![]() ![]() “Very, very embarrassing,” defensive back Bill Bates said.īates said he remembers walking off the Rich Stadium field after the 14-3 loss and saying to himself, “Man, we can just not let this ever happen again.” “The awakening,” said Dorsett, when asked about the game. “Then we hit rock bottom when we played Buffalo.” “We had a winning record that was a little bit disarming,” Schramm said. The Cowboys won nine games and no one is quite sure how, what with the time spent pulling knives from backs. Landry didn’t help the situation by naming Hogeboom the starter, then White, then Hogeboom, then White. Wide receiver Butch Johnson, a talented performer who never met a mini-cam or notepad he didn’t like, later was traded. Veteran receiver Drew Pearson, tight end Billy Joe DuPree, defensive lineman Harvey Martin and running back Robert Newhouse retired before the season began. It was less interesting in ‘84, when Landry knew the Cowboys had plastic hearts and little spirit. “They seem to rebound pretty well from disaster. “This team is a very different team,” Landry said. A division title soon is theirs, the first since 1981. What’s going on here? Dallas loses to the Cincinnati Bengals, 50-24, and then turns around and beats the favored Giants, 28-21. So, of course, the Cowboys win their next two games. The Chicago Bears visited Texas Stadium and left with a 44-0 victory that had the critics predicting an immediate team collapse. The Cowboys lost to the Detroit Lions early in the season and then won four consecutive games. Louis Cardinals, favored to win the division and the conference, were never a contender.ĭallas also demonstrated a knack for survival, sort of like Huck Finn talking his way out of trouble. They swept the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants. The Cowboys did the necessary things to win the NFC Eastern Division this year. Some people respected you so much that they didn’t play well or they always were waiting to get beat instead of going out to play to win. Said Dorsett: “We wear that star on the side of our helmets, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to win because of that tradition. “It’s not a gimme like we used to feel it was. “It’s not like when everybody knew they were going to get in the playoffs,” defensive back Dennis Thurman said. The superiority complex that came with five Super Bowl appearances in the ‘70s is rarely seen. If nothing else, the Cowboys have discovered they need each other. Dallas lost the game, but unlike past years, the Cowboys quickly and quietly settled the problem. And defensive tackle Randy White wasn’t thrilled when six Cowboy defensive backs wearing sunglasses and hats conducted a television interview shortly before a kickoff against the St. Hogeboom didn’t send a thank-you note when Landry named White the starting quarterback in 1985. ![]() Running back Tony Dorsett and Cowboys management took turns calling each other names before a contract was satisfactorily restructured. There have been moments of unrest and frustration. ![]() ![]() Now, Walls and White have lockers next to each other and all is forgiven, or at least understood. A year ago, Walls publicly endorsed a change in quarterbacks, from White to Gary Hogeboom. “We really should have more (team parties), I always thought.”īetter late than never is the new Dallas philosophy. “That can keep your mind on your teammates a lot,” Walls said. This time, he said almost all the Cowboys were there. Nothing against Walls, but in past years you could have gotten by with a bag of chips and a birthday cupcake to feed the number of teammates who attended his party. Walls recently celebrated his 26th birthday. “Now, when you come off the field after scoring a touchdown, you’d think you just saved everybody’s life,” quarterback Danny White said. Listen to the Cowboys and you hear chirps of happiness and harmony. This time, the Cowboys say they’re ready. Wouldn’t you know it? Almost two years to the day, the Rams get another crack at the Dallas playoff legacy. “They may go all the way to the Super Bowl.” ![]()
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