Is Darren Woodson next Cowboy for Hall of Fame, Ring of Honor?

Now that defensive end Charles Haley and his five Super Bowl rings are finally in the Pro Football of Fame, could this pave the way for other long-overlooked Dallas Cowboys defensive players from the Super Bowl teams of the 1990s?

And not only with enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, but also the team’s hallowed Ring of Honor.

That is certainly the hope of former Cowboys safety Darren Woodson, who was part of three Super Bowl title teams in the 1990s and finished his career as the team’s all-time leading tackler.

Woodson was a semifinalist for the Hall of Fame in 2015.

Haley’s enshrinement might have put Woodson a step closer.

“I hope so. I hope I’m in the discussion,” said Woodson, a guest at Hublot timepieces’ partnership strategy of sports and luxury dinner. “Charles and I had this talk the other day whether I fit in, and he said ‘I’ve known for years you fit in with this group.’

“But it was an unbelievable feeling to see Charles finally go in. I felt he was a guy who should have gone in years ago. And it’s just an honor because that represents what he did here with the Cowboys, getting us over the hump as a defense and getting a Super Bowl ring because of his talents and skills.”

Woodson said the famed Triplets of receiver Michael Irvin, quarterback Troy Aikman and running back Emmitt Smith were great, but the Cowboys wouldn’t have won those three Super Bowls without the contributions from great players on defense.

“I didn’t know we played defense in the ’90s,” said Woodson, an NFL analyst for ESPN. “I don’t think they realized we had like nine turnovers in the first Super Bowl. And were a team with a top-five defense. We have never been recognized that way. I think it’s an injustice and a slap in the face to the guys who played in the ’90s. The list goes on and on about the great football players on the defensive side of the ball that never got that recognition.”

Placing Woodson in the Ring of Honor may be part of the remedy. That was a step owner Jerry Jones used in helping Haley get into Hall of Fame.

There may not have been another defensive player more deserving Woodson of recognition than Woodson. He made five Pro Bowls, recorded more tackles than anyone in team history and served as a team captain from 1994 until he retired in 2004.

Woodson wants the Ring of Honor as bad, if not more than, the Hall of Fame.

“I think about the Ring of Honor all the time,” Woodson said. “I didn’t put much into it when I was playing. I wasn’t ever in the moment.

“Now that I look back at my career and the guys I have played with and all the success that we have had, being a captain since 1994. Yeah, I want to be in the Ring of Honor. It’s an honor to be up there with Roger Staubach, Randy White and Lee Roy Jordan. I would love to be up there on that list.”

The Cowboys have not inducted anyone in the Ring of Honor since 2011 when Haley, Drew Pearson and Larry Allen went in.

Is Woodson next?

This story was originally published February 11, 2015 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Is Darren Woodson next Cowboy for Hall of Fame, Ring of Honor?."