Frisco, Texas – Ah, here we go again. Second time in two years.
Will Darren Woodson deserve to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
It's almost exhausting to keep beating this drum. It's certainly exhausting for Woody. This is the second time in the last two years that they have advanced to the final 15. This is the eighth time he has advanced to the semi-finals, the round of 25.
The reveal from Las Vegas was made Thursday night during the 13th annual NFL Honors Show, which will be broadcast live on CBS starting at 8 p.m.
Claimed to be one of the best Cowboys defenders during a 12-year Cowboys career (1992-2003) that included three Super Bowl rings, five Pro Bowl selections, four All-Pro selections, and a Cowboys Ring of Honor. If chosen to get started, this was the perfect place for me to start.
There are eight defensemen in the Cowboys Hall of Fame, currently listed alphabetically: Charles Haley, Cliff Harris, Chuck Howley, Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro, Deion Sanders, DeMarcus Ware, Randy White. Haley is the only player to win as many Super Bowl rings as Woody while playing for the Cowboys.
But think about it. With all of these notables from his HOF playing for the Cowboys, Darren Ray Woodson is a safety whose quality and versatility is unmatched by any other safety who has played this position. His 64 is the most tackles in the history of the franchise. It's not Lily. He's not a Munster. This is not D-ware. Nothing in it.
Woodson has 1,350 career tackles, 114 more than Lee Roy Jordan's 1,236 and 246 more than Randy White. So let's think about that for a moment. All of these Hall of Fame greats played for the Cowboys, a franchise that won five Super Bowls, eight conference championships, and 36 playoffs, and among these eight Hall of Famers , no player has achieved better results.
It must mean something. He should lead the team with 787 solo tackles, 563 assisted tackles and second with 134 special teams tackles. That total would have been higher if he hadn't started at safety in 162 of the 178 games he played (8 starts in all 16 regular season games) and started just two games in his rookie season.
Cowboys Hall of Fame head coach Jimmie Johnson once admitted to me that one of the biggest mistakes he made was allowing Woody, a hybrid linebacker at Arizona State University, to transition to NFL safety as a rookie. He said he had never thought of that. In 1992, they basically played him on nickel defense and special teams.
And there's no excuse for Woody playing in an era when most of the 50-person HOF voting committee was too young to see him play. By my estimate, 38 of them worked as members of the media for most of Woody's career.
I hope they do their jobs properly.
- More Woody: There's a good chance the Cowboys will announce who will replace departed Dan Quinn as their next defensive coordinator by the end of this week. During an interview Wednesday morning on 96.7 The Ticket, which broadcasts Super Bowl Radio Row from Las Vegas, Woodson's choice was emphatically “Mike Zimmer.” That's no surprise since Woody played 10 of his 12 seasons with Zimmer, first as a defensive assistant, then as defensive backs coach and then as defensive coordinator for the final four seasons. Woody said, “Mike Zimmer, are you really going to ask me? Well, I'm biased. I'm biased, but I can tell you, and this team is more I'm not saying we need to be tough, but we need a change like a shock I think. We need someone to come in and shock the defense and bring that toughness, especially in the middle of the defense. Same with. You know, on the edge of this team, on the perimeter, they're 'lights out. The cornerbacks are great. The edge rushers are great. The inside of this team needs a really good look. Mike Zimmer I think that's probably the guy. I played with him for years. He's tough. You're not going to like him. He's not going to be your best friend. .He's right, I'm going to MF someone. Someone's going to get it, but that's the shock you need. I don't know right now.” If it lasts forever, but this I think there's something about shocking the defense and making them understand.'' That's Zimmer in a nutshell.
- Capital welcome: When Quinn officially arrived for his first day on the job Monday, commanders certainly gave him a grand welcome and set up a reception line at the facility. Quinn was greeted by senior advisor Doug Williams. Incidentally, he was the first black quarterback drafted by Tampa Bay in the first round of the NFL draft in 1978, and the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl while playing for the Redskins. 1987 season. “I just saw the details, the connections, the style of play. Good defense,” Quinn said of hiring Joe Whitt Jr., the Cowboys' secondary/defensive pass game coordinator for the past three seasons, to be his defensive coordinator in Washington. I need you to do that.” “He's better when he's a team that tackles well and he's better winning the ball. Those are two things that his squad has excelled at over the last three years,” Quinn said. He said he would call the defense attorney.
- Super Purdy: Niners quarterback Brock Purdy is on track to become the fifth quarterback drafted in the seventh round or lower to win a Super Bowl. And he was one pick away from not even being drafted, the final pick in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft. What about the remaining four? That's because Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach won two Super Bowls after being drafted in the 10th round in 1964. Two-time Super Bowl champion Bart Starr of Green Bay was selected in the 17th round of the 1956 draft. Johnny Unitas was a ninth-round pick in 1955. He started in Super Bowl V against the Cowboys, but was eliminated in the second quarter of the game, which the Colts won 16-13. And then there's Brad Johnson, a 1992 ninth-rounder.
- lone Ranger: However, that being said about his draft selection, Kurt Warner played against the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV during the 1999 season, five years after the Packers first signed the rookie free agent. , the only undrafted quarterback to win a Super Bowl. The Cowboys had undrafted ace Tony Romo knocking on the door, making the playoffs four times in his career.
- First round gold: However, the majority of previous Super Bowls have been won by 21 quarterbacks drafted in the first round. These quarterbacks have won 32 Super Bowl titles, with Pittsburgh's Terry Bradshaw leading the way with four Lombardi trophies. The Cowboys' Troy Aikman has the second-most hits among first-round draft picks at three. And Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes will play Sunday against the Niners, looking to join Aikman as the second QB drafted in the first round to win three Super Bowl titles.
- Player with the most Super Bowl appearances: Looking at some Super Bowl records, Cowboys Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith still holds the Super Bowl record with five rushing touchdowns. Haley, a Hall of Fame defensive end for the Cowboys/Niners, is tied with Broncos/Rams' Von Miller for the all-time Super Bowl sack record with 4 1/2 sacks. Oh, one more thing. The Cowboys' 24-3 victory over Miami in Super Bowl VI in the 1971 season is the best in Super Bowl history, along with the Patriots' 13-3 victory over the Rams in Super Bowl III in the 2018 season. They are tied for the fewest goals conceded. And the Cowboys still set a single-game Super Bowl record from Super Bowl XXVII with nine takeaways, eight forced fumbles, and five recovered fumbles in the 52-17 win over Buffalo. keeping.
- Super byte: Since Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made his “all-in” declaration at last week's Senior Bowl, he has splurged on building his defensive staff, hiring not only an experienced defensive coordinator to replace Quinn, but also possibly a senior defensive assistant type. I wonder if… This photo shows Mike Shanahan's 2013 Washington coaching staff of offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, quarterbacks coach Matt LaFleur, and receivers coach Mike McDaniel. , tight ends coach Sean McVay, defensive backs coach Raheem Morris and defensive assistant Bobby Slowik, the son of the linebackers coach. Bob Slowik, five of whom are currently serving as NFL head coaches… Could Quinn hiring Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator hint at drafting a commander since former Arizona The head coach served as the USC offensive analyst last season… East last Thursday. An interesting cornerback who played at the Ford Center in the West Shrine Bowl was named Quantez Stigers, who never played in college but played last year with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL. He made a tackle and a PBU on two of the first three plays of the game.
As a final word for this week, Jones against the 26th World Cup to be held at AT&T Stadium in nine games, including the semifinal match in July 2026, giving North Texas four knockout games during this worldwide soccer extravaganza. Let's see the reaction. Sure, there was some initial disappointment over not being able to play in the championship match, but Jerry certainly understood the international perception of New York/New Jersey and Los Angeles compared to that of Dallas. . And with so many games being played at AT&T Stadium, the possibility of several international teams being based here as their North Texas home, and the possibility of an international media center and official home being here. Depending on how some of it can change, too.
“You would have to be asleep at the wheel not to recognize the economic impact of Central America and Texas, or the attractiveness of Texas,” Jones justified. “Look at the exodus from both coasts, so to speak. We are very futures friendly. Not just when they were business friendly, but from 20 to 65 years old. We're also friendly to young people. We're very friendly to their future, so we're creating opportunities to come here left and right. And some of that is something that's a little bit further away at 10,000 feet and you'll see some of that when you see the football being played here and you should get some of that in the World Cup.
“And I think it's important to show that. When people around the world think about America, when they think about the skyscrapers in New York, when they think about movie stars in California, what we've had to overcome. That's what we want them to do.'' Think about real life, real life, and everything going on here in Texas, and the way of life. ”
