LaTunaNostra
07-01-2004, 10:16 PM
James Washington: 'Winners are winners'
09:47 PM CDT on Thursday, July 1, 2004
James Washington played five seasons (1990-94) for the Cowboys and was part of a rebuilding project that brought him two Super Bowl rings. His knack for making the big play was never more evident than in Super Bowl XXVIII, when he returned a fumble 46 yards for a touchdown to tie the score early in the second half and change the tone of the game. The Cowboys went on to win, 30-13, but Washington was not named the game's MVP. Recently, as part of our regular feature, "2-Minute Drill," we caught up with him in his real estate development office in his native Los Angeles.
CowboysPlus.com: Now that you are out of the game, do you feel any sympathy for the Bills, having lost four straight Super Bowls?
Washington: Hell no. People know the type of guys we were when we played. Our motivation was winning and we were a great group of guys. We were a very close group of guys. I think that's why we had so much success while we were young.
Our commander, Jimmy Johnson, who built the team, was determined to win every time. That was instilled in us. If we were going to step on the field, we were going to win. We never went out there with a thought that we could actually lose.
Losers are losers and winners are winners. We all work hard. We worked hard to win and nobody remembers who comes in second anyway.
CowboysPlus.com: What did you like about playing for Jimmy Johnson and when did you know he had something special?
Washington: I knew when I was at UCLA. We played Miami my freshman year and I was regretting that I didn't get a chance to play for Miami, even though we beat them in the Fiesta Bowl. I wanted to play for Miami.
I knew that he was a special coach just by hanging out with some of the guys on that Miami team. The camaraderie they had on that team, you knew that they had a special coach.
When I was a free agent, I didn't even know I was going to Dallas, I thought I was going to the Raiders. I had been in Jamaica and I flew into Dallas, my agent told me to stay there. My wife and I were wearing short pants and it was cold that day. They told me that Jimmy wanted to see what I could do. I was ecstatic, even though the Cowboys were 1-15 the year before.
I knew Jimmy was a winner. He didn't stand for losing. As he used to tell us as we walked into every camp, "It's real simple. The favoritism is shown to certain people. The rest of you guys need to make plays and when you stop making plays, I'm going to get rid of you."
It was truly amazing to play for a guy like that. He was straight up. You knew where you stood. There was no in between. You knew that he favored the young, so you had to stay in shape. Jimmy is one of the best coaches I have ever played for.
CowboysPlus.com: Was Jimmy your motivation or did you guys feed off each other?
Washington: We knew what we had to do on Sunday. What we did between Monday and Saturday, the best thing was try not to embarrass Jimmy. As long as we did what we had to do – everybody knew how we practiced.
Everybody talks about the Cowboys in the '90s. They know the level of how we practiced. And, that was brought on by the competition among the players. We communicated. We were a group of guys that could critique each other and not be mad.
I was a little over the edge. I wanted every play to be like the game. I was hitting people in practice like it was a game because if you can't do it in practice, you can't do it in the game.
CowboysPlus.com: What was your favorite thing about playing in the league?
Washington: My most memorable moment was Super Bowl XXVIII. It was a day of being in the zone. I was having trouble with playing time and contracts. People who know the story know the story, but it didn't stop me from playing.
Like Jimmy said, when he creates a team, he creates playmakers. He didn't let me start that season, but I played just as much as the starters. Then, when the Super Bowl came, because of matchups, I was on the field. To Jimmy's credit, he put me on the field and that was my day to shine and I shined.
In Super Bowl XXVII, I kind of got overlooked because we forced nine turnovers, but I got the interception that started that parade of turnovers – in my home city, in my college stadium. That was a great moment.
CowboysPlus.com: In Super Bowl XXVIII, you trailed Buffalo at halftime. Do you remember what that halftime was like?
Washington: Oh yeah. We were a very close team. We walked in there after our offense was a little stagnant and the defense figured out that we needed to make some plays. We didn't blame the offense, because we knew once they got clicking, it was a show to see.
http://photos.imageevent.com/hermsherald/key/0702washington.jpg
John F. Rhodes / DMN
James Washington (right), flanked by Thomas Everett, heads for the end zone in Super Bowl XXVIII.
Buffalo was a good team, they didn't lay down. But Jimmy always liked to put a team in a situation where they're saying "On, no, here it goes again." Once we got them thinking that way, they were going to lose. And, I don't think Jimmy said two words in the locker room.
I remember walking off the field with Erik Williams and I told him it was going to be alright. I told him not to worry about it. We just needed to get the offense better field position. That was what I liked about that team. We depended on each other. We never pointed the finger. We always asked what can we do to make this better. How hard can we practice to change the tempo?
I remember in the double days, in the grunt time when everybody was tired, me and Michael Irvin would plan out a fight just to get everybody going and fire up everybody. What it did was spark the team and the tempo of the next practices was fired up.
One thing that we had was great showmanship. When we went into that locker room, all those things came out. We didn't need a coach to tell us what we had to do. We knew what we had to do and that's what eventually took place.
CowboysPlus.com: Should you have been the Super Bowl XXVIII MVP?
Washington: Everybody can watch the tape. We won by 17 points. I looked at Larry Brown, who was the MVP two years later when he had two interceptions and he didn't score a touchdown. They chose him as the MVP.
I think Emmitt should have been the MVP, but I think we should have been co-MVPs.
CowboysPlus.com: Did that enter into your mind late in the game?
Washington: I actually thought I was the MVP. I caused a fumble at the beginning of the game when things weren't happening. I thought, after the fumble recovery and touchdown, I was one of the candidates.
When the Bills had a last opportunity to get something going, I intercepted the ball, but it was my mistake to give Emmitt the ball back. You would never think that, because all my career, before the games, our goal was turnovers and touchdowns.
My goal was always to get turnovers so I could watch the offense play because I truly enjoyed watching them. But, that was one thing I truly regretted. I should not have given them the opportunity because Emmitt just kept on running.
09:47 PM CDT on Thursday, July 1, 2004
James Washington played five seasons (1990-94) for the Cowboys and was part of a rebuilding project that brought him two Super Bowl rings. His knack for making the big play was never more evident than in Super Bowl XXVIII, when he returned a fumble 46 yards for a touchdown to tie the score early in the second half and change the tone of the game. The Cowboys went on to win, 30-13, but Washington was not named the game's MVP. Recently, as part of our regular feature, "2-Minute Drill," we caught up with him in his real estate development office in his native Los Angeles.
CowboysPlus.com: Now that you are out of the game, do you feel any sympathy for the Bills, having lost four straight Super Bowls?
Washington: Hell no. People know the type of guys we were when we played. Our motivation was winning and we were a great group of guys. We were a very close group of guys. I think that's why we had so much success while we were young.
Our commander, Jimmy Johnson, who built the team, was determined to win every time. That was instilled in us. If we were going to step on the field, we were going to win. We never went out there with a thought that we could actually lose.
Losers are losers and winners are winners. We all work hard. We worked hard to win and nobody remembers who comes in second anyway.
CowboysPlus.com: What did you like about playing for Jimmy Johnson and when did you know he had something special?
Washington: I knew when I was at UCLA. We played Miami my freshman year and I was regretting that I didn't get a chance to play for Miami, even though we beat them in the Fiesta Bowl. I wanted to play for Miami.
I knew that he was a special coach just by hanging out with some of the guys on that Miami team. The camaraderie they had on that team, you knew that they had a special coach.
When I was a free agent, I didn't even know I was going to Dallas, I thought I was going to the Raiders. I had been in Jamaica and I flew into Dallas, my agent told me to stay there. My wife and I were wearing short pants and it was cold that day. They told me that Jimmy wanted to see what I could do. I was ecstatic, even though the Cowboys were 1-15 the year before.
I knew Jimmy was a winner. He didn't stand for losing. As he used to tell us as we walked into every camp, "It's real simple. The favoritism is shown to certain people. The rest of you guys need to make plays and when you stop making plays, I'm going to get rid of you."
It was truly amazing to play for a guy like that. He was straight up. You knew where you stood. There was no in between. You knew that he favored the young, so you had to stay in shape. Jimmy is one of the best coaches I have ever played for.
CowboysPlus.com: Was Jimmy your motivation or did you guys feed off each other?
Washington: We knew what we had to do on Sunday. What we did between Monday and Saturday, the best thing was try not to embarrass Jimmy. As long as we did what we had to do – everybody knew how we practiced.
Everybody talks about the Cowboys in the '90s. They know the level of how we practiced. And, that was brought on by the competition among the players. We communicated. We were a group of guys that could critique each other and not be mad.
I was a little over the edge. I wanted every play to be like the game. I was hitting people in practice like it was a game because if you can't do it in practice, you can't do it in the game.
CowboysPlus.com: What was your favorite thing about playing in the league?
Washington: My most memorable moment was Super Bowl XXVIII. It was a day of being in the zone. I was having trouble with playing time and contracts. People who know the story know the story, but it didn't stop me from playing.
Like Jimmy said, when he creates a team, he creates playmakers. He didn't let me start that season, but I played just as much as the starters. Then, when the Super Bowl came, because of matchups, I was on the field. To Jimmy's credit, he put me on the field and that was my day to shine and I shined.
In Super Bowl XXVII, I kind of got overlooked because we forced nine turnovers, but I got the interception that started that parade of turnovers – in my home city, in my college stadium. That was a great moment.
CowboysPlus.com: In Super Bowl XXVIII, you trailed Buffalo at halftime. Do you remember what that halftime was like?
Washington: Oh yeah. We were a very close team. We walked in there after our offense was a little stagnant and the defense figured out that we needed to make some plays. We didn't blame the offense, because we knew once they got clicking, it was a show to see.
http://photos.imageevent.com/hermsherald/key/0702washington.jpg
John F. Rhodes / DMN
James Washington (right), flanked by Thomas Everett, heads for the end zone in Super Bowl XXVIII.
Buffalo was a good team, they didn't lay down. But Jimmy always liked to put a team in a situation where they're saying "On, no, here it goes again." Once we got them thinking that way, they were going to lose. And, I don't think Jimmy said two words in the locker room.
I remember walking off the field with Erik Williams and I told him it was going to be alright. I told him not to worry about it. We just needed to get the offense better field position. That was what I liked about that team. We depended on each other. We never pointed the finger. We always asked what can we do to make this better. How hard can we practice to change the tempo?
I remember in the double days, in the grunt time when everybody was tired, me and Michael Irvin would plan out a fight just to get everybody going and fire up everybody. What it did was spark the team and the tempo of the next practices was fired up.
One thing that we had was great showmanship. When we went into that locker room, all those things came out. We didn't need a coach to tell us what we had to do. We knew what we had to do and that's what eventually took place.
CowboysPlus.com: Should you have been the Super Bowl XXVIII MVP?
Washington: Everybody can watch the tape. We won by 17 points. I looked at Larry Brown, who was the MVP two years later when he had two interceptions and he didn't score a touchdown. They chose him as the MVP.
I think Emmitt should have been the MVP, but I think we should have been co-MVPs.
CowboysPlus.com: Did that enter into your mind late in the game?
Washington: I actually thought I was the MVP. I caused a fumble at the beginning of the game when things weren't happening. I thought, after the fumble recovery and touchdown, I was one of the candidates.
When the Bills had a last opportunity to get something going, I intercepted the ball, but it was my mistake to give Emmitt the ball back. You would never think that, because all my career, before the games, our goal was turnovers and touchdowns.
My goal was always to get turnovers so I could watch the offense play because I truly enjoyed watching them. But, that was one thing I truly regretted. I should not have given them the opportunity because Emmitt just kept on running.