That may be wishful thinking-Dallas is, and always has been, “America’s Team”-to love and to hate.©2024 Dallas Cowboys. “Nobody knows what went on here last year. But his 1,204 yards were the fewest he had gained since his rookie season in 1990 and his 3.7 average per carry was the lowest of his career and a full yard lower than his average in 1995, leading to speculation that he had “hit the wall,” declining as the hits increased.īut the real reason was his right ankle, operated on after the season for floating bone chips.”Who could play on a broken ankle?” he asked Smith had a decent season in 1996-for an average running back. Smith, with Aikman and Irvin the offensive “triplets” who make the Cowboys so dangerous, is also angry at the perception that he and the Cowboys have seen better days. We have far too much talent to play the way we did last season.” “But nobody played up to his ability and that includes me. “If we were 10-6 and had played our best I’d have no complaints,” Aikman said. Irvin, whose problems with the law and the league made him hostile and reclusive last season, was more outgoing, even relaxing on a golf cart after practice, giving reporters 10 minutes of his time. The man whose laid-back coaching style was one of Aikman’s targets, ran drills with linebackers and halted practice one day to scream at his team, even pushing Williams, the right offensive tackle, who outweighs Switzer by at least 125 pounds. During the last-day trashing, the cameras were among the items trashed. Edwards were security cameras, monitored by guards who knew who left after curfew. What was real was the training camp, although one of the steps may have backfired. Hill’s son Grant is a star on the Detroit Pistons and his behavior and demeanor are often cited as examples for young athletes. He made much of hiring Calvin Hill, the former Cowboys’ running back as a consultant and player adviser. Jones also spent the offseason polishing his team’s image. The first three were gone when Dallas drafted, but Aikman strongly urged the Cowboys to get LaFleur and they traded up to draft him. Then, before the April draft, he worked out wide receivers Ike Hilliard and Reidel Anthony of Florida, tight ends Tony Gonzalez of Cal and David LaFleur of LSU. Instead, he made sure the Cowboys signed their key free agents-notably fullback Daryl “Moose” Johnston, his good friend and fellow critic of the atmosphere around the team headquarters at Valley Ranch in Irving. This place was like a three-ring circus.”Īikman considered quitting after last season-more likely he might have demanded a trade. Last year we were an organization that thought it was pretty damn good-so good it could just show up and win the game. “We acted like we were being victimized, but we weren’t. “We brought it all on ourselves,” he said. The claims proved unfounded and Irvin and Williams subsequently received more than $2 million from the TV station that first aired the story in an out-of-court settlement.īut that didn’t assuage Aikman’s concerns. Then, the Dallas police said they were investigating claims that a woman was sexually assaulted by Irvin and offensive tackle Erik Williams. Michael Irvin, the star wide receiver, pleaded no contest to cocaine charges, getting off with probation and public service. In the 19 seasons, five players were suspended for violations of the NFL’s substance abuse policy-Leon Lett twice (he’s serving a year’s suspension that won’t end until late November). What WAS going on is why what’s going on now looms so large. None of them were happy about what was going on.” You could say it was Daryl Johnston’s team and Emmit Smith’s and Tony Tolbert’s and Chad Hennings’ and Darren Woodson’s too. “But he’s only the most vocal of the players who wanted it all to end. “You could argue that this is Troy’s team, although I still have the ultimate call on everything “ says team owner Jones.
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