He would've been an all-time great, but for

[BAT]

It does feel like Romo, Witten and Ware were a bit "wasted".

Those players should have been be the core of championship teams. If the Cowboys had won a Super Bowl in that era, all 3 should could been HOF types. Romo had better numbers than most QBs in NFL history and Ware/Witten are obvious HOF choices. They might try to screw Witten on the HOF because they don't seem to put many TEs in. Romo obviously won't be a HOFer now. Ware seems like a lock.

Garrett failed to realize the importance of running game until the end of Romo's career. Offense was pass heavy or pass reliant for all of Romo's prime. Teams with strong pass rush were able to make Cowboys one dimensional in playoffs time and time again. And after Wade left so did the defense.

 

[phildadon86]

Gotta go with Sean Lee here. Guy just couldnt stay healthy. I still remember his first year, was so impressed, and then boom. The injury bug bit him and didnt seem to let go until last season, knock on wood it stays that way. Guy had the potential to be an all time great even a HOF if he had stayed healthy.

 

[BAT]

He first went to Philly briefly and then made his way to the Jags. I was a Smith fan and was hoping Dallas could get him on the field more. That dang appendectomy really changed the course of his career. He would have been a great replacement for Harper.

Imagine Smith and Randy Moss on same team. They would have both been in their primes at almost same time. And loss of Irvin would not have been so magnified, transition would have been smooth as butter. Moss should have been the 3rd of the great 88's. You just know Irvin would have handed him that number personally.

 

[Jake]

Dallas traded the rights to Appleton to Pittsburgh in exchange for a wide receiver who really did nothing for the Cowboys.

Buddy Dial. Worked with an old Steelers fan who was still annoyed about that trade decades later.

 

[BAT]

I put Romo, but I also thought of LeFleur. Just about the time it started coming together for him his back gave out. I totally agree with this.

LaFleur had red flags about his back coming out of college, condition just kept getting worse, he was a very tall (6-7) TE who excelled at blocking but that required him getting low to establish leverage.

 

[robbieruff]

That was Jimmy Johnson call, Smith was never able to get on the field

Yeah. I thought Jimmy's lack of patience with lower rung players (he often touted how he treated players differently) bit him in the butt with the Jimmy Smith situation. While certainly not Smoth's fault (he went on to a pretty stellar career), he was a victim of bad timing and a head coach who had zero tolerance for injured "back-ups"...definitely one that got away.

 

[robbieruff]

I've often wondered if Alexander Wright could have been a great receiver. He had blazing speed and showed promise early on, but ended up not making it.

Yeah. Having no hands was indeed a tragic flaw.

 

[RoboQB]

E Williams was so firkin dominant, he crushed anyone who rushed his side of the line. Recall Reggie White with GB having been beaten so badly, switching sides of the line just to lineup on anyone other E. I could watch a whole game of our offense (over Troy, E Smith and Irvin) just to watch E Williams and Moose Johnson block.
I truly believe if he wouldn't have had that car accident, E Williams would be in Canton and rated THE very best right tackle ever to play the game.

Absolutely.

 

[jazzcat22]

I always thought that Duane Thomas quote was stupid. It made him come across as someone trying to sound wise and intelligent, but falling short.

Mike Sherrard could have been one of the great wide receivers in Cowboys history if not for a freak leg break. He managed to come back and have a decent career, but he was clearly not the same threat he was as a rookie.

Don Meredith perhaps could have made a push to be a Hall of Famer had he stuck around another 2 or 3 seasons. He was only 30 when he retired and was playing pretty well.

Hershcel Walker probably would be a Hall of Famer had he not wasted time in the USFL.

Walker's USFL career helped us to 3 SB's in the 90's.
Yes we drafted him in the 5th round in 1985, but could he and Tony have existed 4 years together here? However, most likely he would have been selected by another team, if coming right into the NFL, not by us at all.

Probably by some very bad team, that would have wasted those years as well....LOL....

 

[JackOfNoTrades]

1) I think Rolando McClain would've been an all time great if it weren't for Rolando McClain
2) Romo if it weren't for lack of team talent ultimately supplied by JJ
3) although the story isn't complete, Sean Lee if not for his early fragility

 

[Jake]

Some great choices, here are a few more:

LB Billy Cannon Jr.- 1984 1st round draft pick broke his neck halfway through his rookie year, this combined with the Sherrard injuries led the way to a talent gap and subsequent losing seasons

CB Kevin Smith - might have been the best CB ever drafted by the Cowboys but a foot injury ruined his career. I never saw another CB do a better job on covering Jerry Rice.

TE Todd Christensen - drafted as a FB, changed to TE, got into a contract dispute with Tex Shramm, This time Tex was wrong, Christiansen went on to a Pro Bowl career with the Raiders. Wait, it gets worse. Because he was no longer on the team, the Cowboys needed another TE, so in the 3rd round the Cowboys bypassed the BPA, a quarterback, and took TE Doug Cosby. Cosby had a nice career but nothing like the guy who the Cowboys passed over. The QB's name was Joe Montana. So, yeah, it would have been great, Montana a Cowboy, throwing to his TE, Todd Christiensen

Carl Lewis, as in Olympic Gold Medal hurldler, Carl Lewis drafted in the 12th round of 1984. Lewis decided against an NFL career.....such a shame. He could have been great.

DT Scott Appleton - the Cowboys drafted the big DT from Texas in the 1st round, 4th overall pick but he was stolen by the AFL when the Houston Oilers acquired him. Appleton was Staubach's nemesis during the college "championship" game featuring #1 ranked Texas against #2 ranked Navy. He would have been part of a devastating duo, him and Bob Lilly.

G Billy Shaw - Bob Lilly wasn't the only Hall of Famer taken by the Cowboys in their inaugural draft. Shaw was selected in the 14th round but, again, he got snatched by the AFL team Buffalo Bills.

Those are some good choices. Christensen and Cannon were emblematic of the Cowboys fall in the 80s. I'd forgotten about Billy Shaw, who I believe chose the Bills because his father encouraged him to be part of something new.

I don't get Appleton, though. He had a forgettable career and battled with addiction his entire life. It's not likely he'd have magically been a star had he played for the Cowboys. As for Lewis, he never played football at any level. To say he "could have been great" is wishful thinking, and extremely unlikely. Most track guys coming to the NFL end up being Renaldo Nehemiah, not Bob Hayes.

 

[jazzcat22]

That running back that Parcells ruined.

#21.

I can't remember his name.

I think he could've been special

Parcells was just as bad for this team as he was good. But IMO he was over rated, and he quit on the team.

 

[seamus18]

I guess I will have to go with the obvious, Tony Romo. If it wasn't for the awful O-Line play for a big part of his career and then terrible defense after that, I truly believe he could have won a couple of Super Bowls. He never really had the supporting cast around him to go all the way, at least not very often. Just couldn't seem to put a complete team together.

 

[erod]

Alexander Wright, if only he knew how to play football.

 

[Doomsday101]

Yeah. I thought Jimmy's lack of patience with lower rung players (he often touted how he treated players differently) bit him in the butt with the Jimmy Smith situation. While certainly not Smoth's fault (he went on to a pretty stellar career), he was a victim of bad timing and a head coach who had zero tolerance for injured "back-ups"...definitely one that got away.

Hindsight it is easy to fault but Jimmy had to do what he felt was right with a player who did nothing in the 1st 2 season in Dallas. When you have a SB team the cuts are hard to make as guys are pushing for very few roster spots and when you have a guy who is not able to make it on the field you have to move them out

 

[jrumann59]

I've often wondered if Alexander Wright could have been a great receiver. He had blazing speed and showed promise early on, but ended up not making it.

Alexander Wright could not catch a cold even if he.was wearing a Speedo in Antarctica

 

[xwalker]

Imagine Smith and Randy Moss on same team. They would have both been in their primes at almost same time. And loss of Irvin would not have been so magnified, transition would have been smooth as butter. Moss should have been the 3rd of the great 88's. You just know Irvin would have handed him that number personally.

Irving was still on the team when Moss was in the draft.

 

[xwalker]

Yeah. I thought Jimmy's lack of patience with lower rung players (he often touted how he treated players differently) bit him in the butt with the Jimmy Smith situation. While certainly not Smoth's fault (he went on to a pretty stellar career), he was a victim of bad timing and a head coach who had zero tolerance for injured "back-ups"...definitely one that got away.

Jimmy Smith was a Jerry issue.

For some reason Jerry was irritated about paying a player to not play because of the appendicitis.

Jerry was very "cheap" back then. He didn't want to pay Emmitt the going rate which caused him to hold out for 2 games in 93.

Maybe a different HC would have kept Jerry from cutting Smith but I think Jimmy would have kept him a little longer if not for Jerry.

At some point Jerry flipped and started over paying and keeping players too long, but back then he thought winning was easy. Also Jerry could barely pay the bills the first few years. He borrowed most (maybe all) of the 140M that he used to purchase the team.

 

[sean10mm]

Sean Lee but for his lack of durability is a good one.

Tony Romo but for mismanagement of the team during his prime years.

Weak coaches: Checked out Parcells, Soft Wade, Training Wheels Garrett
Lots of bad personnel moves: Overpaying the wrong guys, awful trades that cost the team draft picks and just got them scrub tier guys in return, bad drafts, it was basically the peak of Bad Jerry Wheelin'-Dealin' the team into the ground.
That resulted in deeply flawed rosters: Alternately weak OL, or weak D, or sometimes both.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Alexander Wright could not catch a cold even if he.was wearing a Speedo in Antarctica

That cold weather would not have caused him to catch cold. It would have caused him to get hypothermia.