends.

Micah Parsons inadvertently sparked some retirement whispers for the eleven-year veteran back in early November. After a loss to the Eagles, the Cowboys linebacker said, “I kind of feel bad for guys like Zack Martin and guys who might be on their last year, on their way out. Because that’s who I wanted to hold the trophy for.”

When asked a few days later about playing beyond 2024, Martin himself wasn’t ready to give the topic serious consideration.

“I’m just taking it one week at a time, my guy,” he told reporters.

But now there are no more weeks for the seven-time first-team All-Pro… at least for this season, and maybe for good.

“I think you just have to take a step back and deal with one thing at a time,” McCarthy said Thursday. “That, frankly, was the conversation that Zack and I had. The focus is really about the surgery, what’s next. Those are all questions that will be asked or be thought about.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[lawrence-newsletter]

Cowboys nominate Zack Martin for 2024 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award

From @ToddBrock24f7: The decorated guard was surprised this week with news that he’ll be the team’s nominee for the league’s most prestigious individual honor.

As a nine-time Pro Bowler and a seven-time first-All-Pro guard, there aren’t may individual accolades left for Zack Martin to win.

But the Cowboys managed to find another line item to add to the 11-year veteran’s résumé, naming him their 2024 nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

The team surprised Martin with the news this week. What started out as a holiday photo shoot with the Martin family sitting around the Christmas tree turned into Zack, wife Morgan, and their three children opening customized jerseys that revealed his nomination for the league’s most prestigious individual honor.

Each of the NFL’s 32 teams nominate one player each season for the award that seeks to recognize commitment to philanthropy and community service as well as excellence on gameday. Among the other nominees this year are Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, Lions quarterback Jared Goff, Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner, and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

Martin, 34, has long been active with organizations like the Salvation Army, the National Medal of Honor Museum, and various causes benefiting first responders, local families in need, and hospitalized children.

A panel of judges that includes Commissioner Roger Goodell, 2023 winner Cameron Heyward, and former NFL players will select this year’s recipient. The announcement will be made at NFL Honors on Feb. 6.

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

Quarterback Dak Prescott won the award in 2022. He was the fourth Cowboys player to be so honored, joining tight end Jason Witten (2012), quarterback Troy Aikman (1997), and quarterback Roger Staubach (1978).

Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence was last year’s Cowboys nominee.

Martin and the league’s other 31 nominees for this year will wear honorary helmet decals for the remainder of the 2024 season. The winner is traditionally recognized on the field during a pregame ceremony at the Super Bowl; he’ll receive a $250,000 donation in his name to the charity of his choosing and will wear a special uniform patch for the rest of his playing career.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[lawrence-newsletter]

Josh Allen’s rare TD trifecta put him in ultra-exclusive club with Cowboys legend

From @ToddBrock24f7: Only 14 men have scored a passing, rushing, and receiving TD in the same game. Buffalo’s Josh Allen is the latest; Dan Reeves did it in ’67.

When Bills quarterback Josh Allen took the Week 13 lateral from wide receiver Amari Cooper and carried the ball he had originally thrown into the end zone, he completed two-thirds of a rare NFL trifecta. That one play gave him both a passing and receiving touchdown in Sunday night’s game, but Allen wasn’t finished. He followed it up by rushing for another score in the fourth quarter to ice the game for Buffalo.

In so doing, Allen became just the 14th player (and the first quarterback) in league history to notch a passing, rushing, and receiving touchdown all in the same game. Christian McCaffrey did it most recently, in 2022. LaDanian Tomlinson did it in 2005. Hall of Famers Walter Payton and Frank Gifford are in the ultra-exclusive club. too.

And so is one Cowboy.

Dan Reeves was listed as a running back during his eight-year playing career and remains the 17th-leading rusher (in yards) in Cowboys history. But he was also a dangerous pass-catcher; his 1,693 receiving yards are still in the franchise’s all-time top 40. He returned a few punts and kicks in his day, and Reeves even booted an extra point in a game in 1971.

But he had also started at quarterback for three collegiate seasons at South Carolina, graduating in 1965 as the school’s leading passer. And that experience made him a unique weapon within the Dallas offense, a weapon that head coach Tom Landry wasn’t afraid to deploy.

The halfback option pass was just one of Landry’s favorite creative innovations. But to really pull it off, he needed a legitimate ball carrier who had the smarts to read a defense and a strong throwing arm, too.

That exact skill set earned the undrafted Reeves a roster spot in Dallas.

Reeves attempted at least two throws in every single NFL season he played. He recorded a career-high seven passes in the 1967 regular season and completed four of them, also a career best. That campaign also saw Reeves log his only touchdown passes, a 74-yarder to Lance Rentzel in a Thanksgiving win over the Cardinals, and a 45-yarder two weeks later, again to Rentzel to put the final dagger in a 38-17 win over the Eagles.

But Reeves had also been in the end zone on two previous occasions that Dec. 10 afternoon, first catching a five-yard toss from quarterback Craig Morton in the second quarter, and then adding a one-year touchdown plunge in the third.

Reeves’s stat line for the day: 10 rushes for 47 yards and a touchdown, four receptions for 28 yards and a touchdown, 1-for-1 passing for 45 yards and a touchdown.

At the time, he was the eighth player in league history to complete the triple-TD feat.

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

The Georgia native finished the 1967 season as the league’s 15th-ranked rusher and a top-30 receiver, not even leading the Cowboys in either category. But the multi-purpose Reeves was No. 10 leaguewide in scrimmage yards, beating out the likes of Bobby Mitchell, Charley Taylor, Dallas teammates Bob Hayes, Don Perkins, and Rentzel, and even Gale Sayers.

He also ended the regular season with the NFL’s highest passer rating (101.8) for all players who had attempted five or more throws.

Reeves would go on to heave just one more touchdown pass in his career, and it was his most memorable of all.

Three weeks after his trifecta, Landry and the Cowboys ran the halfback option again, this time in the playoffs against the Green Bay Packers, on a frozen Lambeau Field where the temperature that New Year’s Eve afternoon was 13 degrees below zero.

Down 14-10 on the first play of the fourth quarter, Reeves took a pitch from Don Meredith near midfield and lumbered to his left on the iced-over grass. But after a half-dozen steps, he stopped and fired the ball, flat-footed, 35 yards to a wide-open Rentzel, who practically walked into the end zone from 20 yards out.

The strike was a massive surprise given the arctic conditions and gave Dallas their first lead of the day, a 17-14 edge that lasted all the way until the game’s final, fateful seconds. If not for Bart Starr’s famous goal-line dive to win the now-iconic “Ice Bowl,” that unlikely 50-yard touchdown pass from the team’s RB2 might still stand today as the single most famous moment in Dallas Cowboys history.

Reeves would go on to a successful coaching career, on staff in Dallas for a decade and then running the show as head coach of the Broncos, Giants, and Falcons. Reeves passed away in 2022 at the age of 77.

Reeves unquestionably enjoyed a long and storied football career, winning Super Bowl VI as a player and Super Bowl XII as an assistant coach. He’s in the Broncos Ring of Honor and was a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame ‘s Class of 2025. But perhaps none of his days on the gridiron ever quite matched when Reeves found the end zone three different times, in three different ways, and cemented his place- alongside Payton, Gifford, Tomlinson, and now Allen- on one of the most exclusive lists in the sport’s history.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[lawrence-newsletter]

Report: Cowboys expected to face Drew Lock; Giants QB Tommy DeVito ‘unlikely to play’ Thursday

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys are expected to face Drew Lock for the first time on Thanksgiving, with current starter Tommy DeVito nursing a forearm injury.

The Cowboys defense can’t be sure exactly what will be on the menu when they host Thanksgiving this year, so they’re coming hungry for whatever is offered up when their visitors from New York arrive.

The 2-9 Giants are undergoing a total revamp at quarterback. Daniel Jones, who started the 2024 season as Big Blue’s $160 million man lasted just ten games this season before getting benched, demoted to fourth string, and finally waived, all within a five-day span last week.

The team turned to Tommy DeVito, the second-year backup who came on in relief of Jones for six starts last year, but there’s no guarantee he plays Thursday. In fact, reports late Wednesday call him “unlikely to play. He did not travel to Dallas with the team but is expected to catch a later flight.

DeVito had been added to the Giants’ injury report with a forearm injury of unknown severity. The team had just a walkthrough Tuesday, but DeVito was officially listed as limited.

“I wouldn’t say it’s timing or a lot of depth to it or velocity to it, but he was throwing in the walkthrough,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll said Wednesday of DeVito’s throwing arm. “He’s going to test it out here today in practice in another walkthrough. So, I’m hopeful, but it’s not 100 percent.”

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

DeVito reported that he wasn’t even sure of when the injury occurred during New York’s 30-7 loss to Tampa Bay last week, in which he went 21-of-31 passing for 189 yards.

“My whole body’s kind of sore,” DeVito explained, according the Giants website. “First time playing in a while, took a couple shots. It’s not even 48 hours, so things are still kind of just settling in.”

Dallas last saw DeVito in Week 10 last year at AT&T Stadium. The ex-Syracuse and -Illinois passer threw two touchdowns in the 49-17 Cowboys win, but he went just 14-of-27 for 86 yards otherwise.

If DeVito cannot play Thursday, the Giants would turn to Drew Lock, the former second-round draft pick out of Missouri who spent three years with Denver and two seasons with the Seahawks. Lock has reportedly taken some first-team reps with the Giants offense in case he is pressed into making his first start since Week 15 last season.

The Cowboys have never faced Lock, who has 23 career starts and a 9-14 mark in those contests.

Tim Boyle is the other quarterback on the Giants’ depth chart and would probably serve as the primary backup to Lock.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[lawrence-newsletter]