Who was around in 1990

[rags747]

Also had man-love for James Francis.

Yes Jimmy badly wanted the Baylor lb'er Francis, that was Jimmy's no 1 goal was to land Francis for the defense. Having Cincy take him at 12 put into motion us moving up to 17 to take a falling Emmit. I would say that that worked out quite well for us, hmmm...would we have won 3 SB's without Emmit...Who knows. Agnew would have been a real mistake it turns out.

 

[trickblue]

My first memory of the Cowboys was in 1966... three years old I remember and I was hooked...

My first experience live was watching Dandy Don as our QB at the Cotton bowl. People don't remember how good he was... I also was at the initial event at Texas Stadium... an Andre Crouch Concert...

I used to write Tom Landry letters... and he wrote me back. At that time we didn't realize how valuable that would be so they were discarded...

My prized possession is a football he sent to me with all of the sigs for the '72 SB champs... it sits in my office to this day....

 

[starfrombirth]

man that's long time ago. Was the draft even televised back then or did you read about it in paper the next day? 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)

The best draft of them all might be 2005.

DeMarcus Ware
Marcus Spears
Kevin Burnett
Chris Canty
Jay Ratliff

That was a monster draft for Parcells.

Irvin was a Landry selection I believe

 

[BAT]

Cortez Kennedy and Junior Seau were in the 1991 draft which Jimmy didn't have the overall #1 because he forfeited for Steve Walsh in the supplemental draft of 1990.

Cortez Kennedy went 3rd overall to Seahawks and Junior Seau went 5th overall to the Chargers. Both happened in 1990 draft that saw Emmitt to the Cowboys with 17th pick. If Jimmy does not take Walsh in previous years supplemental draft, then Cowboys would have first pick of draft due to 1-13 record. Jimmy traded up using Minny's 1st rounder. Tez not Jeff George would have been 1st overall if Walsh not taken IMO.

 

[TwoDeep3]

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.

Not the same at all. Jimmy couldn't believe Emmitt was falling. He knew the player. Had seen him up close and personal.

He apologized after the draft because of a promise he made about taking defense.

Go look at the pre-pro accolades Emmitt had and compare them to Lawrence.

I get your point. However, a 1972 Pinto is a car. Doesn't mean it can run in a NASCAR race.

 

[burmafrd]

Hard for the youngsters here to understand what things were like before the internet, etc. Your local newspaper/tv station would cover local or regional teams; and if yours was not one of them getting news was TOUGH. that was why espn was so important when it first came out.

Joel Buschbum was an incredible story. The only reason I have any respect for Bellicheat was that he was one of only three people at Joel's funeral that was held in a big snowstorm.

 

[rpntex]

I was extremly happy. You must not remember what Emmitt did ** Florida and WHY Jimmy Johnson wanted him.

In all fairness, Jimmy Johnson coveted James Francis, a LB out of Baylor. Johnson spent a good deal of time during the first round on the phone with Kansas City, trying to swing a trade for the #13 spot, with the intent of drafting Francis. The Bengals screwed that plan by taking Francis at #12. Even after that, Johnson tried to acquire Francis from Cincinnati via trade, but the Bengals wanted nothing to do with it. Then and only then did he set his sights on Emmitt, and worked the trade with the Vikings, giving up his 1st rounder (#21), and 3rd rounder (#81).

Of course, had Johnson understood the rules governing the supplemental draft, (he didn't know drafting Steve Walsh would cost him what would be the #1 overall pick in the 1990 draft), there's a good chance he wouldn't have drafted Emmitt after all. Had he not drafted Steve Walsh, he would have most likely taken either Cortez Kennedy or RB Blair Thomas at the #1 spot. Don't get me wrong, Jimmy Johnson is one of the smartest football coaches I've ever seen,. This was one time, however, when ignorance on his part benefited the Cowboys.

I understand the OP's point of trading a 3rd-wounder, but I don't see this as the same type of situation at all. There were TWELVE running backs taken in the first two rounds of the 1990 draft, including some guys taken after Smith who turned out to be pretty good (Rodney Hampton was probably the best of the rest, but Reggie Cobb and Dexter Carter also ended up doing well in their careers). Had Dallas not traded up with Pittsburgh, they still would have had a good lot of RBs to choose from at #21. That wasn't the case this year with Demarcus Lawrence. There was nobody that Dallas valued as a capable weak side DE after Lawrence. In my opinion, that made the idea of trading that 3rd wounder somewhat understandable.

There was no outrage that I recall when Jimmy Johnson did it to take Emmitt. Had there been, however, I believe it would have been justified, simply because there were still some very good RBs available after Emmitt was gone.

 

[rpntex]

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

That one pothole, however, was just as highly-regarded at the time of the draft as Troy Aikman. It wasn't like Troy was a slam dunk for whoever had to #1 pick. There was just as much love for Mandarich as there was Aikman.

 

[rpntex]

Walsh was Jimmy's QB at Miami. He knew what Walsh could do. He wasn't sure about Aikman yet. But, I think Aikman's competitiveness was prodded and it made him a better QB.

Correction---he THOUGHT he knew what Walsh could do. He knew what he could do at the NCAA level, but it never translated over into the NFL.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

That one pothole, however, was just as highly-regarded at the time of the draft as Troy Aikman. It wasn't like Troy was a slam dunk for whoever had to #1 pick. There was just as much love for Mandarich as there was Aikman.

Not for a team without a QB. There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to pick Aikman.

 

[KJJ]

I still say that Jimmy Johnson just got plain lucky in Dallas, as far as talent acquisition that is.

He had Irvin on the team when he took over.

He had the first overall pick in his first draft and anyone in their right mind would have taken Aikman.

The next draft, he had to have two trades that he tried fall apart, he had to have a fantastic RB slide in the draft because of his 40 time, and he had to have Pittsburgh willing to move back from 17 to 21 for that 3rd. If any one of those things happen, Emmitt isn't in Dallas.

If:

Landry had taken someone other than Irvin in his last draft, Jimmy wouldn't have had Michael.

Landry actually won his final game against Green Bay in 1988, he would have had the 2nd overall pick and wouldn't have gotten Aikman. He probably would have taken Mandarich who was a huge bust.

Cincy accepts Jimmys trade offer, he gets James Francis instead of Emmitt.
or
New England accepts his trade, he gets Ray Agnew and not Emmitt.
or
Someone been smart enough to take Emmitt where he was supposed to go
or
Pittsburgh not accepted Jimmy's trade offer, Atlanta gets Emmitt Smith.

So, it would have been incredibly simple for Dallas not to have the triplets. In fact, all three could have easily gone elsewhere.


Then, had Minn not been dumb enough to trade for H Walker, that boatload of guys never would have been in Dallas.

Had St. Louis Cardinals been smart enough to not let Jay Novacek go in plan B... something they later said never should have happened, then he is never in Dallas.

I could keep going, but the point is, Jimmy lucked into a **** ton of great players.

Every head coach who was part of building a dynasty had their share of luck with talent acquisition. The draft is a crapshoot most of the players in the HOF weren't first round draft picks. Chuck Noll landing 4 future HOF players in the 1974 draft was an incredible stroke of luck that payed the way to the Steelers 4 SB wins in the 70's. Bill Walsh got extremely lucky having a 3rd round pick In Joe Montana develop into arguably the greatest QB in NFL history. He got lucky with Jerry Rice a few years later with the 16th overall pick. Eddie Brown and Al Toon were drafted ahead of Rice. Walsh landed 2 players who are ranked in the top 5 greatest players in NFL history.

Bill Belichick landing Tom Brady one of the top 5 greatest QB's ever with a 6th round pick was like winning the lottery. Belichick was going nowhere in NE until Brady took over for Bledsoe. Pete Carroll hitting on Russell Wilson in the 3rd round and Richard Sherman in the 5th was pure luck. Without those 2 players Seattle doesn't win the SB. Although Irvin was on the roster when Jimmy arrived in Dallas he had yet to establish himself as a great NFL receiver. After his ACL injury in 89 it appeared he might never pan out. Although Aikman was the top rated QB coming out of college in 89 not everyone was sold on him.

Even Jimmy wasn't 100% sold on him which is why he selected Steve Walsh in the supplemental draft. Jimmy wanted to make sure he hit on a QB. As for Emmitt not everyone was sold on him which is why he was rated behind Blair Thomas and he fell in the draft. Not even Jimmy expected Emmitt to be the player he became but after James Francis the player Jimmy coveted was off the board and a trade couldn't be worked out for him he set his sites on Emmitt.

 

[rpntex]

I still say that Jimmy Johnson just got plain lucky in Dallas, as far as talent acquisition that is.

He had Irvin on the team when he took over.

He had the first overall pick in his first draft and anyone in their right mind would have taken Aikman.

The next draft, he had to have two trades that he tried fall apart, he had to have a fantastic RB slide in the draft because of his 40 time, and he had to have Pittsburgh willing to move back from 17 to 21 for that 3rd. If any one of those things happen, Emmitt isn't in Dallas.

If:

Landry had taken someone other than Irvin in his last draft, Jimmy wouldn't have had Michael.

Landry actually won his final game against Green Bay in 1988, he would have had the 2nd overall pick and wouldn't have gotten Aikman. He probably would have taken Mandarich who was a huge bust.

Cincy accepts Jimmys trade offer, he gets James Francis instead of Emmitt.
or
New England accepts his trade, he gets Ray Agnew and not Emmitt.
or
Someone been smart enough to take Emmitt where he was supposed to go
or
Pittsburgh not accepted Jimmy's trade offer, Atlanta gets Emmitt Smith.

So, it would have been incredibly simple for Dallas not to have the triplets. In fact, all three could have easily gone elsewhere.


Then, had Minn not been dumb enough to trade for H Walker, that boatload of guys never would have been in Dallas.

Had St. Louis Cardinals been smart enough to not let Jay Novacek go in plan B... something they later said never should have happened, then he is never in Dallas.

I could keep going, but the point is, Jimmy lucked into a **** ton of great players.

In my opinion, the biggest "OR"---had he not taken Steve Walsh in the '89 supplemental draft, he would have still had the #1 overall pick in 1990, which he most likely would have ended up using on Blair Thomas.

I agree---Jimmy got very lucky when it came to talent acquisition, and he said so himself. Had it not been for the Hershel Walker trade, who's to say where the franchise ends up in history. That one trade gave Dallas the liberty to miss on a lot of picks, simply because they had so many.

 

[LongSnapper]

best draft pic EVER

 

[Fritsch_the_cat]

Even though we just spent two first rounders on qbs?

Neither came with guarantees they would be top of the line NFL QB's, and we needed a QB like crops need rain.

 

[mrmojo]

The time was different, we were in major re-build mode coming off 1-15 so no roster spots were guaranteed, including QB and RB. The Walker trade afforded the Cowboys to take chances and stockpile draft picks, hoping some would hit. All positions were open so whoever was drafted had a legitimate chance to start...that season.

The 1990 team would be more Jimmys team after all the cleaning house in 1989, and I believe people were taking a wait and see approach to see what kind of NFL team he would field. So any outrage of giving up picks to move up and pick a RB or WR just wasn't there because the team was so void of talent, that any player showing an inkling of talent was an improvement of what was there before.

 

[MikeT22]

Good topic. In 1990 there were 12 rounds. Two Dallas newspapers (for only another year - then one). Only 5 channels and the grainy UHFs.

We got cable TV in 1980 and we were far from the first in our area to buy it. Strange 10 years later you were still doing the 5 grainy channels and rabbit ears thing.

 

[speedkilz88]

In my opinion, the biggest "OR"---had he not taken Steve Walsh in the '89 supplemental draft, he would have still had the #1 overall pick in 1990, which he most likely would have ended up using on Blair Thomas.

I agree---Jimmy got very lucky when it came to talent acquisition, and he said so himself. Had it not been for the Hershel Walker trade, who's to say where the franchise ends up in history. That one trade gave Dallas the liberty to miss on a lot of picks, simply because they had so many.

I'm not sure why you think he would have gone with Blair Thomas. Jimmy wanted a LB and he coveted Junior Seau but didn't have a chance for him. I do think Cortez Kennedy would have been hard to pass on too though.

 

[Western]

Even though the Walsh selection in the 89' supplemental draft was somewhat questionable, Jimmy & Co. were able to trade Walsh to the Saints in 1990 for a 1st & 3rd round pick in 1991 draft and a 2nd round pick in the 1992 draft.

One of those picks ~ the 3rd round pick in the 1991 draft turned out to be Erik Williams.
Smart move by Jimmy.

 

[Nightman]

Even though the Walsh selection in the 89' supplemental draft was somewhat questionable, Jimmy & Co. were able to trade Walsh to the Saints in 1990 for a 1st & 3rd round pick in 1991 draft and a 2nd round pick in the 1992 draft.

One of those picks ~ the 3rd round pick in the 1991 draft turned out to be Erik Williams.
Smart move by Jimmy.

They still could have drafted EWilliams without the NO trade. Missing on Junior Seau or Cortez was a major blunder.

 

[Western]

They still could have drafted EWilliams without the NO trade. Missing on Junior Seau or Cortez was a major blunder.

I disagree.
With 4 offensive tackles taken after the Erik Williams selection and prior to Dallas' 4th round selection in 91, without the 3rd round selection (no. 70 via the Saints), I doubt Erik Williams would have been available.
So in conclusion, without the Walsh trade (70th selection in the 91 draft), no Erik Williams for Dallas.