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

[jrumann59]

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

Either way still not catching anything

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Either way still not catching anything

it was a big disappointment for me because early on he had a great kick return for a TD. Just one of those things, I guess. Not every player who shows early promise ends up a good player.

 

[cowboyblue22]

tony romo would of been a all time great if not for the front office and coaching in dallas

 

[timb2]

Ron Stone & Jeremy Parnell young and up and coming and Dallas held onto aging vets Tuinei & Free instead.paying them and they left in free agency.

Darryl Clack got put behind Tony Dorsett & Hershel Walker never really had a chance.

Kareem Larriemore had the talent but was a nightmare off the field cost him

Steve Peuller I believed got unfairly blamed for a declining team. Had the talent but lost his confidence and that was it.

Kevin Brooks this guy was very promising and got on the badside of Jimmie Johnson in Johnson's 1st year and was let go and never was the same.

 

[Sportsdude360]

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.

Sherrard was way too brittle to play in the NFL. He broke his leg in training camp while running a drill. It just snapped while he was running. He was plagued with injuries during his tenure with the Cowboys. Mo Claibourne reminds me of Sherrard. By rights, Claibourne should be one of the best corners in the league. Drafted out of LSU, Claibourne came into the league with great skill as a DB. But, like Sherrard, he seemed to be made out of cardboard. If anyone happened to breath on him he would be out for the season.

 

[robbieruff]

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.

That's an interesting insight. I certainly recall the Emmitt contract fiasco but I didn't recall how that philosophy morphed to Smith. I had always gotten the impression that Smith was another "asthma field" knee jerk cut by Jimmy. And yes, Jerry certainly did a 180 in terms of ponying up the $ for players. Deion being one of the great early beneficiaries of that generosity!?! Lol.

 

[BAT]

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

I realize that but he also hurt himself soon afterward, following season I believe. Galloway AND Roy Williams trade don't happen if ONE of retaining Jimmy Smith or drafting Randy Moss occurred.

 

[xwalker]

I realize that but he also hurt himself soon afterward, following season I believe. Galloway AND Roy Williams trade don't happen if ONE of retaining Jimmy Smith or drafting Randy Moss occurred.

I'm just referring to Moss wearing #88. Irvin would have had it so Moss would have taken some other number.

Yes, those trades would not have happened AND they would have won more with Moss than without him.

Having said that, they were likely doomed in that time frame due to Jerry's mindset and Larry Lacewell screwing up the roster.

The beginning of the turnaround for Jerry was when Parcells came here. Parcells fired Lacewell and terrible scouts like Broaddus. He made a point to highlight that Jerry need to hire better people. I think that partially influenced Jerry; although he still had to be Jerry and hire Wade Phillips. Once Wade was gone they evolved to the present state with Stephen, McClay and Garrett generally being able to keep Jerry on the right path and those 3 run it like a real professional organization. I still doubt that evolves without Parcells having cleaned house. Don't get me wrong, Parcells make plenty of mistakes, but he at least put them in position to have a chance in terms of the people he put in place to make decisions.

 

[xwalker]

That's an interesting insight. I certainly recall the Emmitt contract fiasco but I didn't recall how that philosophy morphed to Smith. I had always gotten the impression that Smith was another "asthma field" knee jerk cut by Jimmy. And yes, Jerry certainly did a 180 in terms of ponying up the $ for players. Deion being one of the great early beneficiaries of that generosity!?! Lol.

Smith had good reviews from everyone that had seen him practice. I seem to recall even Irvin was impressed with him. That seems like the type of player Jimmy would not immediately cut (i.e. Jimmy said about Lett at some point after the Thanksgiving game fiasco "Of course I was not going to cut him. He's 6-6, 300 and quick as l lightening".

 

[diefree666]

I'm just referring to Moss wearing #88. Irvin would have had it so Moss would have taken some other number.

Yes, those trades would not have happened AND they would have won more with Moss than without him.

Having said that, they were likely doomed in that time frame due to Jerry's mindset and Larry Lacewell screwing up the roster.

The beginning of the turnaround for Jerry was when Parcells came here. Parcells fired Lacewell and terrible scouts like Broaddus. He made a point to highlight that Jerry need to hire better people. I think that partially influenced Jerry; although he still had to be Jerry and hire Wade Phillips. Once Wade was gone they evolved to the present state with Stephen, McClay and Garrett generally being able to keep Jerry on the right path and those 3 run it like a real professional organization. I still doubt that evolves without Parcells having cleaned house. Don't get me wrong, Parcells make plenty of mistakes, but he at least put them in position to have a chance in terms of the people he put in place to make decisions.

getting rid of Lacewell alone puts BP in the Ring of Honor.

 

[diefree666]

Hollywood Henderson really to me was the one that truly COULD have been an all time. He could have been LT before there was an LT. But the junk got him and there you go. Unlike LT who was snorting before each game and somehow kept it together enough to make the HOF.

 

[punchnjudy]

Jimmy Smith

If he hadn't gotten hurt early in his career here, and had stuck around long enough to develop, who knows...

Obviously he still had really good stats with Jax.

 

[mrmojo]

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.




,

Robert Shaw is another, looked like he would be our next great center in 1980, 81...until he tore up his knee.

 

[robbieruff]

Hollywood Henderson really to me was the one that truly COULD have been an all time. He could have been LT before there was an LT. But the junk got him and there you go. Unlike LT who was snorting before each game and somehow kept it together enough to make the HOF.

LT had a head coach who knew how to manage that type of athlete and he was kept from tumbling into the abyss for most of his career. Landry' technocratic style didn't mesh well with the emotional Hollywood and Tom thus couldn't reach him to help. Ironically it was Landry years later who was there when Henderson turned his life around and made a succes of himself. A credit to Tom and his deep caring of his players...even if he didn't always express it.

 

[Trouty]

Randy Gregory

#FreeTheMan!

 

[haleyrules]

#FreeTheMan!

Amen. Its ridiculous.Worse, embarrassing for the NFL.

 

[haleyrules]

LT had a head coach who knew how to manage that type of athlete and he was kept from tumbling into the abyss for most of his career. Landry' technocratic style didn't mesh well with the emotional Hollywood and Tom thus couldn't reach him to help. Ironically it was Landry years later who was there when Henderson turned his life around and made a succes of himself. A credit to Tom and his deep caring of his players...even if he didn't always express it.

Couldn't have said it better. Landry was a real human and a real NFL coach.

 

[haleyrules]

Ron Stone & Jeremy Parnell young and up and coming and Dallas held onto aging vets Tuinei & Free instead.paying them and they left in free agency.

Darryl Clack got put behind Tony Dorsett & Hershel Walker never really had a chance.

Kareem Larriemore had the talent but was a nightmare off the field cost him

Steve Peuller I believed got unfairly blamed for a declining team. Had the talent but lost his confidence and that was it.

Kevin Brooks this guy was very promising and got on the badside of Jimmie Johnson in Johnson's 1st year and was let go and never was the same.

I liked Stone. Tough times and the new salary cap. That really killed the Cowboys combined with Ole Jerry boys gross mismanagement of it.

 

[88sAndHeartbreak]

I know this is about the Cowboys, but I cant ignore what Sean Taylor did for the Skins. THEE best safety or even player Ive ever seen, and the only player I feared the Cowboys to go up against. I had wished everyday for him to magically become a Cowboy lol.

To refresh your memory... three people broke into his house to rob him, shot him in the leg and hit a main artery. Since Im from DC, I remember that day like it was yesterday...

 

[Cowboysfan917]

I would honestly say Tony. If he gets that snap down cleanly or runs it into the end zone, I think his entire career would have gone differently.

Can you imagine had he still bobbled it but Gramatica did ANYTHING to slow the guy down and Romo run into the end zone? It would've been legendary.