Which is more important?
Win the skirmish or win the war?
1988, last year of Landry. They had Danny White, Steve Pelluer and Kevin Sweeney at QB. White played in three games. Sweeney also played in three games. Pelluer took the majority of the snaps.
Oct 3rd was the fifth game of the year. Dallas was at 2-2. They played the Saints and lost. The team did not win another game until Dec 11th @ Washington. Ten games in a row. it was evident Pelleur was never going to be the answer. Neither was Sweeney. White was injured and it looked like he might not ever play again.
I looked over the schedule in October and went game by game deciding I did not see many wins. So I began looking at college football to see who the stud QB was. Now I am not a college football fan. But I learned about this kid named Aikman who played for UCLA. They said he had a rocket launcher for an arm.
I started keeping up with Aikman that season as Dallas lost. By November I was calling the Randy Galloway show in Dallas and bringing Aikman up. Some of my friends were doing so as well. It was evident to me that Dallas needed a guy like that to build around.
I worked at a job which did a great deal of business with Miller Lite, Budweiser, and Coors. I got free tickets to games. I took several friends to the Minnesota game that year at Texas Stadium. I was wearing a Cowboys sweatshirt. But I was openly rooting for Minnesota. Lost of fans sitting around us were giving me dirty looks. At half time one guy turned to me and asked what the deal was. I told him and people around us that this season was done and we needed this kid from UCLA. By midway in the third quarter I had a contingency of fans celebrating the butt whooping Dallas took.
The final was Minnesota 43 - Dallas 3.
Green Bay was also losing games and the way the standings were, they had a mathematical edge if they and Dallas ended up with the same record.
The next to last game Dallas played Washington and won, but Green Bay played Minnesota and also won.
It came down to the last game of the season. Green Bay led by Lindy Infante as head coach had invited Aikman to watch the game in week 16. Green Bay @ Arizona. They were the early game that Sunday. Green bay won 26-17.
But Dallas was playing Philadelphia in Texas Stadium. Philly went on to win b 10 games that season. But this was a division rival, and as we see Green Bay, the second worst team in the league beat Minnesota, who won 11 games that season. So anything could happen.
Dallas lost 23-7 and the number one over-all pick belonged to Dallas.
That was a tough season, because I wanted them to win. But I also knew if they were ever going to rebuild and be something, it would take losing. So I walked away from each game not as crushed as usual because they lost. And toward the end of the season I started rooting for them to lose.
I got tickets to the Cotton Bowl that year from Budweiser. I watched as they played Arkansas. My best friend was an Arkansas fan, so we went on January 1st 1989.
Most of the game was a running attack by UCLA. I had been touting Aikman to my friend for months. He said he wasn't impressed.
Late in the third quarter the tight end ran up the seam and Aikman threw a laser about 35 yards. It was right in front of us. That pass was on a rope.
My friend said, "Oh shate." It was a great pass. Not much arch at all.
The moral to this story is this. Did winning the Philly game mean anything to Dallas that season? Or any of those other games they lost?
It meant Troy Aikman. They also meant saying goodbye to Landry.
But it changed history for this team.
So when you suggest tanking games, it is a little early in the season for me. But come November 18 and they have won only one game......
Gentlemen, meet
Justin Herbert
https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2018/07/nfl_analyst_calls_oregons_just.html
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...in-herbert-oregon-qb-brimming-with-rare-tools
https://bleacherreport.com/articles...ook-justin-herbert-is-qb1-but-will-he-declare
