: Dallas Cowboys

Former Cowboys among hall inductees

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:20 CST

By BOB KOWALSKI

WACO -- When Dallas Cowboys greats get together, particularly for hall of fame ceremonies, the discussion inevitably involves the Super Bowl.

At the Texas Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremonies Monday night, former Cowboys and 2009 inductees Chuck Howley and Dan Reeves both empathized with the Indianapolis Colts the day after they lost the Super Bowl to the New Orleans Saints.

"I've been fortunate to have been involved and unfortunately, I know how Peyton Manning feels today," said Reeves, who participated in a record nine Super Bowls, including two as a Cowboys running back and three as an assistant coach under Tom Landry. "I've been on that side. Winning it is great, it feels great, but it doesn't compare to how you feel after you lose."

Howley, still the only Super Bowl MVP selected from a losing team, relishes his recognition from Super Bowl V, a 16-13 Cowboys loss to Baltimore. In that game, he had two interceptions and recovered a fumble, but Dallas lost on Jim O'Brien's late field goal.

"To receive that particular honor in the first Super Bowl that I ever played in was great to me," said Howley, a six-time All-Pro linebacker who is also a member of the Cowboys Ring of Honor. "That's the ultimate that a professional athlete wants, to play in a Super Bowl, and to win a Super Bowl, and I was fortunate to do both."

Howley, whose career ran from 1958-1973, had 25 career interceptions and 14 fumble recoveries.

Another former Cowboys great, the late Harvey Martin, also is part of the 2009 class, giving the Cowboys 19 inductees.

Martin was a fearsome defensive end from 1973-83, being named All-Pro four times and sharing MVP honors with Randy White in Super Bowl XII.

Also inducted were Bud Adams, the Houston Oilers owner, Baylor women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey, current Houston Astros slugger Lance Berkman, former Baylor football player Lawrence Elkins, former University of Texas and major league pitcher Burt Hooton, former Rice and NFL quarterback Tommy Kramer, and former SMU basketball player Max Williams.

Reeves, for all his Super Bowl appearances, quickly recited his favorite memory: the Cowboys' 24-3 win over Miami in 1971, Dallas' first Super Bowl victory.

Reeves played for the Cowboys from 1965-72 and was an assistant coach from 1970-80. Reeves later was head coach of the Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons.

Adams, who brought the American Football League to Texas with the Oilers in 1960, likened Saints fans' celebrations on Bourbon Street to the loyal following of the Luv Ya Blue Oilers in the 1970s and '80s.

Later, the Oilers made the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons.

Mulkey, who has won women's national basketball titles as a player, assistant and head coach, led Baylor to the 2005 championship, Baylor's first women's title in any sport and the only women's basketball national title won by a Big 12 team.

Since she became the Lady Bears' head coach in 2000, Baylor has averaged 26 wins a season and ranks No. 6 in wins by Division I teams during that stretch.

Jason Garrett: the next Sean Payton?

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:20 CST

JENNIFER FLOYD ENGEL

Watching Saints coach Sean Payton drag and diagram and coconut New Orleans to a Super Bowl XLIV victory Sunday reminded me a lot of Betty White being pummeled in a friendly game of tackle football during commercial interruptions.

Genius ad, BTW.

I am pretty sure Betty has an ability to turn just about anything into funny right now. Including an octogenarian getting pummeled and verbally eviscerated by a teammate in a huddle.

"That's not what your girlfriend said," was White's comeback.

Anyway, as it happens in commercials, along comes a point where product must be sold and we were reminded: You are not you when hungry, you play like Betty White, thus eat Snickers. And I cannot help but think this catchy phrase, properly tweaked, once applied to Payton.

"You are not you when you are an assistant."

Or in Payton's case, you coach like Bill Parcells.

Anybody close to Cowboysland during Payton's tenure understood this was a gutsy, risk-taking, bright, inventive offensive coordinator. And he was allowed to be that guy three of every 10 plays. The other seven he lost the battle of the headphones and had to do what Big Bill wanted, so we see him now and go, "Wow, where was that guy?"

This is not another ode to what might have been. The Payton-as-Cowboys-coach ship has sailed. Really for anybody who watched Sunday's festivities from Miami and thought to yourself: "Man, I wish that guy was still coaching the Cowboys", instead of wasting angst, repeat after me:

Jason Garrett has a very good chance of being the next Payton.

In a couple of years, the Cowboys offensive coordinator is going to be winning a Super Bowl elsewhere and we'll all be whining about how he got away.

Laugh, if need be. Call me an apologist.

Just also mark my words: The Redheaded Genius is going to be a successful coach in this league. And likely not in Dallas, at this current trajectory.

For a couple of good reasons and a few nonsensical ones, we refuse to acknowledge his ability and potential at the moment. Garrett has been turned into a caricature by a lot of Cowboys media and fans. Overmatched. Unable to adjust. Not very good. Needs to be fired. Nothing more than a Jerry Jones man crush.

All of this is idiotic and ungrounded in fact actually, yet totally familiar.

Payton endured his share of dark days in Dallas. He had calls for his job. Revisionist history has many of my media brethren pretending every second of his stay was touchdowns and talk-radio segments devoted to his genius and pleas to keep him.

None of this is remotely true. A good many only appreciated his genius once said genius began coaching in New Orleans. Payton became smarter in New Orleans, much like Miami led to fondness for Tony Sparano, as did Arizona for Todd Haley.

Certainly all have become smarter than Garrett, at least by local standards where he ranks somewhere between needs to be flogged and needs to be fired, depending on the day.

The RHG bandwagon certainly has become lonely, with myself and Brad Sham and Babe Laufenberg, at least I think I saw them recently.

So let us dispense with nicknames or hyperbole this a.m. and just deal in facts about Garrett. He is a bright offensive mind. Like Payton, he's a playbook guy. He likes to devise stuff.

DFW is no stranger to all-star games

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:42 CST

By DAVID THOMAS

Sunday's NBA All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium will be the sixth major pro league all-star game to be played in Dallas/Fort Worth. A look at the previous five:

23rd NFL Pro Bowl

When: Jan. 21, 1973

Where: Texas Stadium

The game: AFC 33, NFC 28

O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills rushed for a Pro Bowl-record 112 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 58 yards to be unanimously selected player of the game. The NFC took a 14-0 first-quarter lead on Green Bay Packer John Brockington's two touchdown runs -- he had three in the game -- but the AFC scored 33 unanswered points before the NFC scored twice in the game's final minute.

Dallas Cowboys players in the game: Walt Garrison, Cornell Green, Calvin Hill, John Niland, Mel Renfro and Rayfield Wright.

Notable:

This was the first Pro Bowl since the game began in 1951 that was not played at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Attendance was only 47,879 in the 65,000-seat stadium, largely because of temperatures in the mid-40s and 10 players who dropped out and led to the game being dubbed the "drop-out bowl."

Tickets cost $10, up from prices of $5-8 for games in Los Angeles.

Tom Landry coached the NFC against Chuck Noll of the AFC.

Stuck on bad Bills teams during the early part of his career, Simpson -- in his fourth year in the league -- led the league with 1,251 rushing yards that season. It was his first 1,000-yard season.

Simpson's Pro Bowl rushing record lasted until 1995, when Marshall Faulk ran for 180 yards.

The game was televised by CBS but blacked out in Dallas/Fort Worth.

The 40-player rosters were selected by head coaches.

There were seven fumbles (six lost) and nine total turnovers.

36th NBA All-Star Game

When: Feb. 9, 1986

Where: Reunion Arena

Saints a reflection of coach's guts, guile

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:21 CST

By RANDY GALLOWAY

MIAMI -- Think what might have been.

A head coach at Valley Ranch who could win Super Bowls with a no-nonsense, hard-edge style, and a head coach who in the biggest spotlight of his life could repeatedly and fearlessly display guts and guile.

Sean Payton, of course, was once a coach at Valley Ranch. Unfortunately, he ain't coming back.

But on a Sunday night in South Florida, Payton and the New Orleans Saints completed the most compelling and, heck, even heartwarming, story maybe ever in the NFL.

Back home, Bourbon Street went ballistic, street cars jumped the tracks, and alligators danced in the swamps.

The once miserable Saints are now Super Bowl champs. No hurricane destruction and no FEMA can ever screw up this moment.

A 31-17 upset of the Indianapolis Colts revolved around multiple items, but start with Payton, who on Sunday night established a tone of no retreat, no surrender, no fear. Play to win, Who Dats.

His players took it from there.

Drew Brees, the Saints quarterback from the Austin area, was the first Lone Star-bred QB to ever start a Super Bowl. Voted the game's MVP on this evening, consider how huge the jump from coming out of high school and then being unwanted in his home state.

So all these years later, Brees took on the almighty Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl and led Peyton's hometown team to football glory land.

And then there was the cornerback from Louisiana who went to yes, Indiana U., to play college football (the same as Brees after his Southwest Conference rejection, except he went to Purdue) and made the MIP of this victory for the Saints. MIP? Most Important Play.

Tracy Porter snookered Manning, which is not exactly commonplace, on a third-down play late in the fourth quarter with the Colts driving, down by seven points.

"It was great film study. We knew that on third-and-short, they like the outside release for the slant," said Porter, explaining his sneaky interception of a Manning throw. Next thing the Who Dat Nation knew, Porter was gone, gone, gone on a 74-yard pick six.

Manning was throwing to receiver Reggie Wayne, his No. 1 target, on that slant. Porter easily jumped the route. "Great film study by me, a great jump and a great play," noted Porter, even if he said so himself. Any arguments?

While the accolades flow, also throw in some glowing words for Southlake Carroll product Garrett Hartley. In an NFL season when field goal kickers have repeatedly failed in the clutch, Hartley calmly nailed boots of 46, 44 and 47 yards, and early on kept the Saints in the game after a 10-0 deficit. No kicker in Super Bowl history had ever made three from 40 yards and beyond.

But then there's Sean Payton.

Start with the dedication to winning, and at any cost, but in this case, the $250,000 he took out of his own bank account to supplement the salary it took to lure Gregg Williams to New Orleans last off-season as defensive coordinator. In November, Saints ownership decided to reimburse Payton, but only after a 9-0 start.

Payton is about winning. Again, winning at any cost. Williams' defense went about helping make the Saints a true contender this season, but the best was saved for last, holding Manning and the Colts' offense to 17 points, and only seven in the second half.

Meanwhile, Payton's aggressive style could have been at the expense of national ridicule. But he never backed off, right from going for it on fourth-and-1 at the goal line, down 10-3. The Saints didn't make it. But again, the call delivered a message. No backing off.

And then came the hammer. Payton ordered an on-side kick to open the second half. Thomas Morstead delivered to the left side, the ball was touched by a surprised Colt, the recovery went to New Orleans, and Brees marched the Saints to a touchdown, and to their first lead, meaning the Super Bowl had just become a real ballgame.

Emmitt Smith wins easy election to Pro Football Hall; Haley denied

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:55 CST

By CHAREAN WILLIAMS

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- It took Emmitt Smith 4,409 carries, 18,355 yards, 175 total touchdowns and 8 seconds to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Smith wasn't known for his speed -- it's the reason he wasn't drafted until 17th overall in 1990 -- but after a record-setting career, his numbers speak for themselves. That's the reason his presentation Saturday was only two sentences.

The former Cowboys running back was one of seven players elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He and Jerry Rice required no debate. The elections of John Randle, Floyd Little, Rickey Jackson, Russ Grimm and Dick LeBeau to the Class of 2010 took longer as the selectors' meeting lasted nearly 7 hours.

"I had some speed," said Smith, who has not decided on his presenter. "My speed was kind of deceptive. I didn't have the 4.3 or the 4.2, like blazing speed, but I had enough speed to get from Point A to Point B and to do my job effectively. I guess if you want to say the decision to vote Jerry and myself in today came kind of quick, well, that's about as fast as I can run."

Smith's induction in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 7 will seal the Triplets' place as one of the best offensive trios in NFL history. Troy Aikman, who passed for 32,942 yards and 165 touchdowns, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006. Michael Irvin, who caught 750 passes for 11,904 yards and 65 touchdowns, finally was enshrined in 2007.

Irvin called them the best offensive trio in NFL history.

"First I said, 'Wow!'" Irvin said of Smith's election. "Wow to the moments that we shared on the football field. Wow to being [Smith's] roommate and hearing some of the bold -- I even called them many times ignorant -- predictions. Then, I said wow that he got there and accomplished those things, and accomplished them on the way to winning Super Bowls. So though he talked about doing individual things, he did them in the context of winning a team sport, which makes it incredible. Which makes him incredible."

Wearing a Hall of Fame cap after the announcement, Smith grabbed owner Jerry Jones in a bear hug. "I got another one for you, boss," Smith told Jones.

Smith becomes the 12th member of the Cowboys in the Hall, joining Bob Lilly, Roger Staubach, Tom Landry, Tex Schramm, Tony Dorsett, Randy White, Mel Renfro, Aikman, Rayfield Wright, Irvin and Bob Hayes.

"He's as much a part of the Cowboys as the star," Jones said.

The Cowboys had hoped to have another one of their own join Smith in Canton in August, but defensive end Charles Haley failed to make the cut from 15 to 10. It was Haley's first time as a finalist in his sixth year of eligibility.

Smith, 40, was a certain first-ballot Hall of Famer, though he and his family weren't completely certain until they heard his name. His mother, Mary, admitted sweaty palms and a racing heart as Steve Perry, the Hall of Fame's executive director, began reading the Class of 2010.

Emmitt, sitting on a couch beside Rice, was slightly more calm.

"I was pretty relaxed until they called my name," Emmitt Smith said. "You always want to hear that confirmation, and when your last name begins with an 'S' you look at the [seven] guys and try to figure out where you're going to fall."

Smith twice broke into tears during the 2-hour, made-for-TV ceremony, including once while recounting a story his father had told him while sitting in the green room before the ceremony earlier Saturday. Emmitt Smith Jr. told his son that he had the same dreams, but his mother became ill, which prevented him from going to college.

"I had to let him know how I felt," said Smith Jr., who still lives in Pensacola, Fla. "I didn't get a chance to go to college, and I'm proud that he did. I'm proud of everything he has done.... I have lived out my dream through him."

Charean Williams, 817-390-7162

Dallas Cowboys now in same conversation with Super Bowl teams

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:20 CST

Randy Galloway

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Just asking around this week. Super Bowl week is always a good time to ask around. When it comes to the NFL, Super Bowl week draws the biggest names of the game, past and present.

So a lot of "star power" is hanging around, and for the most part, rather chatty when it comes to media-types asking for opinions.

Which brings me to my asking-around question for this Super Bowl:

How close are the Dallas Cowboys in all areas to Sunday's two participants?

Up front, allow me to stress that, based on that question, Jerry Jones needs to know his football club has certainly gained in respect.

How do I know this?

Because no one laughed at the question. About eight people were asked over the last three days. No hoots, and not even a raised eyebrow. The Cowboys are regarded as in the same ballpark with the Colts and the Saints, although still in the outfield.

I would think so. I didn't know if others thought the same. Apparently, they do, with the December win for the Cowboys in New Orleans being only part of the reasons.

To ensure honest answers, off-the-record comments were guaranteed to all participants. In general, here's the evaluation rundown:

Tony Romo is no Peyton Manning. Or Drew Brees.

We all accept this. Closer to Brees than Peyton, but still...

Speaking of the same ballpark, Romo is at least now in left field with these heavy hitters. This season elevated his respect factor immensely.

Manning is the best in the business. Brees is a crafty, dangerous playmaker.

For a "dynamic offense," however, Romo and his weapons lag behind those two. Peyton and his longtime offensive coordinator, Tom Moore, are a two-headed machine. No twosome in football compares.

Brees and Saints coach Sean Payton became a match made in football heaven. They are one, when it comes to the plan, and then the execution of the plan.

It's a simple case of scoreboard numbers. The Cowboys don't put up touchdowns with the Colts and the Saints. The heat is on Jason Garrett to muscle the numbers.

Offensive weapons.

Super Bowls are now trending toward a matchup of quarterback-driven clubs. This trend will continue. You win today with quarterbacks, not defense or running games. The Giants were an exception three years ago. But believe the trend.

The Cowboys are better in the running game than either the Saints or the Colts. But Manning, with his quick release and use of the dump-down pass, is almost a running game himself.

The Saints improved this season with the emergence of a running game. Since Brees has a deep stable of receivers, Payton was able to open up the run more than in the past. But Manning also has the deep stable of wideouts and the stellar tight end. The run game still comes and goes for both clubs, without a drastic decline in point production.

Michael Irvin fired by ESPN radio day after woman sues him, alleging rape

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:20 CST

By RAY BUCK

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Michael Irvin was fired Friday from his ESPN (103.3 FM) radio gig a day after a Florida woman filed a civil suit against the former Cowboys star for an alleged July 2007 rape.

Irvin's contract would have expired at the end of this week after two years on the air with Kevin Kiley in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays.

There were no plans to renew Irvin's contract anyway, according to a network official in Bristol, Conn. Ratings for the show declined 25 percent from fall 2008 to fall 2009.

"[Irvin's] contract was up and the show has not performed," said ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz. "We had previously decided to cancel the show and determined this morning to make it effective today."

The Ben & Skin Show (Ben Rogers and Jeff "Skin" Wade) -- began at 11 a.m. Friday in place of Irvin and Kiley. Kiley also was fired.

The woman filed the lawsuit Thursday in Broward County Circuit Court seeking unspecified damages for the assault that allegedly occurred July 4 or 5, 2007, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.

According to the lawsuit, the woman claims Irvin got her drunk and took her to his hotel room where he and another, unidentified man insisted on sexual favors. The woman claims Irvin raped her and the other man forced her to perform oral sex.

Irvin's attorney, Larry Friedman of Dallas, filed a countersuit Friday against the woman claiming, among other things, civil extortion and defamation.

Friedman said he was approached by the woman's lawyer shortly before Irvin was to appear on last season's Dancing With The Stars competition.

The offer, according to Friedman: Irvin must pay the woman $1 million or a lawsuit would be filed to coincide with the Super Bowl, which is being played Sunday in Miami.

"I call it civil extortion: pay us or we'll ruin your life," Friedman said. "The entire story is false, it's bogus, it's made up."

Irvin, an analyst for the NFL Network, will be on the air this weekend as part of Super Bowl coverage, NFL Network spokesman Dennis Johnson said. He said the NFL security department is looking into the allegations.

This report includes material from

The Associated Press.

Dallas exit became Super decision

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:04 CST

By CHAREAN WILLIAMS

MIAMI -- Linebacker Scott Fujita left the Dallas Cowboys after one season to join Sean Payton in New Orleans. At the time, it seemed like career suicide -- at least to outsiders.

The Cowboys had five Super Bowl rings displayed in the lobby of their Valley Ranch facility. They were coming off a 9-7 season, and with Bill Parcells on the Cowboys' sideline, the 2006 season held the promise of yet another title.

The Saints, on the other hand, appeared to be a lost cause. They had only one playoff victory in their history, and they were coming off a 3-13 season. Worse, the team was returning to a city devastated by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

"Most people thought we were crazy," Fujita said of he and his wife, Jaclyn. "Friends, family, really everybody we talked to. Especially since we were in Dallas, everybody was like, 'Why would you want to leave Dallas? That's America's Team.'

"I never felt that strong of a connection to Dallas. It was a good organization. But it's not like I felt any deep connection or need to stay. But I felt like there might be something here for us.... As soon as Jaclyn and I got here, within a few hours we felt like we had to be here. I always talk about being part of the rebuilding process, and I mean that literally and figuratively. Really in every sense of the word we wanted to be here to help rebuild. And I feel like that's what we've helped do. For me now to be sitting at this point as a culmination of all that, it's just perfect."

The Saints began their rebuilding with castoffs from the Cowboys, and in Super Bowl XLIV, three ex-Cowboys will start on their defense.

The Saints' first move in 2006 was to hire Cowboys offensive coordinator Sean Payton, a Parcells disciple, as the franchise's 14th head coach. The three seasons Payton spent under Parcells and in Dallas rubbed off on Payton and the Saints.

"We had just finished building a house in Texas, and logistically, there were a bunch of things that didn't make it the right time," Payton said. "But there was enough in the two visits that I felt we had a chance to make a difference. There is a lot of work that goes into it, like surrounding yourself with the right people, and we've been able to do that."

Payton took Cowboys linebackers coach Gary Gibbs with him, hiring Gibbs as his first defensive coordinator. (Gibbs was fired after the 2008 season.)

Payton claimed receiver Terrance Copper off waivers from the Cowboys, and Copper was one of the Saints' top "gunners" on kick coverage for three seasons. Copper made 15 special teams tackles in 35 games, and he caught 38 passes for 511 yards and five touchdowns in his career with the Saints. (He spent last season with the Kansas City Chiefs.)

Payton's first defensive addition was Fujita, who signed as a free agent. Fujita has 417 tackles, 7.5 sacks, four interceptions and six forced fumbles in 56 starts over the past four seasons.

Just before the start of the 2006 season, Payton traded a seventh-round draft choice to Dallas for linebacker Scott Shanle, who had made only 11 starts in three seasons with the Cowboys. Shanle has 464 tackles, four sacks, two interceptions, 10 pass breakups and four forced fumbles in 60 starts the past four years. (The Cowboys used the 2007 draft choice acquired for Shanle on safety Alan Ball.)

Copper, Fujita and Shanle were three of the 28 newcomers Payton brought to the Saints before his first season as head coach.

"It wasn't, 'Well, we just need to bring a few of our guys,' more than it was, 'Hey, Terrance Copper is going to be a gunner; he's going to play on kickoff, punt returns; he's going to hit the core of our special teams; he'll be our fourth receiver. I know exactly what I'm getting, and that's valuable information,'" Payton said. "Fujita, similar vision in terms of what you want, and Scott Shanle. So when the player-fit matches, and you have maybe a little bit more background because you've coached him, then there's less risk.

"It sometimes can be a risky proposition when you go sign free agents. We've been able to benefit -- both the player and the club -- from that relationship."

Payton added another ex-Cowboy before the 2008 season. He signed defensive tackle Remi Ayodele, whom the Cowboys had cut after the 2007 season. Ayodele was one of eight players the Saints added in free agency that year, and they acquired two more players in trades.

Ayodele started 13 games this season, making 53 tackles with 1.5 sacks. He produced in big games, too. He recovered a fumble for a touchdown against the New York Jets, and against the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship Game, he recovered a fumble and forced a Brett Favre interception.

"I hadn't even thought of all the Cowboys' connections," said Ayodele, who played high school ball at South Grand Prairie. "We're just building a little something, taking a little piece of something here and a little piece of something there, and eventually it will come together, and it has."

Charean Williams,

817-390-7162

Saints coach grateful for his time spent with Parcells

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:04 CST

Randy Galloway

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- This week, Super Bowl week in South Florida, Bill Parcells got a proper thank you from a former Dallas Cowboys coach.

Last week, Pro Bowl week in South Florida, Bill Parcells got dissed by the current head coach of the Cowboys.

One thing about Big Bill: He probably couldn't care less either way, but, of course, he is currently in the neighborhood, right down the road as the football honcho of the Miami Dolphins.

When it comes to the largest prize in sports -- the Super Bowl -- Parcells is no different from Wade Phillips. Both will be mere spectators Sunday as the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts come out firing that night.

But Saints head coach Sean Payton, who was Parcells' offensive coordinator at Valley Ranch for three years (2003-05), and saw his career revitalized as a result, was quick to man-up this week.

"[Parcells] knows how to win, and I learned an awful lot in a short period of time, three years," Payton said. "...When you think about that opportunity for a young guy to work with a Hall of Fame coach, it's invaluable."

As Payton added, with Parcells, "It's about football and passion."

There is no doubt, the Cowboys are much better off today as an organization, and certainly as a team, because of the massive rebuilding job done at Valley Ranch by Parcells.

But Payton and many other assistant coaches under Big Bill during that four-year run also deserve the credit. Certainly, Tony Romo is a Cowboy because Payton played a major role in getting him signed as a rookie free agent because of the same Eastern Illinois University ties.

Wade Phillips reaped the benefits of all this groundwork.

Except...

As a Pro Bowl coach here last week, Wade's massive ego, or whatever it is that drives the man's motor, made some senseless comment about having won more games in three years as the Cowboys' head coach than Parcells did in his four years at Valley Ranch. It's true. Wade has his facts right.

Never mind, however, that Parcells inherited a rotten team and organization coming off back-to-back-to-back 5-11 seasons. And never mind that only two players, Flozell Adams and Andre Gurode, remain from the overhaul today that Parcells began in 2003.

But to Wade, all that must be "baseball stats," which in Wade's world is any kind of statistical info that doesn't benefit him.

Meanwhile, Sean Payton is attempting to win a Lombardi Trophy on Sunday, which means a total career one-eighty since his bright NFL coaching star was suddenly tarnished in 2002 as the young offensive coordinator of the New York Giants.

The head coach at the time, Jim Fassel, took away Payton's play-calling duties once the offense slumped. Uh-oh. Was Sean suddenly damaged goods?

No, not after Parcells came out of retirement to coach the Cowboys and decided Payton would be his offensive coordinator.

Coaching under Big Bill is somewhat akin to tarring roofs in Texas in July. He's not an easy man. But those who survive it get noticed throughout the NFL.

The desperate franchise in New Orleans did notice in 2006. The Saints hired Payton as head coach, and, of course, the Saints' football problems at the time, while immense, were secondary. It was also a desperate city, less than a year after Hurricane Katrina.

Four years later, football history has been recorded.

Stover would welcome a chance to kick for the Cowboys

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:10 CST

CHAREAN WILLIAMS

Matt Stover grew up in Lake Highlands dreaming of being a kicker for the Dallas Cowboys. Stover has kicked for 20 seasons, with the Cleveland Browns, the Baltimore Ravens and now the Indianapolis Colts, but he still is waiting for his chance to play in his hometown.

Stover, 42, is a free agent after this season; the Colts will have Adam Vinatieri back; and the Cowboys need a kicker. Could Stover’s dream finally come true?

“I haven’t thought about it,” Stover said, laughing. “One of my dreams has always been to be a Dallas Cowboy. I was a Punt, Pass & Kick champion in 1979. I was out there in my Dallas Cowboy uniform punting, passing and kicking during the halftime show. And I was a Dallas Cowboy in the YMCA growing up. So it’s always been a dream of mine, but through 20 years of playing in the NFL, I’ve never had an opportunity.”

Stover made 9-of-11 field goals with a long of 43 in 10 regular-season games with the Colts after Vinatieri was injured. He is 5-of-5 with a long of 44 in the playoffs.

Stover said his kickoffs no longer are as good as they once were, which kept some teams from being interested in him after the Ravens decided not to re-sign him in the off-season. He was reminded that the Cowboys have a kickoff specialist in David Buehler.

“When you’ve played as long as I have, it’s one game at a time, and one year at a time,” Stover said. “You really don’t take it more than that. The reason is because you just don’t know.”

Charean Williams 817-390-7760