Nate Newton is in Black College Hall of Fame. Is Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor up next?
Former Dallas Cowboys guard Nate Newton is on cloud nine, all 300 pounds of him.
Think of the animated movie “Up.”
The big fella, who was officially inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame on Sunday in Atlanta, is flying high without a bunch of balloons filled with helium and he is not coming down anytime soon.
“I’m humbled. I’m humbled. This is something special,” Newton said. “What makes me feel good is my teammates were there, my sons, my brother and sister. It was Father’s Day. There was a Juneteenth parade across the street. I had everybody that was somebody to me there. What more can I ask for? How much better could this weekend have been? All I needed was Jesus to come in and resurrect this thing and take us out of here.”
Sure enough, former Cowboys teammates in Troy Aikman, Deion Sanders, Daryl Johnston, Tony Tolbert and Mark Stepnoski were there to celebrate with Newton for this well overdue honor for the former Florida A&M star. With six Pro Bowl appearances, Newton was the most decorated offensive lineman on a unit that was the foundation of three Super Bowl championship teams of the 1990s.
Former Cowboys offensive line coach Tony Wise was there. Former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson sent a video tribute.
Owner Jerry Jones and his family sent their regards, but there is no question about how they feel about Newton with their support of him during his Cowboys career and since his retirement.
After he spent a little more than two years in prison for drug trafficking, Newton found a soft landing with the Cowboys, where he worked for their website and did appearances for the team. Newton has been forever appreciative.
Newton has always been just happy to be part of America’s Team. He grew up a fan, and reached the pinnacle when he became a champion with the Cowboys.
He didn’t care about personal achievements. He played the game for the fun of it, for the competition and for the camaraderie.
He had that in spades with the Cowboys.
So being inducted into the Black College Hall of Fame left him humbled and speechless.
“It took me totally by surprise,” Newton said. “I’m living life. I am a Dallas Cowboy. That is where it began and ended for me.”
Newton never considered himself a great player. He said he was dependable and someone people could count on.
Well, Newton has always been great at that, which was the foundation of his Black College Hall of Fame career. He played offensive and defensive line at Florida A&M and made All-MEAC at right tackle.
He played two years with the Tampa Bay Bandits and was named All-USFL before he signed with the Cowboys as a reserve in 1986.
He would soon become a starter in 1987 and join left Mark Tuinei as the initial building blocks of The Great Wall of Dallas in the 1990s and the precursors to the dynasty teams.
Before Jones bought the team in 1989. Before Johnson arrived as coach. Before Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith were drafted and became the Hall of Fame Triplets.
Before all of that, Newton was here.
And while Hall of Famer Larry Allen was the greatest and most famous of the Cowboys’ offensive lineman, it must be noted that he was a member of just one Super Bowl title team, the final one in 1995.
Newton predated the Super Bowl glory of the 1990s and was an anchor for all the pomp in circumstance, winning titles in 1992, 1993 and 1995.
Tunei and right tackle Erik Williams also won three titles as members of the Great Wall of Dallas.
Again, no one more decorated than Newton.
Let’s put that in context.
Allen (10) has been to the most Pro Bowls of any Cowboys offensive lineman.
Up next are current stars, Tyron Smith and Zack Martin.
Newton is tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer Rayfield Wright and John Niland with six appearances each.
While Newton is flying high with this Black College Hall of Fame honor, let’s not just stop there.
Put him in the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor.
That is also long overdue.
As much as we celebrate the Triplets, Johnson, Hall of Fame defensive end Charles Haley and Sanders for the Cowboys becoming the Dynasty Team of the 1990s, it is well chronicled that the foundation of those teams was the offensive line.
Someone on that offensive line should be recognized in the Ring of Honor. It is only right.
Allen, who was drafted in 1994, joined the party after the train had already left the station.
The only players in Cowboys history with more Pro Bowls who are not in the Ring of Honor are Jason Witten, DeMarcus Ware, Tyron Smith and Zack Martin.
We all know their day is coming, Pro Football of Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor for sure.
None of them have Newton’s three Super Bowl rings and were foundations of title teams in Dallas.
A Pro Football Hall of Fame case can be made for Newton as well.
But the big fella doesn’t care.
Being a Cowboys player and winning titles was the beginning and end for him.
He never thought any of this was possible.
If truth be told, none of it, dynasty and all, may not have been, if not for him.
It is only right that Newton’s name be put up on that wall AT&T Stadium while he is flying high.
He is already up. Let him be stuck.
