THROUGH THE EYES OF A FAN, Part 6 of 16

"THROUGH THE EYES OF A FAN"

THE LONG ROAD BACK TO THE TOP

FOR THE DALLAS COWBOYS
 

Changes to the Cowboys started to take place on February 25, 1989. The owner of the Dallas Cowboys, H.R. "Bum" Bright announced to the NFL that he had reached an agreement to sell the Cowboys to an Arkansas millionaire named Jerry Jones. Jones didn't make many friends with his first move as Cowboys owner. He fired Tom Landry, the only head coach the Cowboys have ever had since 1960. I guess fans has to expect changes once Jones bought the team, but it was the way he went about the firing Landry. It seemed like everyone knew before Landry did.

As a fan growing up with the Cowboys in the late 70s and into the 80s, there was never a thought that Landry would ever leave. He was a legend and now he was gone. He became the Cowboys head coach in 1960 and gave 29 years of his life to building one of the most successful franchises in sports. He went 0-11-1 in 1960 and then built the Cowboys into World Champions by 1971. Landry brought the Cowboys to five Super Bowls, winning two of them. He put together 20 straight winning seasons from 1966 to 1985. Landry's record as Cowboys coach including the playoffs was 270-178-6. I was really hoping Landry would be given a chance by new owner Jerry Jones to turn the Cowboys around, but it just wasn't meant to be.

Jerry Jones second move after buying the Cowboys was hiring longtime friend and college teammate Jimmy Johnson away from the Miami Hurricanes to coach the Cowboys. Jones and Johnson were teammates at the University Arkansas when they won the National Championship in 1964. With the Hurricanes Johnson had a 51-9 record. I really didn't know much more about Jimmy Johnson, but the more I heard him speak, the more intrigued I became. Johnson wanted nothing more than to make the Cowboys winners again. He wanted a young, strong and fast team that played smart.

The team that Johnson inherited was very low on talent and it wasn't a very young team. The Cowboys had the number one pick in the NFL draft in 1989. The player that the Cowboys were targeting was UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman. The Cowboys decided that Aikman was their man and selected him with the first pick.

As history would show the Cowboys had one of their best drafts in years. They selected fullback Daryl Johnston, center Mark Stepnoski, and defensive end Tony Tolbert in 1989. They also made a surprise move by picking quarterback Steve Walsh out of Miami in the supplemental draft. Some wondered why the Cowboys would select Walsh since they already selected Aikman with the top pick. But as fans soon learned, Johnson was always thinking about what could be done at every position and always wanted competition on his teams.

During the preseason Jimmy Johnson let Aikman and Walsh battle it out for the starting job. Then before the season opener he named Aikman the starter. Johnson began to move his younger players into the lineup. As that happened, some of the older players decided to retire most likely because they could see the direction Johnson was taking the team. Danny White retired after 13 seasons with the Cowboys. I don't believe White ever got the credit he deserved since taking over for Staubach back in 1980. Randy White left after 14 years. He was a great defensive tackle and finished his career with 52 sacks. In January of 1994 he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. All-Pro tight end Doug Cosbie signed with the Denver Broncos during the preseason, but then retired before the 1989 season started. Mike Sherrard who had suffered two broken legs over the past two seasons signed with the San Francisco 49ers after the Cowboys released him in the off-season.

Troy Aikman's first Pro start will not go down in history. The Cowboys opened the 1989 season against the Saints in New Orleans. The Saints took control early and beat the Cowboys easily, 28-0. The Cowboys had no running game, even with Herschel Walker who only gained 10 yards. As a team, the Cowboys were held to 20 yards rushing. Aikman threw for only 180 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. It would be the first of three shutouts the Cowboys would suffer in 1989. The other two were to the Eagles (27-0) and the Giants (15-0). They lost their first eight games of the season. Players were coming and going every week. Nothing seemed to be going right. Then Aikman broke his finger and was lost for five games.

Walsh took Aikman's place and did not do much better. He was at quarterback for the Cowboys only victory of the season when they beat the Redskins in Week 9 at RFK Stadium. They won on the running of Paul Palmer, as he rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown. The defense played great as they shutdown the Redskins attack. The Cowboys won the game, 13-3.

Troy Aikman came back the following week and broke the rookie passing record against Cardinals. He threw for 379 yards and two touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough as the Cardinals won, 24-20.

The Cowboys ended the 1989 season with a league worst 1-15 record. It was the second worst in team history behind only the 1960 Cowboys when they finished the season 0-11-1. The Cowboys scored only 204 points and gave up 393 in 1989. The season was a complete disaster as far as how the team played, but it was obvious that Jimmy Johnson was beginning to put his stamp on the Cowboys. There was one thing that happened during the 1989 season that would start the Cowboys on the road back to greatness.

The Cowboys pulled off the trade of the decade during the 1989 season. Maybe even the trade of all-time. It came at the expense of the Minnesota Vikings. It was the perfect crime and Jimmy Johnson was the mastermind. The Cowboys traded Pro-Bowl running back Herschel Walker to the Vikings for five players and eight draft picks over the coming years. Three of the eight draft picks were first round picks in 1990, 1991 and 1993. Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones were becoming popular because the fans could see that they were changing the direction of the Cowboys. Losing was no longer an option for the team.

Out of the five players that the Vikings sent to the Cowboys in the trade only one stayed with the team and that was cornerback Issiac Holt. Three others lasted only a short time before being released. The player's released were defensive end Alex Stewart, linebacker Jesse Solomon and linebacker David Howard. Running back Darrin Nelson was traded to the Chargers because he refused to report to the Cowboys. It is believed that Johnson never intended to keep all the players he received in the trade. What was important was the amount of draft picks the Cowboys received. Johnson wanted to build the Cowboys through the draft.

The 1990 NFL draft was fast approaching and Jimmy Johnson didn't waste any time. He selected running back Emmitt Smith out of Florida in the first round. The Cowboys also selected defensive end Jimmie Jones and safety Kenneth Gant in the draft. The 1989 season seemed to be a revolving door of players, but as 1990 started the team started to take shape.

With the 1990 season fast approaching both Michael Irvin and Kelvin Martin were recovering from major knee surgeries from the 1989 season. The reports out of training camp were that both were recovering and were ahead of schedule.

Before the 1990 season started, the last two members of the Cowboys that I grew up with retired. Ed (Too Tall) Jones retired after 15 years with the Cowboys. Then All-Pro center Tom Rafferty retired after 14 years. The players I grew up admiring were all gone. This was a new time in Dallas and as hard as it was to see all the longtime Cowboys leaving, it made it a little easier as I watched Jimmy Johnson building the Cowboys into contenders again.

The 1990 season started at Texas Stadium against the Chargers. The Cowboys had not won their opening since 1986. The Cowboys played well, but had to come from behind in the fourth quarter for a 17-14 victory. Troy Aikman scored the winning touchdown with a one yard score. The great feeling of being 1-0 didn't last long as they lost their next three games. They lost to the Giants (28-7), the Redskins (19-15) and then the Giants again (31-17). It was taking Emmitt Smith awhile to get involved in the offense after a preseason holdout. In Week 5 against the Buccaneers Emmitt Smith recorded his first 100-yard game of his career as he rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown in a 14-10 win over the Bucs.

The game on Thanksgiving against the Redskins was the stand-out game of the season for the Cowboys. Emmitt Smith led the way with 132 yards and two touchdowns. Troy Aikman threw for 222 yards and a touchdown. The Cowboys beat the Redskins 27-17, but it was more about how they played then the final score. The team was making improvements in just about every area. With the victory over the Redskins the Cowboys improved to 5-7. They went on to win their next two games over the Saints (17-13) and the Cardinals (41-10) to even their record at 7-7. It put the Cowboys in good position for a wildcard spot, but it wouldn't be easy with the final two games on the road.

The Cowboys traveled to Philadelphia for Week 15. Things went bad quickly for the Cowboys as Troy Aikman was hit and suffered a separated shoulder and was lost for the rest of the season. That made Babe Laufenberg the new Cowboys quarterback. He completed only 13 out of 36 passes for 140 yards and four interceptions. The Eagles won easily 17-3. But the Cowboys weren’t out of the playoff race yet, even with a 7-8 record. All it would take to make the playoffs for the first time since 1985, was a win over the Falcons in the final week of the season.

The game was played in Atlanta and it would have to be Babe Laufenberg leading the Cowboys to victory. The Cowboys never had a chance as the Falcons built a 26-0 fourth quarter lead. Emmitt Smith only rushed for 34 yards and Laufenberg threw for only 129 yards and two interceptions. The Falcons won easily 26-7 and ended the playoff hopes of the Cowboys. After going 3-13 in 1988 and 1-15 in 1989, it was exciting to see the Cowboys finish 7-9 in 1990 and have a chance for the playoffs.

Jimmy Johnson was voted Coach of the Year in 1990 in some polls and Emmitt Smith was voted Rookie of the Year. After a slow start, Smith ended up with 937 yards rushing and scored 11 touchdowns.

The Cowboys were still searching for the missing pieces from their team puzzle. Johnson had done an incredible job in his first two seasons with the Cowboys, so there was no reason to believe he wouldn’t keep improving. The team was ready for the next step and Johnson knew it. He told the media that the Cowboys would make the playoffs in 1991 and something told me he would be right.

To be continued...