Sam Hurd has been a big part of the Cowboys special teams over the last few years. But with Miles Austin, Roy Williams, Patrick Crayton, Kevin Ogletree and rookie Dez Bryant ahead of him, Hurd is not likely to get any playing time at receiver.

Combine that with the fact that Dez Bryant was suspended by the NCAA for lying about corresponding with Deion Sanders, and also the fact that he’s such an amazing talent with a team that many believe will go to the Super Bowl where their own stadium is hosting, and you get a kid who’s got a mountain on top of him.

Well, he’s going to have to wait a little longer to show what he can do because Jerry Jones has announced to the press that Dez Bryant will NOT be playing this Thursday in preseason.

As many of you know, I had the opportunity to see Dez Bryant at the first training camp, and while I do not have a degree in psychology, I believe I can give you an insight as to his character.

I think Jerry Jones wants to ease Dez Bryant into the league, but Dez has a chip on his shoulder and wants to show the world why he’s going to be the next great receiver.

He was the first player on the field at camp. He was practicing before everyone else, and he actually looked like he worked harder than everyone else. I saw him jumping for balls, diving to make catches, getting on his knees, and one-handed catches.

He refused to carry Roy Williams pads not because he wants to break tradition, but because he is so focused on coming into the National Football League and proving himself. I think he has the same attitude as Randy Moss did when he entered. He was spurned by many NFL teams, and he wants to say, “Look at what you passed up on. Choke on this.”

Dez Bryant suffered a high ankle sprain, probably from over-exerting himself, and Jerry Jones has stated that he felt the Cowboys organization was rushing Dez. Well, I think Dez disagrees because he has spoken many times about how he wants to play in the preseason finale.

Well, Jerry Jones is going to intervene, and I think Dez will be upset, but he’ll keep it to himself. I can empathize with his desire to help the team. He has a huge heart, and he wants to help his teammates.

He was the first guy in the top round to sign with his perspective team. His agent was the guy who orchestrated the holdout for Michael Crabtree, the receiver that the 49ers drafted, and yet, despite being in a situation where Eugene Parker, the said agent, could have milked the Cowboys for as much as possible; Dez Bryant is signed before anyone.

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First off, how long have you been a Cowboys fan?

Well, I have been a fan my entire life , so 39 years next month…don’t remember not being a Cowboys fan

Who are your favorite players? I couldn’t help but notice you have alot of pictures of you with Jason Witten.

Love Jason Witten, Felix Jones, and Mike Jenkins. If you go all time, then Michael Irvin.

The Cowboys are 1-2 in the preseason. What do you think of how the Boys are doing so far?

The only thing that worries me is the injuries. Preseason doesn’t mean much. But the defense getting manhandled saturday is a little worrisome. This week will show a lot, need more fire.

How do you think their chances are for the regular season and for repeating as NFC East Champs?

Real good, I like the mix of youth and experience. Romo needs to play well and the o-line needs to be better. Can’t throw away games early in the season like we did last year. Come out quick and put Washington away and that team will self destruct. The Eagles will be the main challenge again.  Kolb is going to be good.

Do you think they can play the Superbowl on their home turf?

Good chance, as a Cowboys fan I say definitely. But as a sports fan too early to say Superbowl. First, let’s get to the playoffs, get home field advantage and then we got a real good chance. Don’t want to play in Green Bay in January! lol

I find what you said about the Eagles quite interesting. They weren’t much of a challenge to the Cowboys last season. We spanked them 3 times.

Yes we did, and the year before they crushed us twice. So momentum means a lot. Kevin Kolb is going to be harder to defend then McNabb. He is more accurate so you won’t be able to blow any coverages. All 3 games last year, McNabb missed an open receiver and that may have changed momentum early. They are a good team and healthy, which they weren’t on defense last year. Plus their starting center was hurt. So don’t sleep on them….and yes that pains me too say that.

What’s your favorite Dallas Cowboys moment?

1992 NFC Championship. Slant to Alvin Harper. Score was 24-20. He made it to the San Francisco 8 yard line and put the game away.

Have you been to both Texas Stadium and the new Cowboys Stadium?

Been to Texas Stadium once and I’ll be going to Cowboys Stadium in October for the Titans game on the 10th.

What do you feel are the Cowboys’ strengths and weaknesses? Alot of people claim it’s the offensive line while others like to blame Tony.

The O-line is the biggest weakness by far. They are the reason we lost last season to Minnesota. Next would be the returns. You can’t expect your offense to go 70 or 80 yards every time. Tony is doing just fine.

Do you have any traditions or rituals you do before a Cowboys game?

Not much anymore. I used to have 2 Cowboys trolls I held for the entire game. Now I just don’t let anyone in my house lol. This is my first year being on Facebook during football season so this year will be different, I have a couple friends I’ll text with.

So you usually watch the games at home? If I can’t watch them at home, I usually go to a sports bar or something.

Yep, I don’t drink so no reason to go to the bar. Plus, I am very focused during the games and don’t play well with others lol.Also, I live in PA, only 2 hours from Philly. So, it would not be a good idea for me to go into public to watch the Cowboys games.

F the haters! Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I got to see Romo’s first start in Carolina. That was awesome! Really cool people there.

Thanks Tom for allowing me to pester you for a while. You really are True Blue!

No Dallas Cowboys fansite is complete with out Tony Romo wallpaper.

Whether you love him or not, this team goes no where if he doesn’t succeed.

GO COWBOYS! GO ROMO!

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From the opening kickoff the Cowboys looked tired and slow. At least that is what I’m hoping it was because if they weren’t and the Texans were as fast and explosive as they looked, then the Cowboys are in trouble. The offensive line could not handle any blitzes the Texans threw at them. It was total domination for the entire first half by the Texans. The running game was non existent for the Cowboys. Through three quarters they had a total of nine yards rushing. Even though Tony Romo’s numbers looked good, he had almost no time to get anything going. The entire offense never was able to get into a rhythm. Before the end of the third quarter the Cowboys offense had used up all three of their second half time-outs.

The defense was not much better as the Texans offense did what they wanted most of the night. Receivers were left open and their running game shredded the Cowboys defense, as Adrian Foster rushed for 110 yards before the third quarter was over. The Cowboys defense always seemed a step behind the Texans offense. Even when DeMarcus Ware stepped up and made a play by stripping the ball from Matt Schaub and then recovering the fumble, the Cowboys were called for a defensive penalty giving the Texans a first and goal, which they converted into a touchdown on the next play.

Tony Romo as well as Wade Phillips showed how unhappy they were during the game. It could be seen in Phillips face and it could be heard from Romo during a sideline interview. As a fan I don’t concern myself with wins during the preseason, but I do concern myself with performance. The Cowboys on offense and defense did not perform well against the Texans.

While writing the post and continuing to watch the game, the Cowboys finally found the end zone with a John Kitna to Kevin Ogletree 24 yard touchdown pass. There is now two weeks until opening day in Washington. This team needs to be ready and focused. I don’t have any doubt they will be, but tonight was very disturbing for a third preseason game.

However, McCray jumped onto our radar after his breakthrough performance last week with a spectacular performance on special teams.

Dallas Cowboys special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis has been impressed with his play on Special Teams and it now appears he may have secured himself a spot on the roster.

“We were looking at him because he was in the mix of possible draft choices, and this other guy, No. 44, kept showing up, making a lot of plays on special teams,” DeCamillis said. “He was in on a lot of tackles. He was a good blocker.”

No. 44 was Danny McCray, Jones’ backup.

The Cowboys signed the Spring Westfield graduate as an undrafted free agent, thinking he could be a special teams ace. Now wearing No. 40, McCray leads the team in preseason special team tackles with five, including an eye-opening three in last week’s 16-14 win over San Diego.

“Man, that might have been my best special teams game in my whole career,” said McCray, 22. “I don’t know what happened, man. The ball was just everywhere, and I just seemed (to be) right where it was.”

McCray also drew a block-in-the-back penalty, pinning the Chargers inside their 10. And when fourth-round draft pick and fellow safety Akwasi Owusu-Ansah fumbled returning a kickoff, McCray was there to pounce on it.

“McCray played outstanding,” Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said. “They couldn’t block him. He was making plays on all of their guys.”

As I said earlier in the post, McCray’s special teams play likely will land him a spot on the 53-man roster, especially if he plays well in the final two preseason games, including tonight’s matchup with the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium.

Marion Barber - Barber was drafted by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. During the 2007 season, Barber’s power running back style earned him the nickname Marion the Barbarian and he was the league leader in breaking tackles, reflecting his personal mantra of “hit or get hit.” Barber rushed for 975 yards on 204 carries and 10 rushing touchdowns with a 4.8 yards-per-carry rushing average. He caught 44 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns. On December 18, 2007, he was named to his first Pro Bowl despite officially being a backup. On May 20, 2008, he signed a seven-year deal, $45 million with the Cowboys with $16 million guaranteed. The emergence of Tashard Choice and Felix Jones, and injury problems limited his success during the 2009 season. However, he played in 13 games despite a torn quadricep muscle.

Felix Jones – Jones was drafted by the Cowboys 22nd overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. He has developed the nickname of Felix “The Cat” Jones for his quick movements and speed. He signed a professional contract on July 26 for $10.53 million, with $7.67 million guaranteed, including a $3.57 million signing bonus. On 15 September 2008, during a Monday Night Football game versus the Philadelphia Eagles, Jones returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.  In his 3rd NFL game, Jones ran for a 60-yard touchdown against the Green Bay Packers on September 21, 2008. In Week 6, in the game against the Arizona Cardinals, Jones injured his left hamstring and would be out for the rest of the year due to a torn ligament suffered during rehab of that injury. In his second season in the NFL Jones has received more carries per game than his rookie year, despite being one of three running backs used in the Cowboys offense.  Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett has slowly been giving him more rushing attempts. Jones believes that “Patience is a virtue. You need it. You need to have patience. Just wait, your time is coming.”

Tashard Choice – Choice was selected in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. His first career carry came in the season opener against the Cleveland Browns, where he had 5 carries for 26 yards. He was used primarily on special teams during his rookie season. After injuries to Marion Barber and Felix Jones, Choice had his largest workload of the year against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had the league’s best rushing defense. Choice amassed 23 carries for 88 yards, and caught 5 passes for 78 yards. The following week against the New York Giants, Choice scored his first career touchdown. He finished his rookie campaign with 472 yards rushing, 185 yards receiving, and 2 touchdowns. In 2009, Choice began the season behind Marion Barber and Felix Jones on the depth chart, but injuries gave Choice more playing time in week 3 against the Carolina Panthers. Choice had 18 carries for 82 yards and one touchdown in a Dallas win. Choice was used by the Dallas Cowboys mostly in what they called the Razorback formation, a variation of the Wildcat offense. Choice finished the season with 349 yards rushing, 132 yards receiving, and 3 touchdowns.

Bio source – wikipedia.com

Special thanks to our Facebook friend Kino for the idea

L.P. LaDouceur – Ladouceur joined the Cowboys three games into the 2005 season and has provided consistency at long snapper. He has made clean snaps on 276 punts, 109 field goals, and 176 PATs in his career, including the playoffs. He made his NFL debut at Oakland and snapped cleanly on five punts and two field goals. He finished the season with clean snaps on 70 punts, 25 field goals and 28 PATs. He was flawless on every snap attempt of the season while also contributing three special teams tackles.

Mat McBriar - McBriar was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys from the University of Hawaii. In 2006, McBriar made headlines with a 75 yard punt which made the record books as the second longest in Cowboys’ history. Also in 2006, he has been named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week twice for his outstanding punting ability. On February 28, 2007, the Cowboys extended McBriar’s contract to a 5-year, $8.5 million contract. He also received a $2.5 million signing bonus. This contract makes McBriar the highest-paid punter in the league.

Bio source – wikipedia.com