Twitter: ESPN Sports Center ranks their all time Dallas Cowboys top 10

[erod]

Wow. Very curious order.

I do appreciate the inclusion of Chuck Howley, who is the best linebacker who ever played here and never gets his proper due.

I would replace Troy or Ware with Drew Pearson.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

No, he's not. Back at ya, because this one isn't even close. Dandy is in the discussion for #2 w/ Aikman.

Just because you say something stupid over and over again, doesn’t make it true. Romo outperformed Meredith at literally everything. Try again Boomer.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

It's because he was the epitome of grinder. Emmit didn't have long speed, wasn't flashy in the least. What Emmit did was get positive yards more than any RB in history. Emmit = Witten. Same player. They're the guys that move the chains and keep the O on the field. The ones people don't appreciate.

Seems like Witten gets that respect though but probably because he's a grinder at tight end.

 

[MarcusRock]

Then they never looked at Roger Staubach play and what he did.

Or perhaps they looked at what both did and determined Emmitt's accomplishments to be superior.

 

[plasticman]

You are really judging Ware on INTs? He was a pass rusher. One of the best the game has ever seen. Putting him in pass coverage more than once in a blue moon would have been malpractice.

The entire philosoohy behind a 3-4 defense is the mystery that surrounds the 4th pass rusher.

3-4 defenses effectively cause communication and blocking issues for an offense because a 3-4 disguises that 4th and sometimea 5th pass rusher.

A 3-4 defense cannot designate a particular player as the pass rusher. They can't even make a habit of using a specific player that is not a D-linrman.

If the offense knows who the 4th pass rusher is or even if they know who it usually is, then you don't have a 3-4. defense, you have a 4-3 defense playing out of position.

The 3-4 defense requires instinctive linebackers with a diverse skill set tjat includes defending the run from sideline to sideline, pass rushing ability as well as pass defending ability.

This is why Parcells preferred Spears to Ware in the draft. Spears was a 3-4 DE. Ware was a converted 4-3 DE who could ne fooled by misdirection. Sometimes he could overcome that with speed, sometimes he didn't.

Ware could never provide the impact of an elite LB in a 3-4 defense like Al Lewis and Lawrence Taylor. Yea, he did it a few times in the regular season, bur he was never consistant.

 

[dfense]

Love me some manster, but ahead of Bob Lilly? Lilly was a man amongst boys.

 

[plasticman]

I know Deion Sanders wasnt a popular player for some people in Dallas. But to not put him in this list is ridiculous.

Seems more like the list of the "10 most popular Cowboys" rather then greatest.

Sanders wasn't a Cowboy, he was a rental.

The greatest Cowboys refer to the players that impacted the Cowboys the most. It doesn't matter what Deiom did for his other 4 teams.

 

[jterrell]

Lilly*

My all-time top 10 is:

1. Roger
2. Emmett
3. Larry Allen
4. Randy
5. Bob
6. DeMarcus
7. Michael Irvin
8. Troy/Tony (insert your fave of those 2 here and don't at me lol)
9. Mel Renfro
10. Tony Dorsett

Dallas so many greats it's insane the guys you leave off.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

Love me some manster, but ahead of Bob Lilly? Lilly was a man amongst boys.

You’re being a little silly, they are both first ballot HOFers and arguably the two most accomplished DTs not only in Cowboys history but NFL history. They both were 1st team All-Pro 7 times, think about that. Quibbling about one of them being 2 and the other 4 is silly.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

Sanders wasn't a Cowboy, he was a rental.

The greatest Cowboys refer to the players that impacted the Cowboys the most. It doesn't matter what Deiom did for his other 4 teams.

Deion is one of the greatest Cowboys ever, no matter how mad you get about it. And playing here for five years, which is just as long as his Atlanta stint, means that he was actually at his best as a Cowboy. And lol @ 5 years being a rental.

 

[CooterBrown]

I must agree, you have to include Mel Renfro, the Cowboys all time defensive playmaker #1 in Cowboy interceptions.

I

Chuck Howley made game changing plays in championship games. He had interceptions and fumbles returned for TD's or long gains in playoff games. When we talk about greatness, regular season games are just qualifying matches, save for a few iconic moments.

To this day, Chuck Howley holds the NFL record for total turnovers in a Superbowl. THAT is elevating your game when it is crunch time. The fact that he isn't in the hall of fame makes a mockery of that institution.

 

[Runwildboys]

Lilly*

My all-time top 10 is:

1. Roger
2. Emmett
3. Larry Allen
4. Randy
5. Bob
6. DeMarcus
7. Michael Irvin
8. Troy/Tony (insert your fave of those 2 here and don't at me lol)
9. Mel Renfro
10. Tony Dorsett

Dallas so many greats it's insane the guys you leave off.

Well, you made sure to spell Lilly right, but you misspelled Emmitt.

 

[Runwildboys]

Deion is one of the greatest Cowboys ever, no matter how mad you get about it. And playing here for five years, which is just as long as his Atlanta stint, means that he was actually at his best as a Cowboy. And lol @ 5 years being a rental.

Deion went wherever someone was willing to pay him more. He didn't care about having the star on his helmet. Yes, he played as a Cowboy, but when someone other than a Cowboys fan looks at him, they only think of him as a former Cowboy if they root for a rival team.

 

[RS12]

Anybody who doubts Lilly's greatness and dominance just take a look at Jethro Pugh sack numbers. Jethro a great player in his own right does not compile those numbers playing next to anybody else. Not without Lilly taking on and defeating double teams game after game. On top of that Bob Lilly did all this before steroids and weight lifting was a thing.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

It amazes me how far ESPN has fallen. When I was young, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and ESPN, all sources of sports news that were highly relevant. Now, the product you see out of them is so bad, it's almost irrelevant IMO.

Kinda crazy.

 

[bandfan]

All this top 10 Cowboys list proves to me is that you can't make a top 10 Cowboys list...

 

[Super_Kazuya]

Deion went wherever someone was willing to pay him more. He didn't care about having the star on his helmet. Yes, he played as a Cowboy, but when someone other than a Cowboys fan looks at him, they only think of him as a former Cowboy if they root for a rival team.

So in other words he was a typical free agent...
I think by now most non-Cowboy NFL fans think of him as a Falcon and/or a Cowboy with a slight lean towards Cowboys because of recency.

 

[Runwildboys]

So in other words he was a typical free agent...
I think by now most non-Cowboy NFL fans think of him as a Falcon and/or a Cowboy with a slight lean towards Cowboys because of recency.

I'm not sure I'd call him typical, but he was definitely a merc, or a Ronin, if you prefer.

But I, like many others, don't consider him a Cowboy, simply because it's not really what he's known for. I think he went into the HoF as a Falcon.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

I'm not sure I'd call him typical, but he was definitely a merc, or a Ronin, if you prefer.

But I, like many others, don't consider him a Cowboy, simply because it's not really what he's known for. I think he went into the HoF as a Falcon.

He went into the HOF as a bandanna, technically. This ain’t baseball.
But why would he be known more as a Falcon? He made more Pro Bowls as a Cowboy, more All-Pros, and won a Super Bowl as a Cowboy. He also did had his own Sega game, presumably tons more endorsements after winning two Super Bowls, and the notoriety of being the first full time two way player in the NFL in ages... again all as a Cowboy.

 

[cowboyed]

My nuts are cracking over Chad Hutchinson not making it into the Top 10.