Dallas Cowboys 101... 1989

[Hostile]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Aikman, Moose and Step all in one draft

Edit: And Tolbert also

[LeonDixson]

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]

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.

[bbgun]

I sure picked an exciting year to subscribe to DCW. Of course, I canceled it a year later when I realized they were just putting a happy face on every loss and not calling anyone out for poor performance. Regrettably, Coach Landry did have to go, and I was unashamedly excited when Jimmy Johnson was named his successor. He had so much juice going for him. If you ever wanted proof that pre-season is meaningless, this was the year. I think we were 4-1, or something. The first win came at San Diego (on national TV no less), and the last win over the Oilers at home (with Troy's jersey soaked in blood from a cut on his chin). One week later, it was back to reality at New Orleans. Pretty sure Troy broke his wrist in the first Giants game, with Walsh starting the next game in Green Bay. Never quite understood the Walsh acquisition. With Walker and Dorsett, you knew they'd both see a lot of time on the field. Not so with QBs. And the first, second and third rounder we got in the trade from New Orleans pales in comparison to the haul we could have scored for the #1 pick in 1990. Oh well. Since the season was going south fast, I was very happy with the Walker deal (even though a few of the traded Vikes refused to show up). We then turned around and traded for Paul Palmer, who was stopgap material at best. Hell, even Moose lined up as the lead running back in the final game of the season. That's how dire it was. The last-minute loss at Phoenix was a killer. Troy hung in there, threw a frozen rope to James Dixon, was smashed in the head a split second later, and Dixon scores the TD. The defense folds with like a minute left and we lose the game. Jimmy notices Everson Walls smiling on the field after the game, and that sealed his doom in Dallas. Bounty Bowl? Bizarre. But Gogan and Aikman were ready to rumble with anyone wearing green that day. A couple weeks later, Jimmy was dodging snowballs at the Vet. We lost at the Meadowlands on a Saturday (Palmer stuffed at the goal-line), followed by another meek loss to the Pack. Lord knows how we beat the Skins on a Sunday night. All I can recall is that Doug Williams had a terrible game.

[THUMPER]

That Eagles game where Aikman was hit late in the endzone and Gogan was standing over him ready to throw down was awesome and gave me hope that this team would indeed come together at some point.

If anyone can find a picture of that I would love to see it.

Kevin Gogan was a big goon for the most part but that moment sealed him as one of my favorites from then on. I was bummed when he left after the 1993 SB. He never went to the Pro Bowl with us but did 3 times after he left, with the Raiders in '94 and the 49ERs in '97 & '98.

Found this on Gogan's My Space page:

Hi. This is your favorite trainwreck Kevin Gogan. Played 15 years in the NFL along side some the the baddest mothers from her purple mountains majesty to the fruited plains and those ****ed up cats in San Francisco.
I earned 2 Super Bowl Championships during my stint in the NFL - '93 and '94. Played for a few seasons for Al Davis in LA and Oakland and had some brief stays in San Diego and Miami.
Warm weather seemed to be a theme of my career. I managed to get to the Pro Bowl 3 times - '94, '97, '98 - and I am the only player to ever get kicked out of the Pro Bowl. Here's the story about the Pro Bowl and my ROOKIE CARD.
Now I just like to goof off in the Northwest and stay away from the limelight, until these s from NBX.com got a hold of me to be their NFL Analyst. Listen in on the link below: If you have any questions about the NBX Fantasy Sportsbook you can send a message to info@nbx.com

"Trainwreck" pretty much describes him alright. I guess he didn't like playing for the Niners.

[lurkercowboy]

I liked the Cowboys Weekly because of the happy face. Back when the only newspaper I ever saw was the Redskin-oriented Virginian Pilot, I loved the happy face. Win or lose, the Cowboys were always scum according to the Pilot. And it was nothing but honest reporting according to the local Redskin fans. If a writer in Philly or New York wrote a trash article about the Cowboys, the VA Pilot would happily reprint it. It was really bad during the "Cocaine Cowboys" "South America's team" era. Give me the Weekly any day.

[bbgun]

Originally Posted by lurkercowboy

I liked the Cowboys Weekly because of the happy face. Back when the only newspaper I ever saw was the Redskin-oriented Virginian Pilot, I loved the happy face. Win or lose, the Cowboys were always scum according to the Pilot. And it was nothing but honest reporting according to the local Redskin fans. If a writer in Philly or New York wrote a trash article about the Cowboys, the VA Pilot would happily reprint it. It was really bad during the "Cocaine Cowboys" "South America's team" era. Give me the Weekly any day.

I prefer the truth. Of course, I now realize I was naive to expect otherwise. Any house organ will "accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative."

[BoysFanInAustin]

Wasn't the first Giants game where Jimmy hung his head low after the game and Parcells patted him on the back and told him to cheer up?

[bbgun]

Originally Posted by BoysFanInAustin

Wasn't the first Giants game where Jimmy hung his head low after the game and Parcells patted him on the back and told him to cheer up?

Close. Parcells spotted Jimmy across the field and put his hand under his chin, as if to say "Keep your chin up." A classy gesture.

[lurkercowboy]

Originally Posted by bbgun

I prefer the truth. Of course, I now realize I was naive to expect otherwise. Any house organ will "accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative."

Me too but truth was/is hard to find. For me the Weekly was a counterbalance to the Pilot. The Pilot was, back then, almost a parody of a newspaper and tailored for the "I hate Dallas" crowd. I wish I could find some of those old articles, but I had a woodstove at the time and needed kindling.

[windward]

1989 was really the first year I watched the NFL every week. I was 6 years old. Previously I remember the games being on TV but didn't really care to much if the Boys lost. I remember waking up every Sunday morning, hoping that the Cowboys would win. Of course that was a rough season to go through especially for a six year old kid in a family of 49er fans.