Old 'Boys Club: Tom Landry’s last game ball

Tom Landry’s 250th NFL regular-season victory also was his last.

It came Dec. 11, 1988, at Washington. The Dallas Cowboys brought a 10-game losing streak into RFK Stadium. Only their pride was at stake that day.

The Redskins were a different story. They were the defending Super Bowl champs who desperately needed to win this game, which ultimately came down to a Michael Downs deflection of a fourth-down Doug Williams pass in the end zone.

It was a doubly great day for Cowboys fans. Their team got a rare win 24-17, and the Redskins were mathematically eliminated from the playoff picture.

"The 100-pound monkey was off our backs," recalled Cowboys’ longtime personnel man Gil Brandt, whose memory of the ’88 team was its 2-2 start ... "then we went downhill from there."

Center Tom Rafferty — by his own admission, not much on football reflections despite 14 seasons with the Cowboys (1976-89) — has a vivid recollection of the Dec. 11 Washington game.

He can still see himself coming off the field and walking up the tunnel, after wrecking the Skins’ playoff hopes and ending 2 1/2 months of abject failure.

Rafferty turned to teammate Eugene Lockhart and said, "We ought to give Coach Landry the game ball."

Replied Lockhart: "Good idea ... you give it to him."

Amid the upbeat chatter and tired smiles, Rafferty stood in the middle of the visitors’ locker room, and handed Landry the game ball.

"This," Rafferty said loudly, "is for the guy who stood by us and took a lot of abuse."

That was it.

But Rafferty’s one-sentence speech nailed the feelings of most players inside that locker room that day. So, in effect, it spoke volumes.

Downs to the rescue

The Cowboys, 2-12 at kickoff and tied with Green Bay for the worst record in the NFL, were given no chance to win this game.

"But the guy who could’ve made it a miserable season was Coach Landry — and he didn’t," Rafferty said.

Landry came to work each day thinking the previous week’s loss was a fluke.

"None of us knew then, this would be the last win of Tom’s career," Rafferty said. "No one knew the significance of that moment."

Two months later, Jerry Jones purchased the team and fired Landry after a 29-year run as Cowboys head coach.

Redskins coach Joe Gibbs took the blame for how the Dec. 11 game ended.

Washington ball on third-and-1 at the Dallas 20, with 28 seconds left, Gibbs signaled Williams to ground the ball. Gibbs still had a timeout left.

So now, fourth-and-1 at the Dallas 20, with 22 seconds left, looked off Art Monk — who appeared covered — and threw instead to tight end Don Warren near the back of the end zone.

But Cowboys safety Michael Downs came out of nowhere to make a fingertip deflection. Incomplete pass. Game over.

"Give Downs some credit," Williams said afterward. "The ground he covered [to break on the ball], a normal safety would not have covered."

Cowboys QB Steve Pelluer completed 21 of 36 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns — all to rookie Michael Irvin.

This also would be Pelluer’s last Cowboys victory.

Aikman sweepstakes

The Cowboys were tied with Green Bay for the NFL’s worst record after this game. Both teams had won. Both teams now stood at 3-12.

On the NFL’s final regular-season weekend, the Packer won 26-17 at Phoenix ... while the Cowboys lost 23-7 at home against Philadelphia.

It was probably the best "Texas Stadium loss" in franchise history.

"We were actually elated," Brandt recalled. "Consequently, we ended up with the first pick in the ’89 draft ... and we already knew we were going to take Troy Aikman."

Brandt, now 20 years later, uses that word "we" loosely.

In April 1989, Aikman became the No. 1 pick overall of the Jerry Jones/Jimmy Johnson Cowboys.

"The decision was already made by us," said Brandt, referring to Landry’s commitment to Aikman as soon as the draft order was determined. "We had told [Aikman] and everything."

Green Bay, meanwhile, settled on Michigan State behemoth Tony Mandarich, who turned out to be one of the biggest "draft busts" in NFL history.

By winning their season-ender, the Packers missed out on Aikman. But how they then passed on Barry Sanders (No. 3 to Detroit) is even harder to explain.

Final word: Rafferty

A rare neurological disorder has turned Tom Rafferty’s life upside-down since he was stricken with transverse myelitis April 25.

Rafferty almost immediately "lost sensation" in his right leg and his left foot. Within 24 hours, he couldn’t walk without assistance.

"Transverse myelitis ... I wasn’t able to remember the damn name for a week," Rafferty said from his Keller home. "The doctors don’t know what causes it. They don’t know how to cure it.

"It’s either viral or [related to] autoimmune system. But it’s not football-related."

After 4 1/2 months of basically retraining himself to do the simplest tasks in life, Rafferty has remained positive.

Frustrated? Sure.

Self-pitying? Never.

"Things just take longer to do now," Rafferty said. "I have what they call 'banding’ [muscle tightness], which is very uncomfortable. It feels like somebody put a belt that’s about six inches too small around my waist."

To make matters worse, Tom and his wife, Donna, were away from home when this indiscriminate attack to his body occurred.

They were in San Antonio helping their son, Michael, move his belongings.

"At first, I thought it was a ruptured a disk," Rafferty said. "As the day went along, though, it got worse ... [even with] painkillers and muscle relaxes. I’ve since had a spinal tap, a CT scan and three MRIs."

He has been tested for "lesions on the brain." Results have come back negative.

Epilogue

It’s been almost 20 years since Rafferty presented Landry with the last game ball of his legendary coaching career.

Rafferty, now 54, has gradually increased his work hours for an area sporting goods catalog company, and hopes to be up to 20 hours a week soon.

"It’s time to start doing stuff" is how he explained it.

Rafferty, who played under both Landry and Johnson, has always done more than he’s stood around and talked about.

He holds the distinction of being the only player in team history to snap the ball or throw a block for both Staubach and Aikman.

Of course, Rafferty’s accomplishments are much simpler now ... although no less noteworthy.

He has kicked aside his walker, except for when he works out at a local Keller gym. His legs are getting stronger; his balance is getting better.

This could be a one-time episode, which is often the case with transverse myelitis, according to one medical Web site.

"I sure hope so," Rafferty said. "I’d hate to go through this again."

His doctors are encouraged by his progress.

"I figure I’m probably 60 percent recovered," Rafferty said.

And at this stage of such a debilitating disease, that’s saying a mouthful.

Next: Old ’Boys Club welcomes a rare "bridge" coach between the Landry Era and the Jimster Era.