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Let’s Talk: Picking Top 10 Dallas Cowboys Bound to Stir Talk
Published: June 14, 2009
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A recent poll created quite a buzz in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It had nothing to do with politics or world affairs. No, to the locals, it was much more important than that.
Rather, the poll, or more appropriately a list, was the NFL Network’s ranking of the Top 10 Dallas Cowboys of all time. It’s release was quite appropos, considering the Cowboys are entering their 50th year of competition.
The discussion centered around where players were ranked, such as having Michael Irvin at No. 3, ahead of teammates Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith.
There also was some discussion about whether Tom Landry should have been No. 1, ahead of Roger Staubach and Bob Lilly, two players without whom Landry probably never would have won a Super Bowl.
The debate was civilized but spirited, and in the hopes of keeping it that way, I will now present my top 10. It will not include coaches or front office personnel, which means Landry, Jimmy Johnson, Tex Schramm or Jerry Jones have been excluded.
This list is reserved for the players who bled and sweat on Sundays, and with whom the final outcome of each game rested.
No. 10: Bob Hayes
There is legitimate debate whether Hayes’ overall numbers warrant inclusion into the NFL Hall of Fame, but there is none regarding his impact offensively with the 1960s Cowboys.
When he showed up, the Dallas offense quickly became one of the most explosive attacks in football. All great teams have a signature play, and for the Cowboys their first, and perhaps most famous, was the long bomb to Bob Hayes.
No. 9: Don Meredith
Who do think was throwing those rainbows to Hayes between 1965-68, which were Hayes’ most productive years. Most people remember Meredith as Howard Cosell’s folksy foil on Monday Night Football, but on the field he was a talented, gritty competitor who often played in pain.
His only “crime” seemed to be that he couldn’t beat Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers in the NFL Championship. The spoiled Dallas fans didn’t appreciate his ability, but opposing teams certainly did.
No. 8: Larry Allen
How quickly we forget how dominant a player Allen really was during his prime. During his pro career, the Santa Clara product excelled at drive blocking and pass protection, eventually earning All-Pro status at different positions.
No. 7: Michael Irvin
Irvin epitomized the best and the worst of the 1990s Dallas Cowboys.
Off the field, he was a law breaker who paid for his crimes. On the field, Irvin was Dallas’ emotional leader who could catch any pass thrown his way, and was willing to do whatever it took to win.
No. 6: Mel Renfro
Renfro was Deion Sanders before Deion, and unlike Deion, Renfro could tackle. He excelled as a cornerback and safety, and during one Pro Bowl, Renfro returned two punts for touchdowns.
After Renfro retired, he was not a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame, but when he was selected, there was no good argument against him getting in.
No. 5: Lee Roy Jordan
For 12 seasons, all good ones, Jordan was Dallas’ middle linebacker, patrolling from sideline to sideline, picking off passes, chasing down opposing runners, and calling the defensive signals.
He wasn’t as big as Dick Butkus or as intimidating as Jack Lambert, but Jordan was sly like a fox and had the tenacity of a wolverine.
No. 4: Troy Aikman
A Hall of Famer who still doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Granted, Aikman never put up Marino or Elway-like numbers, but that was never his job.
He guided the Cowboys’ ball-control offense, and kept teams from crowding the line of scrimmage by tossing laser-like passes to Irvin, Alvin Harper, and Jay Novacek.
Aikman was also the glue that kept his teammates focused during games.
No. 3: Roger Staubach
Roger the Dodger wasn’t as big as Aikman, and he didn’t have his arm strength or accuracy. What Staubach did have, though, was a never-say-die attitude and an uncanny ability to improvise, either on the run on in the huddle.
Check Cowboy history and you’ll find that almost all of their most memorable plays from 1970s were when Staubach and one of his receivers decided to alter a pass play.
No 2: Emmitt Smith
The NFL’s all-time leading rusher was elusive and durable. Some say he was the result of Dallas’s system.
Yet, how good was that “system” when Smith missed the first two games of 1993; the result of a contract dispute provoked by Jerry Jones. Dallas’s running game faltered without him, but found its stride once Smith returned.
No. 1: Bob Lilly
The one and only Mr. Cowboy. Lilly was so good that some teams triple-teamed him using two linemen and a running back. He was so quick teams ran at him to negate his pursuit.
Even with that, Lilly still dominated. His most memorable play: Chasing down Bob Griese for a 29-yard loss in Super Bowl VI.
There are players I’ve left off, such as Randy White and Drew Pearson. The former, in my opinion, was a top defensive tackle, and I’d probably put him at No. 11 if I was to make a top 15 list.
For all the hype he gets, Pearson was not even Dallas’ best receiver for most of his career. Check the stats, when Tony Hill became a starter in 1978, he immediately was the go-to guy, primarily because of his size, speed and ability to catch whatever was thrown his way. Yes, I would list him above Pearson when ranking Dallas receivers.
So, go ahead and start the debate. What did I get right and what did I get wrong? Who wants to begin?
Jerry Jones’ Influence is Dallas Cowboys’ Biggest Obstacle In 2009
Published: May 6, 2009
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There are many questions surrounding the 2009 Dallas Cowboys.
Can Tony Romo finally lead them to a playoff victory? Can Roy Williams step up and become the dominating receiver he was projected to be coming out of college? Is the supposedly talent-rich Dallas defense going to coalesce into a dominating unit?
However, the major question facing “America’s Team” is whether omnipresent owner Jerry Jones plans to run the team as he has in years past or begin to change his ways and become less of presence on and off the field. If it’s latter, that’s good news for fans of the silver and blue. If not, more trouble lies ahead for one of the NFL’s most recognizable franchises.
The team’s history of the last 20 years had shown that Jones’ influence, when not countered by the presence of strong head coach, has done nothing but create a circus-like atmosphere, one which is discipline disappears and prima donnas thrive.
When Jones first bought the franchise, he fired Tom Landry in manner that left many disgusted by the action. In truth, he was left holding the bag for that decision — a justified one based on Landry’s coaching performance of the previous three seasons — by the outgoing owner Bum Bright, who should have done the dirty deed and then sold the franchise, allowing Jones to start with a clean slate.
Jones did more good than harm in dealing with the falling, which included bringing aboard Jimmy Johnson, a hard-nosed disciplinarian with a keen eye for talent. Johnson rebuilt the Cowboys into a unit resembling his University of Miami Hurricanes, a cocky, confident bunch who’s speed and stamina were unmatched by any opponent.
By 1992, they were ready to seize the Super Bowl crown, which they did by walloping the Buffalo Bills. A year later, Dallas beat those same Bills to retain the title.
However, by that time, though, Jones’ ego has become as powerful as the Cowboys themselves. Folks around the country got a glimpse of it early in the 1993 season, when he provoked Emmitt Smith’s contract holdout by lowballing on an offer.
Only after Dallas started 0-2 did Jones offer Smith, the NFL’s leading rusher in 1991 and 1992, a legitimate salary. After the team’s second Super Bowl win, Jones seemed to have convinced himself that he built the Cowboys, even blowing off Johnson’s contributions with talk about how “500 other coaches” could have won with such talented players.
He seemed to have forgotten, or ignored, that Johnson was the primary architect behind the Cowboys’ reconstruction.
Since Johnson’s departure, Cowboys fans have been treated to the likes of Barry Switzer, Chan Gailey, Dave Campo and now Wade Phillips, each of whom was or is willing to be subserviant to Jones. Only Bill Parcells — a large ego within an even bigger body — was able to keep Jones in check, if for just a little while.
When Jones is fully in charge, the Cowboys appear to lack direction, often making personnel moves that seem done to sell tickets (the Terrell Owens signing) and not with the intent of building a Super Bowl champion.
It’s no surprise, either, that Dallas’ off-the-field problems are magnified when there’s no strong presence on the sideline. I’m not saying that Michael Irvin’s drug arrest or Pacman Jones’ suspension wouldn’t have happened under Johnson or Parcells, but I don’t believe either coach would have coddled those players the way Jones did, especially Pacman, who was allowed to return late in 2008 before finally being let go in the offseason. Johnson likely would have brought back Irvin, a Hall-of-Fame receiver, but not before verbally taking him out the woodshed.
Another irksome aspect of Jones’s personality is his desire to rewrite team history by insisting the he’s always has been the primary force behind the Cowboys’ draft.
Funny, isn’t it, that when Johnson and Parcells were on the scene, Dallas’ drafts were solid and each team was built the way the coach wanted. After each departed, the Cowboys’ drafts went downhill.
To borrow and old cliché, a leopard can’t change his spots, and Jones likely doesn’t plan altering his anytime soon. He remains the Cowboys’ biggest obstacle to any major success, and probably won’t be moving out of the way anytime soon.
