Who was around in 1990

[tideh20heel]

1989 was a tough draft to screw up picking at 1. There was one enormous pothole otherwise it was pick your hall of famer.

 

[DBOY3141]

1989 was a tough draft to screw up picking at 1. There was one enormous pothole otherwise it was pick your hall of famer.

but if I recall, some wanted dallas to draft Tony Manderich....poor Green Bay, all those HOF's and they pick one of the biggest busts of all time

 

[big dog cowboy]

Did the Dallas media and fans threaten to burn the city down?

No they were all in shock over the yellow polka dot jumpsuit Emmitt wore to Dallas.

 

[big dog cowboy]

It was still America's team

We still are.

 

[Wood]

Irvin was drafted by Landry. But yes, Johnson has an eye for talent.

so even

I downloaded the Emmitt selection awhile back from youtube. ESPN covered it. Mel Kiper was on it. Joe Theisman too, and the other ESPN regulars.

I believe at that time the only draft publications I knew about were joel buchsbaum and Ourlads. My dad is friends with owner of Ourlads now and gets free publications.

 

[DBOY3141]

No they were all in shock over the yellow polka dot jumpsuit Emmitt wore to Dallas.

That was classic

 

[jnday]

I remember Emmitt at Florida and was glad he was on the cowboys, my point was more about how the media reacted, since I'm not from the Dallas area.

I don't think there was near the media reaction or fan reaction back then as you would have today.

 

[tideh20heel]

but if I recall, some wanted dallas to draft Tony Manderich....poor Green Bay, all those HOF's and they pick one of the biggest busts of all time

Yep esp after that SI article

 

[Fritsch_the_cat]

I don't recall giving the Emmit pick much thought, I was still much more concerned about the QB position then.

 

[cowboy_ron]

There was much less coverage back then. You either had hard core fans or casual fans, not the huge middle ground of knuckleheads that are prevalent on the internet.

There was a huge contingent of "Cowboys Fans" that hated the Jerry/Jimmy regime because they ousted Landry.

Because that idiot Bum Bright didn't have the spine to do even though he wanted Landry gone.

 

[tideh20heel]

I don't recall giving the Emmit pick much thought, I was still much more concerned about the QB position then.

Even though we just spent two first rounders on qbs?

 

[Zimmy Lives]

With the draft over and a thousand different opinions on the DLaw trade. Just wondering how many folks were around in 1990.

I ask because of the Emmitt Smith trade. A team just coming off a 1 win season, a thousand more holes than this current team and yet they give up a "walk in starter" 3rd round pick for what some believed was a slow average RB.

Did the Dallas media and fans threaten to burn the city down? or was there not much coverage because of lack on internet.

Don't like.

If you saw Emmitt play in college you would know why he was destined for success. The kid was amazing. Nobody with a brain thought the kid was average except in his measurables. If he ran a 4.4 he would have been a top ten pick.

 

[bysbox1]

Jimmy did not draft Irvin. Landry did in 1988. He did play for Jimmy in college though.

Yep. I remember Jimmy telling the story about how Irvin called him the day after he took over as HC for Dallas and telling him which players needed to be cut.

I remember those times. That was a different Draft, different era. There was less media coverage. With the internet today some obtain just as much draft/player information as the teams do. Herschel was a first round pick, a "pencil in starter" as someone said before. Jerry appeared more humble back then when it came to football decisions and let Jimmy run the show from a football standpoint.

That Herschel Walker trade was a monster trade, I believe the largest in NFL history. Jimmy actually engineered that trade. That trade netted the following:

LB Jesse Solomon
LB David Howard
CB Issiac Holt
RB Darrin Nelson (traded to San Diego after he refused to report to Dallas)
DE Alex Stewart
Minnesota's 1st round pick in 1990 (21) (traded this pick along with pick (81) for pick (17) from Pittsburgh to draft Emmitt Smith)
Minnesota's 2nd round pick in 1990 (47) (Alexander Wright)
Minnesota's 6th round pick in 1990 (158) (traded to New Orleans, who drafted James Williams)
Minnesota's 1st round pick in 1991 (conditional) - (12) (Alvin Harper)
Minnesota's 2nd round pick in 1991 (conditional) - (38) (Dixon Edwards)
Minnesota's 2nd round pick in 1992 (conditional) - (37) (Darren Woodson)
Minnesota's 3rd round pick in 1992 (conditional) - (71) (traded to New England, who drafted Kevin Turner)
Minnesota's 1st round pick in 1993 (conditional) - (13) (traded to Philadelphia Eagles, and then to the Houston Oilers, who drafted Brad Hopkins)

That trade also got us Russell Maryland.

The D Law trade is way different and not in the same league. Will Lawrence help? Who knows at this point.

I too think the 2005 Parcells's draft was the best draft Parcells had. It was defense heavy, but all of those guys have either started here or started elsewhere. That was a great draft.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

What is extraordinary about the Jimmy Johnson drafts was his ability to draft impact/HOF players in 1st round.

1988 - Michael Irvin (HOF)
1989 - Troy Aikman (HOF)
1990 - Emmitt Smith (HOF)

Jimmy Johnson dd not draft Irvin. Jimmy Johnson inherited the Aikman pick. It was a no-brainer to pick Aikman. Any team in the top position of the draft would have most likely chose Aikman. Now, why did Jimmy pick Steve Walsh in the supplementary (giving up a 1st) and offer to pick him up at the airport? Doesn't seem like Jimmy had a whole heck of a lot of confidence in Aikman. Also, Emmitt was not even Jimmy's target in the draft. He had a LB in mind and Emmitt was the fallback plan from what I have read. Also, another Jimmy pick in Russell Maryland was far from a HOF player taken in the 1st.

Ability? I'd say Jimmy got pretty lucky to inherit Irvin and Aikman and was very fortuitous to have Emmitt fall into his lap. Without those three, Jimmy was probably nothing more than a mediocre coach. Sometimes you just get lucky. Jimmy also got lucky to have Herscel Walker at his disposal. Jimmy did maximize the talents and value of those 4: Irvin, Aikman, Smith and Walker.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Jimmy Johnson dd not draft Irvin. Jimmy Johnson inherited the Aikman pick. It was a no-brainer to pick Aikman. Any team in the top position of the draft would have most likely chose Aikman. Now, why did Jimmy pick Steve Walsh in the supplementary (giving up a 1st) and offer to pick him up at the airport? Doesn't seem like Jimmy had a whole heck of a lot of confidence in Aikman. Also, Emmitt was not even Jimmy's target in the draft. He had a LB in mind and Emmitt was the fallback plan from what I have read. Also, another Jimmy pick in Russell Maryland was far from a HOF player taken in the 1st.

This is true. Irvin was a pick of Coach Landry's. Aikman was the pick as well, had Coach Landry still been with the Cowboys.

 

[bysbox1]

Don't like.

If you saw Emmitt play in college you would know why he was destined for success. The kid was amazing. Nobody with a brain thought the kid was average except in his measurables. If he ran a 4.4 he would have been a top ten pick.

Jimmy Johnson dd not draft Irvin. Jimmy Johnson inherited the Aikman pick. It was a no-brainer to pick Aikman. Any team in the top position of the draft would have most likely chose Aikman. Now, why did Jimmy pick Steve Walsh in the supplementary (giving up a 1st) and offer to pick him up at the airport? Doesn't seem like Jimmy had a whole heck of a lot of confidence in Aikman. Also, Emmitt was not even Jimmy's target in the draft. He had a LB in mind and Emmitt was the fallback plan from what I have read. Also, another Jimmy pick in Russell Maryland was far from a HOF player taken in the 1st.

I don't know if Jimmy lacked confidence in Aikman or if Jimmy just liked churning the roster and having options. I wonder if he just wanted Walsh around to give Aikman competition?

 

[Cowboys22]

Draft picks were no where near as valued back then as they are today and 3rd round picks were not thought of as walk in starters. Back then, draft picks were thought of as guys you had to develop because college programs were not as involved as they are today. Even 1st round picks were not views as immediate starters. Of course some were, but they were the exceptional athletes. RBs were high commodities back then and no one batted any eye at trading a 3rd to go get a RB like Emmitt Smith.

 

[Wood]

Jimmy Johnson dd not draft Irvin. Jimmy Johnson inherited the Aikman pick. It was a no-brainer to pick Aikman. Any team in the top position of the draft would have most likely chose Aikman. Now, why did Jimmy pick Steve Walsh in the supplementary (giving up a 1st) and offer to pick him up at the airport? Doesn't seem like Jimmy had a whole heck of a lot of confidence in Aikman. Also, Emmitt was not even Jimmy's target in the draft. He had a LB in mind and Emmitt was the fallback plan from what I have read. Also, another Jimmy pick in Russell Maryland was far from a HOF player taken in the 1st.

Ability? I'd say Jimmy got pretty lucky to inherit Irvin and Aikman and was very fortuitous to have Emmitt fall into his lap. Without those three, Jimmy was probably nothing more than a mediocre coach. Sometimes you just get lucky. Jimmy also got lucky to have Herscel Walker at his disposal. Jimmy did maximize the talents and value of those 4: Irvin, Aikman, Smith and Walker.

I remember that well. We had good group of cowboys fans and to be honest I don't think anyone of us knew who would be better QB. Jimmy talked Walsh up. Maybe that was all apart of his ninja mind games that catapulted that team toward a mini-dynasty.

 

[ShiningStar]

With the draft over and a thousand different opinions on the DLaw trade. Just wondering how many folks were around in 1990.

I ask because of the Emmitt Smith trade. A team just coming off a 1 win season, a thousand more holes than this current team and yet they give up a "walk in starter" 3rd round pick for what some believed was a slow average RB.

Did the Dallas media and fans threaten to burn the city down? or was there not much coverage because of lack on internet.

to this day not a lot of fans knew of this trade or how it offically went down. To them it was a big trade and nothing more happened.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

I lived in Florida in 1990 and was a huge Gators fan back in those days. I was obviously ecstatic that they drafted Emmitt (less happy about his draft day fashion choice, but that is probably a topic for the Cowboyszone Fashion Forum that no one seems to want )