Dallas Cowboys 101... 1989 - Dallas Cowboys Forum

Hostile · 07-07-2007

Row 1

3 Steve Walsh, QB
4 Mike Saxon, P
8 Troy Aikman, QB
9 Roger Ruzek, K
15 Babe Laufenberg, QB
20 Ray Horton, S
23 Robert Williams, CB
24 Everson Walls, CB
34 Herschel Walker, RB
35 Kevin Scott, RB
36 Vince Albritton, S/LB
38 Ron Francis, CB

Row 2

39 Broderick Sargent, FB
40 Bill Bates, S
42 Darryl Clack, RB
45 Manny Hendrix, CB
48 Daryl Johnston, FB
51 Ken Norton Jr, LB
52 Jeff Hurd, LB
55 Jack Del Rio, LB
56 Eugene Lockhart, LB, All Pro
57 Ron Burton, LB
59 Garry Cobb, LB

Row 3

60 Dean Hamel, DT
61 Nate Newton, OL
62 Tony Tolbert, DL
64 Tom Rafferty, G
65 Bob White, OL
66 Kevin Gogan, T
68 Crawford Ker, G
70 Mark Stepnoski, C
71 Mark Tuinei, OT/DL
72 Ed Jones, DE
75 Jon Carter, DT

Row 4

Don Cochren, Medical Records
76 Jeff Zimmerman, G
77 Jim Jeffcoat, DE
78 Dave Widell, T
79 Willie Broughton, DT
81 Scott Ankrom, WR
82 Cornell Burbage, WR
83 Kelvin Martin, WR
85 Steve Folsom, TE
86 James Dixon, WR/RB
Otis Jackson, Equipment Assistant

Row 5

Kevin O'Neill, Trainer
Ken Locker, Assistant Trainer
Jim Maurer, Trainer
87 Ray Alexander, WR
88 Michael Irvin, WR
89 Thornton Chandler, TE
94 Randy Shannon, LB
95 Mark Walen, DT
97 Kevin Lilly, DT
98 Ken Tippins, LB
Bruce Mays, Administration Assistant
Jerry Fowler, Assistant Equipment Manager
Buck Buchanan, Equipment Manager

Row 6

Bob Ward, Coach
Alan Lowry, Coach
Jerry Rhome, Coach
Hubbard Alexander, Coach
Joe Brodsky, Coach
Tony Wise, Coach
Dave Shula, Coach
Jerry Jones, Owner/General Manager
Jimmy Johnson, Head Coach
Dave Wannstedt, Coach
Butch Davis, Coach
Dick Nolan, Coach
Dave Campo, Coach
Neill Armstrong, Coach
Steve Hoffman, Coach

1989 Cowboys Draft
1…Troy Aikman, QB, UCLA
Ring of Honor...9/19/05
Hall of Fame...8/6/06
6 time Pro Bowl...1991-96
1 time All Pro...1993
2…Steve Wisniewski, G, Penn State
2…Darly Johnston, RB, Syracuse
3…Mark Stepnoski, C, Pittsburgh
3 time Pro Bowl...1992-94
1 time All Pro...1992
3…Rhondy Weston, DE, Florida
4…Tony Tolbert, DE, Texas-El Paso
1 time Pro Bowl...1996
5…Keith Jennings, TE, Clemson
5…Willis Crockett, LB, Georgia Tech
5…Jeff Roth, DT, Florida
7…Kevin Peterson, LB, Northwestern
8…Charvez Foger, RB, Nevada
9…Tim Jackson, DB, Nebraska
10…Rod Carter, LB, Miami (FL)
11…Randy Shannon, LB, Miami (FL)
12…Scott Ankrom, WR, Texas Christian

1989 Cowboys Schedule
1-15

9/10/89…Lost @ New Orleans Saints, 0-28
9/17/89…Lost @ Atlanta Falcons, 21-27
9/24/89…Lost vs. Washington Redskins, 7-30
10/1/89…Lost vs. New York Giants, 13-30
10/8/89…Lost @ Green Bay Packers, 13-31
10/15/89…Lost vs. San Francisco 49ers, 14-31
10/22/89…Lost @ Kansas City Chiefs, 28-36
10/29/89…Lost vs. Phoenix Cardinals, 10-19
11/5/89…Won @ Washington Redskins, 13-3
11/12/89…Lost @ Phoenix Cardinals, 20-24
11/19/89…Lost vs. Miami Dolphins, 14-17
11/23/89…Lost vs. Philadelphia Eagles, 0-27
12/3/89…Lost vs. Los Angeles Rams, 31-35
12/10/89…Lost @ Philadelphia Eagles, 10-20
12/16/89…Lost @ New York Giants, 0-15
12/24/89…Lost vs. Green Bay Packers, 10-20

0-8 @ Dallas
1-7 on the road

Points scored...204, 12.8 ppg
Points allowed...393, 24.6 ppg

1989 Cowboys Stats

All time franchise record...251-177-6
All time Post Season Record...20-16

Hostile · 07-07-2007

Not very many people will have much positive to say about the 89 team, but I will. For some reason I really enjoyed this season. Oh don't get me wrong, I hated all the losing. I never caught so much grief in my life. I'd wear a Cowboys cap or t-shirt and someone would ask me something like, "you buy that on sale?"

I think that's the point. No one could accuse me of being bandwagon fan ever again. I became a fan in 1970 when the team was already a winner and Super Bowl contender and for 16 years in a row during my time as a fan that's what they were. 1987 that changed. 1988 it cemented it. 1989 was rock bottom and I stayed loyal to them even though it was rock bottom.

You may laugh but I even got the idea that I'd finally get married because I stayed loyal to that team. No joke, I figured if I could still love them when it was that bad, that I could actually make a marriage work. Silly isn't it? Met the girl of my dreams that off season and married her at the end of 1990 and have never been happier. I feel I learned something about loving her from this team.

On top of this we did acquire Troy Aikman just like I wanted, and from the start I saw something in him that told me I was going to see success again. He was 0-11 as a starter that rookie year. Steve Walsh was the QB for our one win, against the Redskins. Man I loved that. I still knew he was going to be special. Never doubted it.

THUMPER · 07-07-2007

The highlight of this year was our one win because it was against the Redskins!

Unlike the previous year when we lost a lot of close games, we just sucked this season and were only in a couple of close games.

Troy Aikman looked a lot like Staubach as he scrambled for his life every time he went back to pass. People who didn't see Troy early in his career didn't see that he was actually a pretty mobile guy and avoided sacks pretty well at times. In fact he was our 2nd best runner in 1989 gaining 302 yards and a 7.9 yard average. He had to run for his life because our O-Line was a mess and we had no running game to speak of once we traded Herschel away.

Despite Troy running for his life and throwing twice as many INTs as TDs you could see that the talent was there and we had hope for the future. I still wasn't sure about Jimmy Johnson's ability to coach in the NFL as he seemed to make a lot of moves that made you scratch your head.

Taking Steve Walsh in the supplemental draft, which turned out to be the #1 pick in the 1990 draft, was a truly stupid move of epic proportions at the time. We had just spent the #1 pick in the 1989 draft on a QB and now we spend the first pick in the 1990 draft on one too? What the heck was he thinking? As it turned out, we were able to trade Walsh to the Saints for a couple of 1st round picks and it worked out in the long run but at the time it was the stupidest move I had ever seen.

Trading Herschel Walker, our only true star on offense, seemed to be another blunder. All we got was a bunch of scrubs and draft picks but after the way our drafts had gone the last several years that didn't seem to be a good move. Who knew at the time how those picks would pay off for us?

The 1989 draft didn't look all that promising outside of Aikman and after Jimmy had taken his boy Walsh I figured that he would prefer him over Troy. Again, as it turned out, it was a very good draft as we picked up Moose Johnston, Mark Stepnoski, and Tony Tolbert (one of my favorite players later on). We also had taken highly regarded OG Steve Wisnewski with our 2nd pick but then traded him to the Raiders. Another very stupid move at the time because we desperately needed quality OLs. I don't recall who we took with the pick(s) we got from the Raiders.

This was a very tough year for me as I had a tough time rooting for a team owned by Jerry Jones and run by Jimmy Johnson. I blamed Jerry at the time for how Landry was fired (it wouldn't come out for a couple of years how that actually went down and that it was Bum "Not Too" Bright who was really to blame for it) and I have always hated "Da U" and Jimmy Johnson was part of the reason. So the new regime was not one I was excited about rooting for.

Still, when the Boys trotted out onto the field and I saw the uniforms and the helmets with the stars on the side I couldn't help but root for them and be disappointed when we lost (which of course I blamed on Jerry & Jimmy). I had also been a UCLA fan and was very excited about Aikman, so I naturally rooted for him when he played.

By the time the season ended I had some hope for the future as you could see that we had some skilled players but no running game and the defense needed to come together.

Jarv · 07-07-2007

Great stories guys. Living in the Northeast also defined my loyalty for the Cowboys during the 1-15 year. Giants fans especially (They won the Superbowl in 1990). They kept on saying the Cowboys of old were good but it was time I changed teams. No way.

The new owner and coach were a big dissappointment to me, being the big Landry fan that I was. Actually a friend of mine who was a Redskin fan was more upbeat about our future (He was a UCLA fan also...and a Jimmy Johnson fan, I don't follow the college ranks as close as others) in 1989, he kept on saying you suck now but they are making good moves for the future. I just wanted Landry an the old players back, the good old days that would never be again.

1989 was the low point we needed to improve, you know the old saying you can never get better until you reach rock bottom, well 1989 was rock bottom.

Dave Shula was a sore spot that year which bothered me, I was not a fan of his father for some reason (HOF coach, something about him I couldn't put a finger on made me not like him).

One last thing, I taped that one win against the Skins that year, I must have watched it 25 times at the end of the season/off season. I wanted to watch wins soooo bad.

Yeagermeister · 07-07-2007

Aikman, Moose and Step all in one draft

Edit: And Tolbert also

LeonDixson · 07-07-2007

I worked in Sacramento, California and was surrounded by San Francisco fans who loved to rub in Cowboys losses. I kept on wearing my gear and, even though I took constant good natured ribbing, I earned their respect as a true and loyal fan.

I remember being asked how I felt about the Landry firing. My answer was that it was time for Tom to go. I had felt that way for a couple of years at that time. I didn't like the way it happened, but I was definitely ready for the change.

The Walker trade was way more upsetting than the Landry firing. How wrong can ya be, huh? It sounds like nobody outside of JJ and JJ knew how that was going to turn out. They might not have known it either, but at least they planned for it to pay off.

I remember that the offense we ran that year was described as plain vanilla. The results were pretty predictable. But you know, aside from the losses, watching the 'Boys that year was more fun for me than the previous two years. Watching the new guys meld together and expecting they would get better with experience was somehow captivating.

All of us who suffered through the late 80's and still wore our colors and openly rooted for the Cowboys can never be accused of being bandwagon fans.

lurkercowboy · 07-07-2007

It was us against the world back then. I drove for two hours to a friend's house to see the second Redskins game because it was on cable and our town did not have cable tv. On Christmas Eve, I listened to the Dallas-Green Bay game on a static-filled radio. Those were the days.