Lone Star Struck

Charles Haley. Man, what can I say about this guy.

When you think of success, in terms of football, one of the first images that should pop into anyone’s mind is Charles Haley. No player had more success than he did.

To be on five Super Bowl teams and have five Super Bowl rings is an accomplishment that no one has been able to match, and I doubt if anyone else ever will.

The addition of free agency and salary caps have prevented dynasties from surviving in the NFL. “The teams that do stay intact, like the Patriots, are unusual,” to paraphrase my idol, Paul Zimmerman.

Therefore, it is almost impossible for a man to be on five different teams and win the Super Bowl. He’d have to be a mid-level player for one, because teams try to lock up their stars for several years.

He’d also have to be extremely lucky as well.

But, Charles Haley was more than that. Charles Haley was a difference maker. Charles Haley was a man that scared opponents. He made every defensive line he played on a better line. He made every linebacking corp he played with a better crew, and he was probably the most angry and violent man to ever play professional football.

This defensive end/outside linebacker belongs in the Hall of Fame.

To truly understand why this man is a must for a Hall of Fame, you have to look at the player. You can’t just look at numbers. You have to get inside Charles Haley’s head and understand what kind of player was he.

Was he driven? Was he a leader? Was he a locker-room cancer? Was he someone who made clutch plays? Was he a constant threat to other teams? Did his teammates respect him?

All of those things come into perspective now. We are talking about the Hall of Fame here. Charles Haley is on a list with 14 guys, and only a maximum of five of those men are going into Canton this year, and with two slots being locks for Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice, that means Charles Haley will have to beat out a minimum of ten players for a bust in Canton.

For voters to choose Charles Haley, they will need to judge every aspect of Charles Haley besides the statistics he has on football websites.

Charles Haley was born in Gladys, Virginia on January 6, 1964. He went to James Madison University and is the best player to ever come from there.

Since James Madison is not relatively known for its NFL talent or has what one would call a high competition level, Haley’s success there was overlooked.

However, arguably the greatest talent judge of all time, Bill Walsh, saw something in Charles Haley.

In 1986,  Bill Walsh realized that the 1986 draft really was weak in terms of talent. “One of our chief scouts after the draft said to other people, “That’s the worst draft I’ve ever seen.””

Walsh realized that he could make trades and accumulate multiple draft picks in order to really build depth to the 49ers. He turned eight draft picks into 14 through a variety of trades.

Out of those 14 picks, he drafted eight starters for at least one Super Bowl, most started two, in the 88-89 Super Bowls.

Walsh and his assistants saw Charles Haley in the fourth round, and Walsh knew that Haley was something to get.

Haley had very long arms that could extend and get to the passer. He was 6-5, around 250 lbs and very fast. An ideal defensive end.

Combine physical talent with Haley’s almost Viking-like warrior persona and an intense dedication that was rivaled by few, and you get a great football player.

Haley was frequently used as a pass-rusher his rookie year, and he compiled 12 sacks, despite the fact that he was playing linebacker instead of his college position of defensive end.

His second year, he only played in 12 games, and the Niners were upset by the Vikings in the playoffs.

However, in Haley’s first year as a starter at left outside linebacker, he was elected to the Pro Bowl with11.5 sacks, and the Niners won their third Super Bowl title.

Remember that the left outside linebacker is really, to the quarterbacks point of view, on the right. So, Haley managed to record 11.5 sacks with the quarterback able to see him coming most of the time since most quarterbacks are right-handed.

I’d like to know how many sacks he would have gotten if he had rushed on the quarterback’s blind side.

Not only was Haley crowned a champion, he also was recognized as a great player by one of the game

“Charles is one of the greatest players of our era,” said 49ers Vice President/General manager/Head Coach Bill Walsh. “At one point he was considered the best pass rusher in all of football. He’s been a credit to the game and very well could be a Hall of Fame candidate.”

Bill Walsh understood Charles Haley and how to deal with a man like Haley. Haley was… I can’t spin it or try to fudge the facts, he was crazy. The guy was nuttier than a cuckoo clock.

He was a manic-depressive. He could be happy and sweet as well as helpful with other players, and down and mean as a mother-in-law the next.

One of the most common similes used today to describe someone when they’re mad is to compare them to a volcano. I think that simile is used as a hyperbole too often.

Yet, that simile is what one can use to perfectly describe Charles Haley. He had so much anger in him that it did come out like ash and lava out of a volcano when he lost his temper.

He even wrote an autobiography entitled, All The Rage, which was a first person perspective of the thoughts and words of Charles Haley himself.

It really is a book that I would recommend because it can help one understand how an NFL player would think, and how to handle people with severe psychological problems.

He also was a guy who would ride you. You could not have thin skin or sensitive feelings around Haley. He was always testing you. He made fun of Joe Montana’s nose, he went after Troy Aikman’s crooked smile, he messed with Deion Sanders’ uniforms, and he even went after Jimmy Johnson’s hair.

Haley accepted teasing as well. People would talk about his head, how it was pointy and shaped like a bullet.

Some could take it, some couldn’t. Matt Millen, a highly talented linebacker for the Raiders joined the 49ers in 1989, and he said, “Now, I get to the 49ers.Within a week, I want to kill him.”

No one was safe from Charles Haley. The players needed to have thick skin or he’d eat them alive.

One of Haley’s closest friends and largest supporters is Hall of Fame cornerback/safety Ronnie Lott. Ronnie Lott was the guy that could keep Haley from going over the edge whenever Haley started pushing it too far and becoming a locker room chaos.

After the 1988 season, Bill Walsh retired from the 49ers. Defensive coordinator George Seifert was chosen to replace Walsh, and Haley was not happy with the transition.

Seifert did not know how to talk to Charles Haley. Seifert was not a good choice for a mediator, and as a coach, you have to be able to talk to your players, especially with guys like Charles Haley.

An excerpt of Haley’s book tells of what George Seifert was like as a communicator.

“When I was in San Francisco, Seifert’s way of dealing with black players was to bring in Harry Edwards. Dr. Edwards is a professor of sociology at Cal-Berkeley. He used to be a radical, but now I think he’s all about the money. Give him a check and he’ll help your team solve its racial problems. It was kind of pathetic, really. He’d come around, acting like he belonged, telling stories about how he used to be with the Black Panthers and shit. Most guys would just try to ignore him. We all knew why he was there: to be the mediator between the coaching staff and the black players. It was like Seifert said, “I’ll handle the white guys, you talk to the black guys.” What kind of bull**** is that?”

Bill Walsh was not that kind of coach. He talked to all of his players, and Haley respected him for it, but Seifert did not make that effort.

Since the 49ers were such a dominant team to begin with, the 89 season was really a breeze for them to repeat. They were 14-2 and blew out the Broncos in  Super Bowl XXIV 55-10.

One signature play in that game was when John Elway throws an interception to Michael Walter, and that would not have happened had Charles Haley not been in his eyesight. Elway could not see Walter because Haley’s pass rush prevented him from seeing that Walter was in a position to intercept the ball.

Charles Haley was the owner of two Super Bowl rings with that victory. Things did not go well after that though.

After losing the 1990 NFC Championship game to the New York Giants, the 49ers did not resign Ronnie Lott, and Lott went to the Los Angeles Raiders instead.

Matt Millen said, “It was like the ship was rudderless, and that drove Charles crazy. And so, when Ronnie left, they lost Charles Haley at the same time.”

Charles Haley said in an NFL Films interview, “Just seeing the anger and hurt in his (Ronnie Lott’s) eyes man, and that hurt went over into me and uh, because I’m a loyal friend, I could not deal with it, I could not deal with it. It just festered into everything. I just started hating being here, hated wearing the uniform.”

Forget money, strength, physical attractiveness,  and all that other stuff; my main criteria for the Pro Football Hall of Fame along with great play is great character and there is no greater measure of character than loyalty to one’s friends.

The bond that Haley shared with Lott is one that I can describe best by another use of Haley’s book.

It was 1991. The Raiders had Ronnie Lott on their team. The 49ers were in Los Angeles, and the Raiders are a decent team that finished 9-7, but the Niners should have beaten them.

The Niners didn’t even score a touchdown. They lost 12-6 in what I would definitely call an embarrassing fashion with Steve Young throwing two interceptions.

Losses like this happen though, right? This was more than just a “loss,” this was the final blow to the already unstable and frustrated Charles Haley.

“My frustration reached a peak in the fifth week of the ‘91 season, when we lost to the Los Angeles Raiders, Ronnie Lott’’s new team. After the game I had a slight nervous breakdown–or whatever you want to call it. Basically I lost control and gave the 49ers reason to believe that I really was crazy. It just seemed like I was the only guy out there playing hard, and I went up to George and told him, “You know, you’ve got to start coming down on these guys.” Everybody had big contracts, everybody was fat, with full pockets. They weren’t playing hard anymore. They weren’t hungry. But when you try to point out something like that, when you try to express your opinion, coaches always think, You’re a dumb-*** football player and you can’t tell me anything.

I tried, though. Man, did I try. When the game ended those motherf****** came in, and I really gave it to them. I started cussing out the whole team. George got sick of listening to me, I guess, so he grabbed my arm, and when he did that I just lost it. I took a swing right at his smug little head. Fortunately, I missed. But I did hit the wall, and it hurt so much–left a big knuckle print–that I got even more pissed off. I started bouncing around, cursing, yelling, throwing s***. Then I put my hand through a window and cut it to pieces. They had to stitch me up in the locker room.

I don’t know what I was thinking. My temper had gotten me in trouble before, but this was like nothing I’d ever experienced. I was in a complete f******* rage. Some of the other players tried to hold me down after a while, but I wouldn’t let them. Finally, they tracked down Ronnie in the other locker room, and he came running in. I remember he was half-naked–shorts, no shirt, no shoes. He sat down next to me, held my hand, and kept telling me everything would be all right. I just sat there shaking, crying. It was so emotional. I can’t really explain what happened, except to say that I felt like they were trying to destroy me…and they almost succeeded.”

That is as close to brotherhood as you will find. To find a man like Charles Haley, who is one of the toughest men to ever step on a football field and is willing to let another man hold his hand as he is crying is the ultimate symbol of trust.

That was the beginning of the end for Charles Haley. After the 91 season, the 49ers made a deal with the Dallas Cowboys, exchanging Charles Haley for a pair of second and third-round draft picks.

You can quote me on this. It was the trade that finished the championship roster for the Dallas Cowboys.

In 1991, the Cowboys had allowed 310 points to finish 17th in the league in defense. After Haley showed up in 1992, the Cowboys were 5th in defense and allowed only 243 points for the season.

The only change to the defensive starting roster was Charles Haley. He brought a championship attitude. A guy who had two rings in the Niners dynasty and was still as hungry as fox in a chicken house. His strength and leadership made the defense dominant enough for the Cowboys to win Super Bowl XXVII.

One play that really changed the momentum of the Cowboys in that game was when Jimmie Jones caught a fumble in mid-air on the two yard line and he dived into the endzone as fast as he could.

The only reason that play happened was because Charles Haley got his hand on Jim Kelly and forced the fumble.

Dallas got the lead with that play and never gave it back. It was one of the biggest blowouts in Super Bowl history with a score of 52-17.

A year later, they won it all again. The Cowboys beat the Bills again with a score of 30-13.

Charles Haley became one of the few players in NFL history to have four Super Bowl rings. It is hard to get one ring, but four?

Who would have thought that he’d be getting one for the thumb in two years when the Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 30-20 in Super Bowl XXX.

That would be the end of championships, but not challenges for Charles Haley. He would later face a challenge that you cannot defeat by working out or sacking the quarterback or winning a Super Bowl. He would have to face the challenge of a father.

His daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. Nothing hurts more to a man than when he sees his little girl in pain, and he cannot do anything to stop it. That and an injured back led Charles Haley to retire from football in 1996.

He was there for her and her fight to overcome it made him realize that he could come back to football. At the age of 35, he came back to football in 1999. He would rejoin his former team, the 49ers, who now had Bill Walsh back in charge as the Vice President and General Manager. Haley was welcomed with open arms.

It is strange though when you think of it. He’s got injuries, he has five Super Bowl rings, he definitely had done enough to be considered for the Hall of Fame. Why come back?

It is the same reason as a lot of people. For the love of the game, he came back and played.

Another oddity about Haley is that he doesn’t wear his rings. He said, “I believe that if I put it away, then I’d always keep driving and trying to get another one.” He doesn’t even remember where he put them. That’s the kind of man he is.

And you know what? He’s right. It is human nature for us to have goals and a lot of the times as we get closer to our goals or once we complete them, we lose our will to keep climbing the mountain. Charles Haley never would let that happen to him. That’s why he was a part of five championship teams.

He never wanted to stop winning, and he never did stop. After the 1999 season, he retired. He realized that he would probably end up in a full body cast if he kept playing.

Despite all the things that he may have done off the field (I’m not going to get into details because this is a PG-13 case at most), he’s a Hall of Famer. Even Jeff Pearlman, the author of the tell-all book “Boys Will Be Boys” that states all the activities, legal and illegal, of the 1990s Cowboys, believes the man belongs in the Hall of Fame which he stated on the Jim Rome Show.

If this guy, who knows everything good and bad, Charles Haley has done says he belongs, how can anyone argue he doesn’t belong?

Please view the rest here: http://www.nfltouchdown.com/building-a-hall-of-fame-case-for-charles-haley/

As we come to the end of our exclusive series “Legends of the Star,” you can certainly make the case that we saved the best for last. It is with great pleasure that I introduce Emmitt Smith as this week’s Legend of the Star.
 
Emmitt Smith may go down in history as the greatest player ever to wear the uniform of the Dallas Cowboys. The NFL’s all time leading rusher had it all and I’m not just talking about his enormous athletic ability. He was a great and charismatic leader, a passionate player who loved the game, a positive influence who made those around him better, and one of the classiest players that football has ever known.
 
Emmitt Smith burst onto the national scene while playing running back for the University of Florida. He set many school records as a Gator including their single game and season rushing records, and all of their scoring records. After three years at Florida he had scored 37 touchdowns, had 23 100-yard rushing games, was a NCAA All-American and still holds 58 school records. Emmitt opted not to complete his senior year and decided to enter the NFL draft.
 
After posting the worst record in franchise history at 1-15, the Cowboys drafted Emmitt Smith in the first round of the 1990 draft. Head coach Jimmy Johnson felt that Emmitt was the kind of player who could be the cornerstone of the team’s offense. He was right.
 
Over the next twelve seasons, Emmitt captured the hearts of Cowboy fans everywhere with his intensity and hard-nosed style of play. Together with Michael Irvin and Troy Aikman they formed the most lethal offensive punch that the game had ever seen. Emmitt Smith had real nose for the endzone and was nearly unstoppable inside the ten-yard line. During his career in Dallas, he was able to help lead the Cowboys to three Super Bowl Championships, lead the NFL in rushing four times, was the league MVP in 1993, and MVP of Super Bowl XXVIII. He was selected to eight Pro Bowls and was the first player in NFL history to rush for over 1,000 yards in 11 consecutive seasons.
 
Emmitt Smith now holds the NFL record in career rushing yards with 18,355, breaking the previous record held by his childhood idol, and former great, Walter Payton. Besides this prestigious record, Emmitt holds over a dozen other NFL records including the all time career rushing touchdown record with 166 scores. He is one of only two non-kickers to score over 1000 points in his career, the other being Jerry Rice.
 
Next week, on July 21st Emmitt Smith will be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.
 
On September 19, 2005, Emmitt Smith was enshrined in the Cowboys Ring of Honor along with his former teammates Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin. He is sure to be a first ballot NFL Hall of Famer as soon as he becomes eligible in 2010.
 
It was a great pleasure reviewing all of the great players that have graced the “Silver and Blue” and I hope you enjoyed reading each of our weekly editions. Now it’s time to get ready for another great season of Cowboys football. I hope you check in with StarStruck each and every day for our ongoing continuous coverage of everything near and dear to the Dallas Cowboys.

Legends of the Star is an exclusive weekly feature found only on StarStruck. Each week we will profile one of the many interesting personalities that have played for the Dallas Cowboys. 

As we get close to the end of our Legends of the Star feature, I finally get to profile one of my personal all time favorite Cowboys, Troy Aikman.
 
Troy was almost a legend even before he started playing professional football. As a college player, he played for both UCLA and the school he first enrolled with, the University of Oklahoma. While at Oklahoma he played for future Dallas Cowboys coach Barry Switzer. Aikman was the teams biggest star, but because their offense wasn’t suited to his style of play, he transferred to UCLA a year later, where he gained national attention. He set over a dozen team records that still stand today and led the Bruins to the Aloha Bowl in 1987 where he compiled a 10-2 record. A year later as a senior, he won the Davey O’Brien Award which is given each year to the nations top quarterback. He was a consensus All-American, West Coast Player of the Year, and finished third for the 1988 Heisman Trophy.
 
In 1989, the Cowboys had a new owner in Jerry Jones, and a new head coach in Jimmy Johnson. That year the two of them drafted Troy Aikman with their first round pick in the NFL Draft. It was a move that would change the destiny of the franchise for the next decade.
 
Although Troy finished his first year with a disappointing 0-11 record, everyone could see that he was bursting with talent, and that he was a natural born leader. All he would need is a supporting cast, and the following season the Cowboys provided Aikman with everything he would need to lead the team into greatness.
 
In 1990, Aikman completed 226 of 399 passes for 2,579 yards and 11 touchdowns and the team improved to 7-9, but the following year he completed an NFC-best 65.3 percent of his passes, and the Cowboys improved again to 11-5 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.
In 1992, everything started to come together for Aikman and the rest of the Cowboys as they were about to unleash their new high powered offense to the rest of the league. That year, the Cowboys rocketed to the Super Bowl with an explosive display of offensive power coupled with a bruising defense. The Cowboys finished the season with a 13-3 record, and Troy Aikman was named Super Bowl MVP.

For the next three seasons, the Cowboys compiled a 36-9 record, and snatched two more Super Bowl titles. Together with running back, Emmitt Smith, and wide receiver, Michael Irvin, the "Triplets" were football’s biggest stars. They were unstoppable and punished opposing defenses with a hard-hitting, lightning fast attack, that had not been seen in the game before, or since.

With 90 wins in the 1990s, Aikman became the winningest starting quarterback of any decade in NFL history. Unfortunately, during his final two seasons, injuries began to take a toll on him, and after sustaining ten concussions, the Cowboys’ six-time Pro Bowl selection announced his retirement from football.

His career statistics included a team record 32,942 yards and an amazing 165 touchdowns for a passer rating of 81.6. On September 19, 2005, during a broadcast on Monday Night Football, Troy Aikman was inducted into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor with his longtime teammates Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith. The following year, Troy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame at Canton, Ohio and gave a teary eyed acceptance speech that no Cowboy fan can ever forget. He is forever, a true Legend of the Star.

Legends of the Star is an exclusive weekly feature found only on StarStruck. Each week we will profile one of the many interesting personalities that have played for the Dallas Cowboys. 

Michael Irvin was the greatest wide receiver ever to don the uniform of the Dallas Cowboys. The "Playmaker" as he was sometimes called started out his career playing for the University of Miami, where he was heavily recruited. While he was with the Hurricanes, he set school record for receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown receptions. He was part of the Hurricane’s 1987 National Team.
 
In 1988 Irvin entered the NFL Draft and was selected 11th overall by the Dallas Cowboys. In his very first game, he started and caught his first touchdown pass, which was something that hadn’t been done by a Cowboy in 20 years. He immediately became one of the teams best players in his rookie year and he led all wide receivers with a 20.4 yards per catch average. He quickly became one of the most exciting receivers in the league and his ability to make the big plays made him one of the biggest stars in the game. His ability to push off a defender and surpass them with such ease, caused many opposing teams to employ new strategies to try and stop him from beating them.
 
From 1991 through 1998, he was the leagues best wide receiver, and racked up an impressive 10,265 yards in that span. He helped lead his team to four straight NFC Championship games and three Super Bowl titles. In Super Bowl XXVII, he caught 6 passes for 114 yards and 2 second quarter touchdowns that occurred in a span 18 seconds, the fastest pair of touchdowns ever scored in a Super Bowl. In 1995 he had one of the most remarkable seasons ever for a wide receiver when he set team records with 111 receptions, 1,603 yards, and 10 touchdown receptions.
 
Michael Irvin had some scuffs with the law during his playing years and also after he retired as a player, but when he was on the field, there was nobody better. For you trivia buffs out there, Irvin is the only player to play for the first four coaches of the Dallas Cowboys.
 
Irvin finished his career with 750 receptions, 11,904 yards and 65 touchdowns. He was selected to five Pro Bowls, and was inducted into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor on September 19, 2005. Two years later, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Legends of the Star is an exclusive weekly feature found only on StarStruck. Each week we will profile one of the many interesting personalities that have played for the Dallas Cowboys. 

Larry Allen first gained national attention when he led little known, Sonoma State to the Senior Bowl in 1992. The two time All-American starred while playing guard, and in two seasons he only allowed one sack. He set ten different team records that still stand today.
 
In 1994, Larry Allen was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2nd round of the NFL Draft, making him the first NFL player ever to be selected from Sonoma State. He made an immediate impact on the team and was soon considered to be the NFL’s premier offensive lineman. He is widely recognized as the one of the best offensive lineman in NFL history and is certainly the best offensive lineman the Dallas Cowboys have ever had. He was the biggest part of an offensive unit that has posted the four lowest sacks allowed totals in club history with 18 in 1995, 19 in 1996 and 1998, and 20 in 1994.
 
Allen is widely credited for the success of Emmitt Smith with his unparalleled play as his lead blocker, and played a role in eight of his eleven 1,000 yard rushing seasons. Allen, was also able to bench press 700 pounds, and is considered to be the strongest man to ever play professional football.
 
In his 12 year career, Larry Allen was selected to 11 Pro Bowls and is just the third player in NFL history to be selected to the Pro Bowl at more than one offensive line position during his career. Only Bob Lilly had more Pro Bowl selections than Larry Allen. He is the most decorated offensive lineman in Dallas Cowboys history.

Deion Sanders was and still is one of the most colorful and most polarizing players in sports. He started out his career in 1988 when he was drafted by New York Yankees. He was then drafted the following year by the Atlanta Falcons with the fifth overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft. He showed up wearing thousands of dollars of diamonds and gold including a flashy silk shirt embroidered with the words "Prime Time." The name stuck with him.
 
Sanders had a very successful baseball career and went on to have an even better football career. He became a rare two sport star who made headlines with his play as well as his very controversial comments. He was loved and hated by millions of fans across the country.
 
For his first five seasons in the NFL, Deion Sanders played for the Atlanta Falcons and was the best cornerback in the league and one of the best return specialists in NFL history. He was as dynamic a player as there ever was in the game. He then signed a one-year deal with San Francisco, and became the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. His four tackles and interception helped the 49ers beat San Diego 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX.
 
Soon after that, in 1995, Sanders signed a huge contract to play with the Dallas Cowboys. He was to get a $13 million dollar signing bonus, but because Jerry Jones was superstitious, he received $12,999,999.99, a penny less.His presence at cornerback helped Dallas win the Super Bowl that season. In that game, he became the only player in NFL history to catch a pass and make an interception in the Super Bowl. In 1996, Sanders started all 16 games at cornerback and eight at wide receiver to become the first two-way NFL player in 34 years. But make no mistake, with eight Pro Bowl selections as a cornerback, defense is where Sanders really shined.
 
During his 14-year NFL career, Deion Sanders was a perennial All-Pro and one of the most feared pass defenders to ever play the game. He is the only player to have appeared in a Super Bowl and a World Series.

Darren Woodson was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys as a converted linebacker in the second round of the 1992 NFL Draft out of Arizona State University.

He played at safety for the Cowboys and was a five time Pro Bowl selection who developed a reputation as an effective run-stopper and was a feared and ferocious hitter. He was leader both on and off the field and was a mentor to many of the younger players, including Roy Williams.

Besides chasing and tackling ball carriers in the secondary, Woodson also was very relentless at chasing down and stopping kick returners on special teams. For many years, Woodson dominated at his position and was a threat to anyone carrying the ball within his range. Many of his tackles were so ferocious that he drew many fines from the NFL during his career.

However, doing all those things for all those years finally took a toll on Woodson’s body. After missing most of the season after having back surgery just before training camp, the hard-hitting safety announced his retirement in December of 2004. It was the end of an era for the Dallas Cowboys. Darren Woodson was the last player left from the 1992, 1993 and 1995 Super Bowl champions and he was also the last player drafted by Jimmy Johnson. His 1,350 tackles are the most-ever in Cowboys history. 

Just the mention of Woodson’s name can still make opposing wide receivers and kickoff returners cringe.

Nobody expected Larry Brown to make the team when he was originally drafted by the Cowboys in the 12th round of the 1991 NFL Draft. The smallish cornerback hailed from Texas Christian University and his numbers while in college were good, but not spectacular.

However, Larry Brown will always be remembered for his big game during Super Bowl XXX. Trailing 13-7 in the third quarter, Brown intercepted Steelers quarterback, Neil O’Donnell at the Cowboys’ 38-yard line and returned it all the way down to Pittsburgh’s 18. It was his second interception and it led to a touchdown run by Emmitt Smith.

Larry Brown’s two interceptions led to 14 second-half points and helped lift the Cowboys to their third Super Bowl victory in the last four seasons and their record-tying fifth title overall. For his efforts, he was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXX and became the first cornerback ever to win the award.

Brown became a free agent immediately after his MVP performance and signed with the Oakland Raiders, but returned to Dallas for the 1998 season, which would be his last. He retired with 14 career interceptions, 2 touchdowns, 2 fumble recoveries and was named to 2 Prow Bowls.

Larry Brown is now the cohost of “Countdown to Kickoff” on Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket, the flagship station of the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network. 

Daryl Johnston gained national attention while playing for Syracuse University. He rushed for 1,830 yards and caught 46 passes during his collegiate career and once gained 138 yards rushing, the most by a Syracuse running back since Larry Csonka rushed for 154 yards in 1967. He was an All-American and All-East pick in 1988.

Johnston was drafted by the Cowboys in the second round of the 1989 NFL Draft.

On the day he arrived for his first mini camp, he was nicknamed "Moose" by former teammate Babe Laufenberg. Babe remarked, who’s that big ol’ moose over there during his first team meeting and the name stuck.

Johnston started out as a reserve, but became a full-time starter in 1991 and was a key member of the Cowboys’ three Super Bowl winning teams in 1993, 1994 and 1996. He played 12 seasons for the Cowboys before retiring in 2000. He was a fierce ball carrier but was best known for being the lead blocker for all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith.

He was also a true iron man, having never missed a game in his NFL career, playing in 143 straight games. Every time Johnston touched the ball, "Moose" chants can be heard resonating at Texas Stadium.

He finished his career catching 294 passes for 2,227 yards and 14 touchdowns, as well as 232 rushes for 753 yards and eight touchdowns. He had a career-high, 50 receptions in 1993.
 

Jay Novacek first made a name for himself playing tight end for the University of Wyoming. He was selected to the All-American football team in 1984 after setting an NCAA record for receiving yards per receptions by a tight end. He had a team record 83 career receptions for 1,536 yards and 10 touchdowns during his college career. Novacek also competed in track and field and earned All-American in the decathlon and pole vault.
 
He was originally drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1985, and but later joined the Dallas Cowboys in 1990. Some thought he was hired gun and for a while the name stuck. He was known for his hard-nosed style of play and his athleticism. He was a hard hitter and a great blocker, but it was his pass catching ability that fans will remember most.
 
He was one of the best tight ends ever to wear a Dallas Cowboys uniform, and was one of the key players on a Cowboys team that went on to win three Super Bowls in 1992, 1993 and 1995. In those three games alone, he posted a combined total of 17 catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Jay Novacek’s remarkable pass catching and route running abilities gave him a total of 422 receptions for 4,620 yards and 30 touchdowns during his NFL career. He was selected to five pro bowls. Although he may not have had a long career with the Cowboys, he made each of his 6 seasons count, and was one of the best tight ends in the league throughout his Cowboys career.

Herschel Walker started his football career while playing for the University of Georgia. In his freshman year, he set an NCAA rushing record and helped his team win the national title. He earned All-American honors three consecutive years, set 10 NCAA records, 15 Southeast Conference records, 30 Georgia all-time records, and capped a sensational college career by earning the 1982 Heisman Trophy in his third and final year.

In 1983, Walker turned professional and joined the New Jersey Generals of the now defunct United States Football League. Herschel was absolutely dominating and was considered by many to be the best and most electrifying player in football. He won the leagues Most Valuable Player award and set the all-time single season pro football rushing record with 2411 yards.

In 1986, Herschel Walker joined the Dallas Cowboys, and in his first season with the team he led the NFL in rushing and scored 14 touchdowns. His best year came in 1988 when Herschel rushed for 1,514 yards. He earned Pro Bowl honors with the Cowboys in 1987 and 1988. During his years with the Cowboys he was their most talented and most popular player, but the team was not winning.

In the middle of the1989 season, the Cowboys traded Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings in a deal that would change the face of the Cowboys for years to come. Besides receiving 5 players, the Cowboys also received a total of six draft picks, two of which were used to draft Emmit Smith and Darren Woodson. Jimmy Johnson used the other draft picks to make trades with other teams around the NFL which led to drafting Russell Maryland with the first overall draft pick in 1991. This trade has long been considered one of the most lopsided deals in NFL history.

After continuing his career as one of the premier running backs in the league, Herschel would later return to Dallas in 1996 and retired as a Cowboy in 1997.

Walker was one of the most productive players in the history of football and even if you discount his 3 seasons with the USFL, he still had 82 career touchdowns, 8,225 rushing yards, 4,859 receiving yards, and 5,084 kickoff-return yards. He is the only player to have 10,000+ yards gained on offense and 5,000+ yards on kickoff returns.

Although his career as Cowboy was not that long, during his years with the team he was the lone bright spot despite the fact that the team never made the play-offs. His contribution to the team in terms of trade value transformed the team into the most powerful team in the NFL for an entire decade. 

Walker was one of the top running backs in the pros, gaining more yards than anyone in professional football history, counting his seasons in both the NFL and USFL. He finished his professional career with a total of 8,225 yards and 61 rushing touchdowns. He also caught 512 passes for 4,859 yards and 21 scores.