I've been a Dallas Cowboys fan since about 1976, and my dream
from the beginning was to be able to see the Cowboys win the Super Bowl in person
...my favorite player back then was
Roger Staubach...I got to meet him a few years ago and he was way cool...I got him
to sign my football cards...my
earliest vivid memory of the Cowboys was Super
Bowl XII...the Six Million Dollar Man was on opposite the game, and I had to
frantically change channels during commercials...then came
Super Bowl XIII...and the image
burned in almost every Cowboys fan's mind...Staubach hits Hall of Famer Jackie Smith,
wide open in the end zone, with a pass...but he drops the ball...the Cowboys settle
for three--and lose the game by four...but the worst was the next year...after
a great season,
the Cowboys lose to the (then Los Angeles) Rams in the
Divisional Playoffs...at
nine years old I had just seen my hero play football for the last time...and it
didn't get any better...Dallas would lose the next three NFC Championships to
Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington...and then the dark years began,
culminating in 1988 with a 3-13 record, the sale of the team, and the end of the
Tom Landry era...enter
Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson...I bet my uncle
(a longtime Washington fan) a chunk o' change that the Cowboys would win the Super
Bowl within five years...and he laughed at me...of course you know who is laughing
now...behind the triumvirate of
Emmitt Smith,
Troy Aikman, and
Michael Irvin,
the Cowboys were back...four years after my bet they won
Super Bowl XXVII...but the next
year was the best...Super Bowl XXVIII was in Atlanta, GA...and
I got to goto the game...the Cowboys
were in the hole 13-6 at halftime, but they wouldn't let me
down...early in the third quarter Thurman Thomas fumbled and James Washington
returned the ball for a touchdown...I had never FELT momentum change like it did
at that moment...and quite honestly I don't know if I ever will again...it was
simply amazing...the Cowboys would rattle off seventeen unanswered points on their
way to victory...my childhood dream
was a reality...of course, back to back Super Bowls led to controversy...Jimmy Johnson
was replaced by Barry Switzer...and
as all good things must, the Cowboys' run came to an end...so they went and
got Deion Sanders...and they made it back
to the Super Bowl...against the old nemesis...the Pittsburgh Steelers...it was a hard
fought game...the best Super Bowl game in recent memory...and it was the defense that
won it for the Cowboys...the defensive
staff should get co-MVP honors...the Cowboys didn't blitz much during the season, but
they called the blitz in several key situations in Super Bowl XXX...throwing the Steelers
out of sync allowed MVP Larry Brown
to make two drive stopping interceptions...the 1996 season proved to be one of
the toughest in recent memory...off the field problems plagued the Cowboys throughout the
season, and on the field the team had trouble moving the ball once inside the red
zone...still, despite these problems, Dallas was able to secure an unprecidented fifth straight
NFC East Title...the distractions proved
too much however, and the Cowboys fell in the Divisional Playoffs to the second year
Carolina Panthers...and things would go from bad to worse in the 1997 season...the
Cowboys not only failed to win the NFC East, they failed to win much of
anything...the team went 6-10, a record which included a five game losing
streak to close the season...a combination of aging players and undisciplined
coaching finally led to the demise of the team of the 90's...there was little
doubt that there would be large scale changes in the Cowboy's organization
before the next season...might as well start with the coach...Barry
finally went away, and after much searching, Jerry Jones came up with
Chan Gailey as the new top gun
in Dallas...Chan had been calling the shots on offense for the Steelers...and
he did bring some life back to the team as the 1998 Cowboys went 10-6 and became
the first team ever to go 8-0 in the NFC East on their way to the
division title...however,
the year's outcome was dictated by two key injuries as Troy Aikman missed
several mid-season games due to a broken clavical and Deion Sanders didn't
play at all down the stretch due to a sprained toe...while they looked better
than last season, Dallas made a quiet exit in the first round of the playoffs...the
1999 season wasn't much better...the Cowboys were 3-0 to start the season, but then
Michael Irvin suffered a career ending neck injury during the
4th game of the season...the team backed into the playoffs with an 8-8 record and
made another quiet exit in the first round...the first thing the team did in the
offseason was fire Chan Gailey and hire Dave Campo
to be the new head coach...but
in the end that didn't help very much...the 2000 season started off badly and got worse
from there...Joey Galloway, picked up to replace the retired Michael Irvin, was
knocked out for the year with an injury in the first game...the Cowboys continued to
be decimated by injuries, including several concussions for Troy Aikman, as the
team limped to a losing record - their worst since the start of the Jimmy Johnson
era...blame it on the concussions, the salary cap, or whatever you want, on the day
before his bonus and contract extension were to kick in, the Cowboys waived
Troy Aikman...with two of their three best
players now retired, the 2001 season did not hold much promise for the Cowboys...in the end there were
only two bright spots: a sweep of the Redskins and Emmitt Smith rushing his way to an NFL record 11th
consecutive 1000 yard season...there was only one bright spot in store for the 2002
season...#22 broke the record...not
just the record...THE record: most yards rushing in NFL history...but after a
third straight 5-11 season, Dave Campo was shown the door...in walked
The Tuna...and out walked
Mr. Smith...an era ended for me when Roger Staubach called it a
day, and now that the last of the big 3 from the early 90s is gone, another era
has ended...it can now be argued that Bill Parcells is the greatest coach in NFL history...no one had taken
four different teams to the playoffs...until now that is...with basically the same talent that went 5-11 three years
in a row, The Tuna came to Dallas and worked his magic to take the Cowboys to a 10-6 record and a wild-card spot
in the playoffs...needless to say expectations will be much higher going into next season...and let's just say those
expectation weren't met and leave it at that...going from 10-6 to 6-10 is clearly a huge step backwards...the defense
that was simply stunning last season was simply pathetic this season...the only bright spot for 2004 was the emergence
of Julius Jones as the Dallas running back of the future...hopefully
the Cowboys will use their two first round picks wisely and make a significant improvement in their performance...2005
was a tale of two seasons with the Cowboys starting 7-3, only to come dragging in at 2-5 to miss the playoffs...there
were two critical holes in this year's team...first, the kicking game...no less that four games were lost as a direct
result of complete ineptitude in the field goal department...across three different kickers, Dallas missed eight field
goals...four of which were from 39 yards or less...that simply isn't going to get it done in the NFL...second,
Flozell Adams suffered a season ending injury in Week 6...without his presence on the offensive line, the Cowboys were
not able to adequately protect Drew Bledsoe down the stretch...that
being said, The Tuna did agree to a contract extension, so as long as the Cowboys pick up a kicker in the offseason and
Mr. Adams comes back 100%, 2006 could make for some interesting football...in what would turn out to be his final season,
Bill Parcells managed to get the Cowboys into the 2006 playoffs - albeit with a new quarterback...make no mistake (and forget
what you saw at the end of the wildcard game), Tony Romo is the real deal...I
guess it didn't hurt that Dallas also picked up some receiver named Terrell Owens
during the offseason...this high powered offense is going to score a lot of points, so if the secondary holds together then 2007
could be quite a season...
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