DALLAS COWBOYS CHECK IN

The Dallas Cowboys have had three quarterbacks that have one thing in common:

They are Super Bowl caliber players, just not for the Cowboys.

If the three had been traded to a contender, they would have been even better than they were in their time in Dallas.

Their names?

Danny White, Tony Romo, Dakota Prescott.

AKA the Heartbreakers.

White took them to three NFC finals losses.

Romo is the all-time passing leader.

Dak still has a chance to take the Cowboys, and me, to the promised land.

Last night he took them to victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers with a strike in the last 20 seconds of the rain-delayed game.

I can’t call it a comeback, even though he gave the team a lead. (Hey Dylan)

 

None of the three are bums, retreads, or incompetent.

All three are good football guys playing their sport at the highest level you can get to just short of legend.

Danny White had Pittsburgh, along with the 49ers and Joe Montana to overcome with four out of four Super Bowl wins.

Romo had Tom Brady with five Super Bowl appearances during his time.

Dak has had Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes in his way.

Maybe they were all born at the wrong time, or played on the wrong team.

That’s what makes sports so intriguing, and the NFL so hard to get to the top.

 

Rooting For Dak

Dak is the only one of the three with a chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

Will he?

It takes more than one guy in a team sport, but he might be the one.

Instead of getting down after throwing two interceptions in two days in the same game, he beared down with two touchdowns in the same two days.

He stayed focused and delivered a win in the end.

If he wins the Big Game a few times before he hangs it up, he will have earned his legendary status and step up to the Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach status.

Can he do it with the current coach, Mike McCarthy?

Ask the same about Romo and Jason Garrett.

Can he do it with owner/general manager Jerry Jones putting his hand on the scale?

If you own the most valuable sports franchise in the world without the biggest of big wins, are you really losing?

By every standard, every metric, every trusted source, the Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable sports franchise in the world.

Would a Super Bowl win for Dak and his team make it more valuable?

I’d like to find out, but even more, it would help me feel better about my fanhood.

 

Dallas Cowboys From The Beginning 

My Dad was a Packers’ fan in the ’60’s.

Even though Eddie LeBaron, a fellow Korean War Marine veteran and Dallas’ first quarterback invited the guys to a game, my old man was a Packer.

I think he liked Vince Lombardi and looked a little like Ray Nitschke.

His sons were Cowboy fans because a Granddad in Dallas sent us magazines telling all about them.

My sons are Cowboy fans, too.

Being a Cowboy fan is never easy. Every year they fail to get where we all want them to go feels like a lost year.

In the mid-70’s I was in the Army and stationed in Philadelphia.

The guys I knew weren’t Eagles fans, they were Steeler fans.

They were good guys, just not on game days.

Roger Staubach was the man for the Cowboys back then. I saw him play the Eagles in the old Vet Stadium which was just up the way on Broad Street.

The closest I’ve ever been to Pittsburgh was in 1978 after a cross country ride share from Eugene that included catching a bus there in the middle of the night.

Then last night. It’s a beautiful river city with the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio shown during breaks in the game.

I live in River City Portland, Bridge City, but Pittsburgh has more rivers and bridges. Don’t tell any homers around here.

Maybe I should have become a Steeler fan?

 

From Last Year:

Why is a Cowboy win important?

Men in America find themselves stuck in yet another contradiction of life as a married sport fan.

Early in the marriage with kids and work and house it’s:

“You can’t waste every weekend in front of the TV.”

Later in the empty nest marriage:

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him, he does’t even watch football anymore.”

Some Dallas Cowboys fans get a broken brain.

Call the doctor.

Sometimes a team kills the spirt.

What happens when you merge a team owner, team president, and team general manager into one job?

You get the Cowboys.

They come with a few decades of damn good football teams who almost got there, which is a marvel.

But like Jerry, I need a win, and soon. Please Dak, overcome the Danny White / Tony Romo legacy of almost greatness.

Overcome the coaching legacy.

That’s my only and lasting complaint / observation, the coaching hires.

Without searching I’ve got Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer, Jason Garrett, and Mike McCarthy along with an assortment of elevated assistants and retreads.

Keeping Garrett for ten years with Tony Romo felt like a double sentence of doom.

It was hard to watch, hard to understand.

This year, keeping the Cowboys alive longer sparks hope. Once they’re done, I’m done.

The Oregon Ducks didn’t finish on top like I planned.

My North Bend Bulldogs are done.

But the Cowboys are riding high and going ALL. THE. WAY.

Now, about that kicker and the misses?

You know who could kick? Eddie LeBaron had a leg.