Dallas Cowboys alumni continue to realize Super Bowl dreams with other teams
It’s become a rite of passage of sorts over the years.
With the continued passage of time since the Dallas Cowboys last played in the Super Bowl — 25 years to be exact — anyone associated with the organization has had to realize their dream of getting to the coveted championship by doing so with another team.
Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers is no different, and with a collective of players on one sideline and a collection of coaches on the other, one thing is clear. No matter who wins Sunday’s game, more former Cowboys will be calling themselves champions. Again.
Linebackers Anthony Hitchens and Damien Wilson and cornerback Charvarius Ward are all seeking their second straight titles with the Chiefs after starting their careers with the Cowboys.
Hitchens and Wilson were fourth-round picks of the Cowboys in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Both played four seasons in Dallas before signing with Chiefs as free agents for more money and bigger roles in back-to-back offseasons in 2018 and 2019.
Ward signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2018 but was traded to the Chiefs before the final preseason game. He has been a starter in the Kansas City secondary ever since.
And let’s not forget defensive end Taco Charlton, a disappointing 2017 first-round pick of the Cowboys who had two sacks in the first seven games with the Chiefs in 2020 before suffering a season-ending ankle injury.
Hitchens, the Chiefs defensive captain and middle linebacker, is excited to be making the calls against Buccaneers legendary quarterback Tom Brady.
He said his time in Dallas prepared him for his success in Kansas City, despite him and Wilson largely being pushed out because of the team’s preference for Sean Lee, Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch at linebacker.
Lee is now contemplating retirement. Smith has led the team in tackles the past two years, but he’s noted now more for his misses than his plays. And Vander Esch has missed 13 games the past two seasons with injuries.
“Everything I do, every path I took shaped me into who I am today,” Hitchens said. “No knock on Dallas. My four years there were amazing. That was the beginning of my career. It shaped me. I learned a lot. I had Sean Lee teaching me the ropes.”
Hitchens is certainly valued in Kansas City. And the lessons he learned in Dallas have been noticed.
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said Hitchens has a full binder of notes he brings to defensive meetings on Wednesday from his studies on his day off on Tuesday.
“I love Anthony,” Spagnuolo said. “He is the glue in the middle. We ask him to do a lot. I believe the middle linebacker should run the show and he embraces it. I love him as a person. I love him as a player. The rest of the guys feel the same way.”
As far as the Buccaneers are concerned, the connections with the Cowboys are on the coaching staff.
You can draw a straight line from Tampa Bay specialists coach Chris Boniol to the Cowboys’ 25-year Super Bowl drought.
In 1995, Boniol was the Cowboys kicker. He made 27 of 28 field goal attempts, led the league in field goal accuracy and was on the team that beat the Pittsburgh Steelers for Cowboys’ last Super Bowl victory.
The other two coaches who have ties to the Cowboys are defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, who was a defensive backs coach in Dallas from 2005-07, and defensive line coach Kacey Rodgers, who was the defensive tackles coach from 2003-04 and defensive line coach from 2005-07.
Both worked for Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells in Dallas (2003-06) and were part of a staff that produced seven NFL head coaches, including Bowles, Mike Zimmer, Anthony Lynn, Sean Payton, Todd Haley, Tony Sparano and Freddie Kitchens.
“We didn’t know that at the time but Bill, I think, is one of the best to learn under all the way around because he teaches everybody everything,” said Bowles, who was the Jets head coach from 2015-18. “He teaches coaches how to look at other coaches and see the ballgame.”
Interestingly enough, none were able to see their way to a head coaching job in Dallas.
In 2009, Wade Phillips, who replaced Parcells in 2007, did manage to win the team’s first playoff game since the year after their last Super Bowl title.
He was fired a year later and replaced by Jason Garrett, who won two playoff games in 10 seasons before being fired for current coach Mike McCarthy.
Phillips did win a Super Bowl title as defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos in 2015. He went back as coordinator of the runner-up Los Angeles Rams in 2019.
The trend has been seeing former Cowboys reach the Super Bowl after their time in Dallas. And this year will be no different?
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
