Tony Romo. Terrell Owens. Sean Lee. DeMarcus Ware. Jason Witten. Travis Frederick.
The list of top Dallas Cowboys players who never got a chance to play at the highest level in the NFL continues to grow each time the team fails to advance to a conference championship game.
It looks like All-Pro tackle Tyron Smith can be added to that list.
Smith and the Cowboys are expected to part ways with the organization this offseason, allowing the future Hall of Fame left tackle to become a free agent and potentially sign elsewhere.
The move was perhaps expected for an organization that needs to sign long-term contracts to other star players, but it's a direct example of the Cowboys' recent failures in recent memory. There are many reasons why Dallas hasn't reached the conference championship game since 1996, whether poor coaching or poor free agent decisions have anything to do with their success.
But perhaps this statistic is the only indication of how far Dallas has fallen. In their heyday, the Cowboys were synonymous with the Super Bowl. The Cowboys have always been considered a title contender, whether it was when Roger Staubach and Tom Lundy dominated the NFC in the '70s or when Jerry Jones and Jimmie Johnson built a dominant dynasty in the '90s. Ta.
When that wasn't the case, especially in the 1980s, players were considered failures. Everyone compares former quarterback Danny White to the dropout of the Cowboys system when Staubach retired, as he was never able to get over the hump and pick up a franchise.
Overcoming the odds was to win a conference championship.
Right now, the Cowboys are just trying to get to the conference title game, let alone win it.
That led to the organization wasting Hall of Fame players like Tyron Smith. Since being selected in the first round in 2011, few players have been as dominant in tackles as the eight-time Pro Bowler. The problem is that Dallas has only won three playoff games in Smith's entire career.
Perhaps the most worrying thing about Dallas is the waste of talent. They've had a number of All-Pro and Pro Bowl players walk out of the team facility doors over the years, but the lack of results speaks to the larger issue of why they haven't reached the Super Bowl yet. ing.
Whether it's Jones' “parting ways” with Johnson after back-to-back Super Bowl wins or his failure to hire someone other than himself as general manager, Cowboys owner bears more responsibility than anyone for the futility of the past 30 years. owed.
If people are looking for someone to hold accountable for wasting the careers of Smith and other players before him, Jerry Jones is the prime candidate.
There are plenty of other Cowboys who could be added to this list after Smith, like All-Pro Zach Martin. If Dallas can't end its current nearly 30-year championship drought, young stars like Micah Parsons and CeeDee Lamb could be next on the list.
