Just a reminder that Bill was very much involved in Drew's signing. If he hadn't wanted him, he wouldn't be here.
How the Cowboys got Henson
Organization's focus pays off when quarterback winds up in mix
09:12 AM CST on Wednesday, March 31, 2004
By JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING – Every time Cowboys owner Jerry Jones talks about Drew Henson, his mind drifts to champagne showers and Super Bowl trophies.
Every time Jones sees videotape of Henson playing at Michigan, he remembers Troy Aikman as the epicenter of an offensive machine that helped the Cowboys win five consecutive NFC East titles and three Super Bowls to earn the title of Team of the '90s.
So it should come as no surprise that Henson will be wearing the Cowboys' fabled blue star on the side of a silver helmet when the 2004 season begins.
After all, Jones has coveted the 6-5, 233-pound quarterback since he read Cowboys scout Jim Garrett's glowing report after the 2000 season.
And on Friday afternoon, Henson became an official member of the Dallas Cowboys, when the NFL finally approved a trade that sent a third-round pick in 2005 to the Houston Texans for the 24-year-old.
"I commend them for being imaginative, creative and aggressive in doing this," Houston general manager Charley Casserly said. "This kid is as good as any quarterback in the draft. He hasn't played in a while, but he'll overcome that eventually."
Setting the table
Jerry Jones phoned Dan Henson the day before the 2003 draft, as did representatives from five other clubs. Each team knew Henson's son was struggling at Triple-A and wanted to know if Drew was still committed to playing baseball.
Henson, considered one of the top players in the nation after passing for more than 2,000 yards with 18 touchdowns and four interceptions as a junior at Michigan, quit football to sign a six-year, $17 million contract with the New York Yankees.
"I told him that Drew was still committed to playing baseball, but there might be a better matchup to his physical and mental skills in football," said Dan Henson, who coached football at several Division I colleges. "I think he missed the athleticism. He missed running around and making a play, because in baseball, you're confined to a three-foot spot at third base or home plate."
The next day, as the draft moved into the middle rounds, Jones phoned Dan Henson again.
"I thought there was a chance Dallas was going to draft him," Henson said. "There were two to three teams that called me and wanted me to tell them that Drew was going to play football, but I couldn't do that. Charley
Casserly was intuitive enough to know that it wasn't as big a risk as other people thought."
That's because the Texans had talked to numerous baseball scouts and
sources within the Yankees, making Casserly convinced Henson would return to football.
Houston selected him in the sixth round.
"I called Dan and told him, 'The only reason we drafted Drew was to trade him,' " Casserly said.
After hitting .233 with the Columbus Clippers, Henson decided to return to
football.
Soon after that happened, Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones and Bill Parcells met in the scouting department to discuss how seriously they should pursue Henson.
It was the first of several meetings.
They asked each other questions such as: "How does a young quarterback fit our quarterback situation?" "How will he fit with our team? "What's his talent level?"
There were few negatives, so they decided to pursue him.
A trade made sense because it would give Houston an opportunity to receive a premium draft pick while allowing Henson to choose where he played. If he returned to the draft, he would have had no say in which team selected him.
Houston retained Henson's rights until April 23, but Jones had a different timetable.
He wanted a deal done in March.
Then Henson could participate in the entire off-season program and have an additional month to learn the offense and work with the coaching staff before the club's first rookie camp.
The Senior Bowl
At the end of a Senior Bowl practice in mid-January, Stephen Jones spoke with Henson's agent, Tom Condon, concerning his client's intentions.
"We understand Drew might be considering playing football. Is that the case?" Stephen Jones asked.
"Yes, he's definitely going to play football," Condon said.
"Are you going to advise him to go back in the draft, or would he entertain something where he didn't have to go back in the draft?" Stephen Jones said. "Is there a way to do the contract where Drew could be happy and not go back into the draft?"
"Yes, because the appealing thing about not going back into the draft is that you can pick your team," Condon said.
Now, Dallas could intensify its efforts.
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, in town because Wolverines running back Chris Perry was going to receive the Doak Walker Award, visited Valley Ranch in February and met with Stephen Jones and Parcells, an old friend.
Jones liked what he heard during their 30-minute meeting.
"My college coach said I won't have any problems with his style of coaching," said Henson, "and I agree."
On Feb. 12, Henson worked out for 20 teams in Houston. Quarterbacks coach Sean Payton, scout Walter Juliff and offensive assistant David Lee represented the Cowboys.
Parcells and Jerry Jones remained in Dallas because they didn't want to alert the rest of the NFL just how much they wanted Henson.
Payton, a longtime friend of Henson's father, returned with glowing reviews.
The combine
When Jerry Jones arrived in Indianapolis at the NFL's Scouting Combine on Feb. 19, meeting with Casserly and Condon was near the top of his priority list.
He needed a feel for the compensation Houston wanted and the contract Condon desired.
Three days later, Jones met with Casserly in the RCA Dome.
They sat in the stands near the finish line of the 40-yard dash and discussed compensation for about 15 minutes.
Casserly wanted a conditional third-round pick in 2005 that could become a first-round choice if Henson performed at a certain level or a second-round pick in 2004.
But Jones doesn't like conditional picks because he always assumes the player
he's acquiring will perform at a high level, thus the team he's trading with will get a better draft choice.
Toward the end of their conversation, Casserly agreed to let the Cowboys put Henson through a personal workout soon after the combine.
"I wanted to keep the momentum going," Casserly said.
Jones returned to the Cowboys' bus, a $500,000 luxury vehicle painted in the club's colors, after meeting with Casserly.
Jones drank Dr Pepper while he, Condon and Stephen Jones discussed parameters of a contract.
The deal would have to be creative because Henson was going to have to be compensated like a first-round pick even though he was a sixth-round pick.
"If it's not a traditional contract, then a lot of people in the league don't want to do it," Stephen Jones said. "It's not like there's something hidden under a rock that's going to bite you."
Dallas workout
Bill Parcells didn't want anyone to know Henson was conducting a personal workout for the Cowboys on Feb. 23; he didn't want blaring headlines in the local newspapers or television trucks lined up in the parking lot of the club's Valley Ranch training complex.
"We're having a secret workout on Monday," he told members of the coaching staff a few days prior to the workout. "I'm not telling anyone who it is."
Henson, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, arrived in Dallas from Tampa, Fla., on American Airlines Flight 1209. A team official picked him up, took him to his hotel and then drove him to Al Biernat's, an upscale steakhouse on Oak Lawn where many of the city's power brokers dine.
Al Biernat's would provide privacy for Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones and Parcells as they met with Henson, who had changed into dress slacks and a button-down shirt. In a private room, all but Parcells, who opted for seafood, dined on steak.
"We were trying to get a good feel for whether this guy has the personality and is he the type of person who can handle being the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys," Stephen Jones said.
The dinner lasted about 2½ hours as the most powerful members of the Cowboys' organization tried to sell Henson on their team and their vision.
They also wanted to look into his eyes and make sure his dream of professional baseball had ended.
Once dinner ended, the men shook hands. Parcells and Henson left in the coach's white Lincoln Town Car. Henson learned a lot during the 30-minute drive to his hotel.
"It was interesting," Henson said with a chuckle. "Just to hear him talking let me know he's intense about everything in life – not just about football."
Much of the scouting and coaching staffs – and Troy Aikman, at Jones' request – attended Henson's 20-minute workout the next morning.
When it ended, Jones asked Aikman to speak to Henson. Aikman told Henson about the highs and lows he could expect if he became the starting quarterback for America's Team.
"There's a lot of pressure. You're going to get a lot of recognition," Henson said, recounting Aikman's advice. "There are going to be a lot of eyes on you. They expect great things of you."
After the workout, Henson visited with Parcells. Then he met with Jones for about 20 minutes in the owner's office.
"I'm certainly interested in playing for the Cowboys," Henson said.
"We'll be talking to Tom and Houston," Jones replied. "We're going to be pushing this down the road."
The contract
The Cowboys didn't want to get down to nitty-gritty trade discussions until Stephen Jones had the parameters of a contract in place with Condon because he didn't want to give Henson or the Texans too much power during negotiations.
The Cowboys watched every snap Henson played at Michigan and dissected every throw. Ultimately, they decided Henson was a late first-round or early second-round pick, so Stephen Jones began creating a contract that would pay him that way.
"Once both sides decide they want to get it done," said Stephen Jones, "it doesn't take but five minutes to get a deal done."
The heart of the deal was completed March 12, the day the Cowboys signed former Chargers defensive end Marcellus Wiley.
Stephen Jones spent much of the day on the phone with Condon.
Between conversations, he walked down the short hallway to his father's office to keep him informed about negotiations. Periodically, Parcells poked his head into Jones' office for an update.
"Are we getting close?" the coach asked.
On Friday afternoon, Jerry Jones phoned Casserly and told him Dallas had an agreement with Henson.
"Look, I'm not interested in committing to a conditional adjustment if he does well," Jones said. "How about a four ... I know that's a little different than when we talked."
"If I couldn't do better than that four," Casserly replied, "I'd just let him go back in the draft."
"If that's the case," Jones said, "on a nonconditional basis, I'll go the three."
"We got a deal," Casserly replied.
