Mick Shots: A Look Back

Jones along with Mickey Spagnola and Everson Walls. Yes, it's time we gotta move on, don't we What do you think we need to move on? No, I'm still in that mood. Time for since I'm still in that mood. Yeah, I'm sorry. You know what, Let's let's ask Bill Belichick what we should do. What do you say? Yes, do you want to ask Bill Belichick? Let me see. It would help if myke it would help, if my audio work. But it does it? So it didn't work. It didn't work.

Why does my computer mute at the most inappropriate time? All right, here we go. We're gonna try it again. Here, we're gonna try it again. And here you go, it's still muting. Unbelievable. Okay, you know what I run this thing about as well as the stop the run of the other team. Oh no, right, you got muted there, I got yeah, I got muted. All right, Bill, I'll by the other show. I'm gonna figure it out. I'm gonna pull out what he was trying to say. Yes,

we're on to Cincinnati. Okay, We're on to Cincinnati. Right. I was gonna try and pull you out of the hole there, Okay, we're on the Cincinnati because you know so, I had some stuff ready, but I'm gonna leave it alone.

I was gonna tell you Bill that yesterday, December ninth, so twenty nine years ago was the last edition to the Dallas Times Herald, And for some reason it hit me yesterday and I went upstairs and grabbed the old copy that I kept from the last edition, and I read it cover to cover right the news, the metro, business, the sports, and I just want you to know that your name is in the last edition of the Dallas Times Herald. In a column by I think it was

Skip Bayless mentioned that he got interviewed by Bill Jones. Really, yes, so your name. I'm not sure if I want people to know that. Yes, in fact, he would be a regular guest on when I would fill in for Scott Murray on Sports Extra on when I worked at Channel five. Right, yeah, right.

And the reason you'll have to send me a copy of that, the reason it's in there, it was because the last day that we worked was December eighth, and it was a Cowboys Saints game at Texas Stadium, and all the media showed up, you remember that, and we were all getting interviewed as we were trying to watch the game and contemplate the rest of our lives, knowing that this was our last day of work, not knowing what the future would hold. But yeah, I they listened,

you know. And the other thing I didn't realize there was nine hundred people when you include everybody that was connected to the paper, the delivery people, you know, press and all the press room and all that stuff, there was nine hundred people that lost jobs. And they listed everybody's name that was on the payroll on two pages inside the first section of the paper. Yeah, I've forgotten that part, and I don't know if I ever looked at it, but it was interesting to read the sports section.

And I'll tell you what it might be twenty nine years later, but I'll put that sports section up against anybody that they're doing today. It was still pretty comprehensive and it was pretty darn good reading too, And it was a testament to competition. Yeah, I mean at the times here on in the morning news going up against each other. I mean that's that created great products on both sides of it. And then the fort Worth Pager, I'll tell you where we created. It created a bunch

of sacrificial lambs. That's where they created. You had players like myself trying to stay out of trouble. You know, you had players like Dennis Thurman were hiding from reporters like Gary Myers of course with the news. But then who was a gym did? Was it? Uh? It was a beat writer for at that time it was myself. But before when you first got there, it was Jim

Dead before. Yeah, yeah, Jim did high. He's he's lurking around uh locker rooms and lockers trying to dip in on a conversation if you and the fellow defensive back or having a beef about the organization. You can bet the old uh fort Worth Star was right there sneaking around with a recorder, trying to trying to dip in on our conversation. So yeah, a lot of good people there, but it was a few of them that that competition created a lot of a lot of negativity around that

locker room. And and that was good for selling papers, but it was for the for the program itself, for the Cowboys program. Did we even have recorders back day? Yeah, one of those. You had one of the most CIA records is back in the day. Man, that's what's real. You have real to real, that's what you have neck in day. But anyway, you know, but not only that, go ahead, I was gonna say not only that is uh.

I can say this from the TV side of things, the competition was so much greater as far as the TV stations are concerned, because the TV stations gave the sports more time. I mean we literally here's the difference between nineteen ninety and thirty years later here in twenty twenty as far as how much time we get for

our sports cast on the local news. Okay, back in nineteen ninety, each station at they would at five o'clock you'd get a three minute sportscast and then you'd go four minutes at six o'clock and four and a half minutes at ten o'clock. That was a standard you go from today all the stations we get two minutes at six and two minutes and thirty seconds at ten o'clock. And that's basically it and um. But but the other part of that is uh, and this is where the

fans really That's what Everson says. Sometimes it could be a detriment for the players. But the access that the media had back then, there was no comparison with what it is today, even in a non COVID year, especially in a COVID year, I mean there was there's basically no access at all. But uh, back then, I mean we had the run of the locker room when yes, you did exactly you did, and there was there was some time did that you even are relishing in that fact,

you had the run of my locker room. That back not cool at all. I don't know what kind of tact that Spagnola had back in the day. But when you gotta dodge Myers and Dint and skilled Bayliss every day, and they're looking to take down Tom Landry, they're looking to take down tech Schram. They got a beef with gil Brant, and then they'll come to me and say, hey, Everson, what do you think about gil Brant? Hey man, I'm I'm in the negotiation right now. Can you get out

of my face with that, please? Some man? No, No, you know, I did. I did, I do, Everson, I upgraded the ethics when I got there. Okay, thank god, thank god, thank god. But you remember, we had we had a little small cubicle office in the at the ranch, right there by the entrance where the where the players came in, so that mine said it was the first

one by the door. So when the door was opened and you guys were leaving, if somebody was leaving on crutches and they didn't announce the injury, it's like, oh,

somebody's hurt. That's exactly right, you know. If you know what we would do as a TV station on the morning after a game, if let's say Troy Aikman had not a major injury, but let's say he had something something happened to him on Sunday, we would have a crew that would be at Valley Ranch before eight o'clock in the morning to get Troy walking from his car in the parking lot. We would be there with our camera, with our camera as he got out of his car

and limped into the locker room. We would follow him all the way into the locker room and sold by eight eight o'clock in the morning. The day after, we would have some sort of update on the condition of Troy Aikman. Um, Hey, you had, you had. Some of the biggest stories were written when everyone was gone home, and then there was always someone trying to lag behind because they were part of a huge story, and you guys would be waiting outside to pounce on them right

right away. You know. That was especially doing the strike season. Oh my god, it was horrible. Nineteen eighty seven, bad man. I'll give you, I'll give you. I'll give you one more story on the parking lot. And it was the last time I ever did this. You know, when the guys used to walk out and they didn't do their interviews and everybody'd run after them. Well, when the Herschel Walker trade was announced and Herschel tried going out the back doors, he tried going out the door in the

equipment room. Remember, you can get onto them, that's right, that's right. You have immediate access to your car from the equipting. Somebody yells, oh Herschel's going to his car, and everybody goes running out right TV cameras. They're trampling everybody. I started running and I go, what am I doing. I'm kind of a gross person and I'm running to them. And I said, that's it. I will never run to the person lot after anybody ever again. Oh my god,

all the other idiots. Yeah, and this was this was pretty funny. We you know how they used to do grades right after the game, which you know, we were forced to do it, and they were always wrong. And that was the only thing the players read were grades. Right, you give them an a God forbid if you gave them a D or something, you know. So that section of the team. So I came up with the idea,

we're not doing grades. We're gonna do thumbs up, thumbs down and in the middle right, So and so at the end of that we we we had two more categories, and this was after the Saints game, and one of them was for something I can't remember what it was. It was for doing something good, and the last one was bad day at the office. Right, and so I finished bad day at the office with entire dime times Harold Stay, that's the girl. That's that is what you call a bad day at the office. It absolutely How

did you how did you find out that it was folding? Um? I it was a noon it was a noon start, and I would get there you know too. Two. This is on a Sunday morning, Sunday morning, noon, uh, December eighth, and I'm sitting at my spot in the press box and the phone rings and uh, I think it was Dave Pelletier, the assistant pr director, picks up the phone and he goes, Uh, Mickey, your sports editor wants to talk to you. And I'm going I'm gonna talk to

me at nine thirty ten o'clock in the morning. You know, there's nothing going on. So I go there and it was Gary Hardy. Uh and uh, he says, Mick, I got bad news for you. He goes, uh, the paper has just been sold to the Dallas Morning News and this is going to be our last edition. We're going out of business. And I'm going seriously he goes, yeah, he goes, I hate to have to tell you this, and he goes, can you do me a favor? He goes, when the other people on the staff come in, can

you let them know that this is the news. Oh my god, I'm going me, I go, you mean to tell me? I gotta go up to Frank Luxo, who's been doing this job since nineteen seventy two. And I got to tell him he's out of work. And so I basically stood out in the hallway and um, people start coming in. Wow, and Skip saw me standing out there when he came in, and it was like, what are you doing out here? And I said, okay, let me break the news to you. Uh. And same thing

with Frank. I had to tell him, yeah, this is your last day of work. And so our joke that day basically was well, if you need another good clip to get get a job, you better make this one good, a good one. Uh. And And I remember I remember go ahead Everson, No, No, you go ahead, say. I remember I remember kind of watching the game like I'm watching but I wasn't seeing, and it was just like the whole thing was just a I don't know, it was a cloud that whole day trying to cover the game. Yeah,

like a blurer, right. And I remember and I go back and read my my, my game story. And it's like, you know, those first four paragraphs were really good that it just fell off. It just was like it wasn't me. You know, you you you know what it's like to get cut. You know. Funny you say that because we hung around in the locker room afterwards, uh to say something to Jimmy. We didn't know if he knew it or not. And we're, you know, we didn't know if we'd ever see him again or what our jobs would be.

And so there was like three or four of us, Me, Frank, Susie Woodhams. I think there was one of their person with us. And he comes out and he looks at us and he had heard right, and he all he did was kind of you know how he used to smack his lips and he goes, well, whatever he goes. Now you know how coaches feel, So Jimmy, it's, oh, wait, how coaches feel when this guy cut somebody every day? And now he talks about how coaches feel. Give me a break, could be a break, how coaches feel he

cut somebody every month and he's talking about that. Come on, only Jimmy could turn that around to where he if teachable moment right for him to show to you give me a break. Yeah, that was. That was, and you know he was he was trying. I think he was trying to kind of lighten the situation. But yeah, that was. That was his deal. And the other thing I remembers,

so if you remember, so this was nineteen ninety one. Uh, And I'd forgotten this until I read it again, that when Tech Shramp, when they bought the team and then Tex left. It was about May of eighty nine. He took the job with the uh what did they call it, the European Football League was the World League of American Footballball. Yeah, he took that job and his suite was right next to the press box. And you know, Tex used to sit in the press box for the games, but once

that happened, he just stayed in his suite. We go in there and say hi to him, but he never came back in the press box until that day he came back to kind of give us each a handshake and a hug and say hey, sorry to hear it happened. But that was the first and only time he came back in the press box after he parted ways with the Cowboys. Yeah, so anyway, twenty nine years ago, Well, Mickey, I twenty nine years ago. I would say things turned turned around very nicely for you years. I think I

survived somehouse way. But that day, boy, no, no, it was it was that it was that company man mentality that he took. See when they when he when they had him firing everybody else, you know, that that solidifier for him, this oh, this guy will do anything to keep a job. So they that's why that was a test for you, spat. They wanted to They wanted to make sure that you were willing to do anything to sell your brothers down the river. And you did a

good job. Man, that's pretty good man. So they long have you been a cowboy? Bill Bill, they'll have the crankiest guy in the world telling everybody that they're fired. That's right. You know, you're supposed to give it to him in a soft manner. But here's fat hey guy, you're out? Yeah me too, Yeah, yeah, yeah, go cry me a river. Yeah, I've been there been that power. Yeah, I see you later. I don't think it happened that

and ever since, ever since. It was in December also, so you know management at the times Zerold it was in December. They said, who would be the best guy to tell every all of our employees that they won't have a Christmas this year? This is Scrooge Christmas. Yeah, it stole a lot of things. Oh man, what the spots bags? What spot? Unbelievable? And so how long before

you started working for the Cowboys? Oh? It was another nine years I freelanced, remember, Oh yeah, Well, because you were with freelancing and you were what was the inside? What was the skip? Baylor's the inside, the Insider? That's right, right,

did the Insider? And then talk radio started and I started working at the Ticket, and the Cowboys got good, and there was all the freelance I could handle from all around the country, people wanting stories on the cowboys, and you know that kind of saved me that they got good when there was work to do. Yeah, when when did you When did you realize, I want to know, when you realize that, hey, this might not be a bad thing. When did you realize that to change and

communication was coming. It took about six months because that's when we started the Insider, uh, And that's when I started getting freelance and doing other stuff being you know, the correspondent for USA Today and Sporting News and things like that. So I picked up a lot of work, uh, and I picked up some TV stuff. Uh, And then the radio thing happened, and yeah it. I ended up doing it till two thousand when I started with the

Cowboys and on TV. Yes, yes, twenty years see. So that was all you have to start grooming yourself like damn, my nose hairs out of control? All right, Well that's a good way to kick off this. At this the mix shot us. And so when we come back, maybe we will move on to Cincinnati. We will see when Mike shots can continue us in a moment. Hey, they're Cowboys fans. With Type Cleaners at home pickup and delivery,

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will be a noon kickoff. We talked about that yesterday. Cowboys next out of Sunday night football to a noon kickoff. That's right, That's right, guys. That that that's that's I'm sorry, that's still pretty embarrassing. Uh, you know, to go from prime time to noon. I mean they could have put them at three thirty, right, They just dropped them all

the way down. Is that punishment? You know? Is that just sticking it to the Cowboys because they I'm sure they have other slots they could have chosen, but they put us all the way down to noon. I think, well you know that they had those Yeah, yeah, it does. It doesn't matter. Obviously. You can move anything around the way you want, so there's there's no precedent set here. It's like we can do anything we want. Oh you were you were scheduling for the evening. No, no, not

the Cowboys. You guys are not going to embarrass this station. So that's just you know, the three twenty five window is is for TV networks, that's considered a prime window that late Sunday afternoon, and so they would be going from prime time time Sunday night to almost primetime at three twenty five on Sunday. So if you're not gonna be and so they will have multiple games at three twenty five, but the second game that's not the primetime game.

You're just going into your own local markets anyway. So you actually probably have more people getting the Cowboy game even with a three and nine or what will be a four and nine Cowboys Steve next week against San Francisco, you'll get them to ground. Chuck, come on, exactly what happened? That's the right the country's looking at us. Now we are ground Chuck. You know what, though, there's hope on the horizon. You know, why tell me thirty seven year

on a Cincinnati. It's nothing about the past, nothing about the futures right now with Cincinnati. There you go. We're on to Cincinnati. Could you hear that? Finally so sounded like Bill Belichick. I know that gravel. I know that gravelly voice. I know that gravelly voice. Uh huh, that's right. We're onto Cincinnati. And here we are. We're onto Cincinnati. And what update do you have from the Star in

Fresco Mickey Spagnola about the Cowboys and the Bengals. Well, the Cowboys basically had a practice today, but it was closed to everybody, and Mike McCarthy didn't was not scheduled to do his uh media conference call. We're supposed to get players, and I think it should have happened maybe started a half hour ago. But yeah, I saw some quotes from Zeke. Yeah, Zeke was supposed to talk, and you know yesterday he was limited. They listed him as

limited in practice and they didn't practice. It was just a projection of what would have happened had they had they had they practiced so Anthony Brown and Zeke were listed as limited, Cam Irving and Donovan Wilson were listed as out, and the Bengals had a whole bunch of guys that were not injury lated missing practice guys like Geno Atkins, Mike Daniels, AJ Greene, and then they had a couple other guys that missed the limited T Higgins and Alex Redmond with a concussion. And they said Brandon

Allen had a full practice. But again it was a I think there two was a well the Cowboys was a projection. There's wasn't. They actually practiced yesterday and they do expect Brandon Allen to play. He did his media availability yesterday. Yeah, and he had left. He left her last game at a chess contusion, and it was Ryan Finley who finished up against the Dolphins last week. And it looked like the Cowboys. Brandon Allen is the guy. It looked like the Cowboys. We're going to have a

light practice today. So I don't I'm not sure what we'll get on the practice report when it comes out. It wasn't really And I think what he's trying to do is keep get their legs underneath them to play this next game and not wear them out in practice. So no major injuries in the last game that we have to worry about anyone missing the game, not that we not that we detected after the game, except for Zeke.

And I'm sure that happened at the game at some point, because it seemed like Pollard that second half was starting to get a few more snaps, although he finished with thirty one and he'd been averaging somewhere between low twenties to thirty a game over these last five or six games, So I don't know if that was indicative of Zeke having problems with that calf or not. But we'll see going forward what takes place there. Thought. I thought Zeke

ran pretty well in the ball game. What was numbers? Yeah, I got them somewhere here. I got it. He ended up eighteen for seventy seven. He and he ended up eighteen carry seventy seven yards and then four catches for eighteen. Really ran well on that screen pass that they finally executed correctly, and and uh and Tony Pollard was at seven carries for ten yards until that last play of the game where he went for about twelve yards to

finish eight for twenty two, right, yeah, Pollard. I like Pollard's u involvement in the game plan from every aspect. You know, we talk about what he can do from the line of scrimmage, but that kickoff return, you know, that's something that I think he can consistently be effective at just using him all over the field. You know, he's got He's become a nice bright spot for this offense.

A nice I wouldn't say a surprise, but when you when you have a season right now full of so many disappointments, I would not put him in that category of disappointments. I will put him as just one of the more positive points, positive points for this game, for this team. Actually, yeah, you know what, and as this seasons wore on, they've had a couple more. I think

Neville Gallimore had a nice game once again. Now you see what he does right now, there's probably things he does wrong, and you know we're not charting those, but I think he ended up in four tackles. Yeah, he had four tackles in the game, and he just seems to be getting more active inside. So that was kind of a somewhat of a bright spot for a defense that just continues to struggle. You know, I you know, they're they're last in the league, giving up three hundred

and ninety three points in twelve games. That is a pace of thirty two point seven five a game. And I figured out if these last four, if that they are on that same pace, they will give up five hundred and twenty four points. Five hundred and twenty four points. The single season record for this franchise in its sixty first season is it four hundred and thirty six and twenty thirteen. They're gonna beat it by over like almost one hundred points. It's unbelievable. That's not a record yan

I have. It's it's I have been there. It's tough. My last two years with Dallas, if I'm not mistaken, we were three and thirteen. Tom's last year, yes, and of course Jimmy's first year one in fifteen. So that's got only four wins for myself and those guys in

in two years. In other words, you were Cincinnati, boy was I Oh my god, I mean you're Cincinnati the last two years because Zach Taylor, I think they're at four twenty three and one or something like that here the last since he took over his head coach, but go ahead ever since. No, what I was saying was I know the frustration. You know, as a fan, I'm always posting about how disappointing it is and things that nature. But as a former player, being in that particular, that

exact same position, just a feeling. You're talking about not being able to stop the run. They're not even trying to pass the ball most of the time. You're not being able to stop the run. Every drive that you go out there is hard to keep that positive mentality. Everything that you do doesn't work out. You see you guys up front, they can't stop the run. Holes are opening up. Linebackers know where to be found. And these

are talented people that you are playing with. You know that your teammates are talented, but then you see the futility of it all. Coaches can't do anything. You go into the meeting every day, same thing, day in day out, that hum drum, just same old feeling that comes over you. It's a really tough situation to be in as a player. As we look at it from the outside, you know, guys like you Sax build you guys you can write

about it. You're frustrated even writing about it. Just think if you're a player out there with any type of pride trying to do something to change anything, and no matter what you do, it doesn't work. I do feel for those guys. Trust me, I've been there. I know that futility. But man, my only my refuge was the fact that they kicked me out of there. How do you how do you make that change? And as part of the solution, that's the toughest part. How can you

be part of the solution. So give Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Let me say, give Jimmy Johnson credit in regards to coming from one to fifteen and then the next year you go I think seven and nine, right, and they were like right in until the end with Babe and trying to do this thing. Yeah yeah, and then eleven and five. That's the genius to be able to pull yourself out of this situation. Like I said, I

was blessed. Why I just made a phone call and I knew what my plan was individual, But to take a team, to take an entire team from this situation back to prominence, that's gonna be the tough thing to do. Jimmy did it very well with his coaching staff and

the talent that they had. But the Cowboys right now, I have to see what that formula is gonna be for them to turn all of this around, because eventually you gotta start climbing your way back up, and you have to have the same the guys with the right attitude. You don't want those same guys that you know have that same old old woe is me attitude. You want

a different attitude. And how the coach and staff is going to be able to do this or how this organization's gonna be able to do this, that's gonna be a tough task. Yeah, And you know, the culture of the team had changed so dramatically for people that had been there with twenty consecutive winning seasons, and then you go seven and nine, seven and eight, three and thirteen one in fifteen, seven and nine, you end up with what five sixth straight or five straight losing seasons after

twenty consecutive winning seasons. But it ended up getting turned around that ninety one season when they win eleven and five and actually won a playoff game in Chicago. Kelvin Martin's punt return I thought was the biggest play that probably the biggest play of this the new franchise. That's the biggest play to me of the new franchise because I never thought they could go into Philadelphia and win that game. And let's be real, that defense was the

reason that they were able to do it. We talk about Troy Eigman, we talk about the triplets and all of that, but that defense was the reason that that team was able to hold on and win the Philadelphia game. Wake come back from break. I got a memory about that game that I'll share with you guys. Okay, I was there. It was very cold, and it was cold, it was windy, and I will agree with Everson on the Kelvin Martin punt return. More mix shots coming up in just a moment. We're back in a tasty treat

that's sweeping air waves and taste buds. It's new Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda. Let's take a listen Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda. Is he a new Combonlet's music to my ears? Okay, doctor tis music to my ears and mouth New Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda. Delas dear, it's nineteen o eight. Don't you think we should get electricity. Stop using candles to see it night. It's just electricity lights up the room fast. It's more reliable than candles

blowing out, and people seem to love it nationwide. Well, candles, dare Did you just run into the wall? May I have a new candle? Please? Historically, switching to new technology is a no brainer. Today it's AT and T five G fast, reliable, secure, and nationwide. Switch to AT and T five G. It's not complicated. Five G requires compatible plant may not be in your area. See att dot com slash five G for you for details. I'm Jay Novachek, former tight end for the Dallas Cowboys. Back in the day.

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two more slure back back to mix. Shots six Decades of Dallas Cowboys Football is the official book marking the team's sixtieth anniversary, featuring never before seen photos, recaps and results from every season dating back to nineteen sixty, as well as behind the scene stories and the top sixty players in Cowboys history ranked. It is the perfect gift for every Cowboys fan. Get yours today at Shot dot Dallas Cowboys dot com or wherever books are soul good jobs.

That was a good way to go wherever books are sold. Are you saying? Are you saying? Ever since that he was teetering at some point, I was teetering, but he he didn't. He did not elect to run a fake punt. Yeah. There was a couple of words in there that we're kind of tricky. Yeah, So there there was a great testament to just go with it. Okay, let the game play out, Let the read play out. There's no reason for a fake punt here, even though you since that's

exactly right. Yeah, that's right. If we were taping, this started over right, But when it's live, you just pushed right there. I tried, I tried. There are no false starts. You know, life is one big false start for some of us. Oh, all right, you had a story to tell. Mickey had a story to tell about Dallas Philly. Yeah, that nineteen ninety one, and it was cold, and I do remember that. You remember the I don't know bill if you got to sit in the press box where

all the writers were. The press boxes were separated at the vet the like the home team was on one side, the TV cameras the radio booths were in the middle, and then the visitors were on the other side of the press box. And there was a window there that was removable because they put a camera in there, so if it was thirty degrees outside, that window was opened

the whole game. And that poor cameraman used to get the worst stairs you've ever seen, because we're in there covering a game and we might as well, have our coats and hats and gloves on, because it was like sitting outside. I do remember that punt return. I do remember I Colt coming back and picking somebody off. It probably would have been a penalty in these days, but he nay somebody and was the last guy that could get Kelvin Martin tackled and on the team charter coming back.

They probably didn't need to to any how, should I put it, they didn't need any fuel in that plane because you'd never seen guys celebrate lar and I mean the guys up front, the coaching staff, because they were under a lot of pressure, right they were the new guys, and they finally broke through and that was a big moment. And uh, I happened to be on the charter because after the paper folded. So we'll go back to where

we started. I get a call from Maryland Love, Jerry Jones's ministrative assistant, and she said, Jerry thinks you guys deserve to finish out the season, so if you want to go to the game, we'll put you on the charter and put you at the hotel with the team. So that's amazing, And so I walk up to the front there, and Jimmy kind of motioned me up and

they're celebrating. They're all over he hugging and and I told him, I said, you know, I said before the season started, I said the over under for wins for the Cowboys this year was like eight and a half. He goes eight and a half. He goes, Man, for me, that would have been a paycheck bet, because they ended up getting to eleven and and and that game gave

him ten. Uh. And then I think they finished the season off beating um, I want to say the Bears, and maybe in the last game or something like that. But anyway, yeah, that it was a huge celebration on that flight back. And uh. And who was the quarterback for the Cowboys that day, Steve Burline. That's right, that was a quarterback. That was the one. Jimmy read him

the Riot Act before the game. He's and he basically said, under no circumstances do you take a sack and get that defense all riled up with that front and the crowd all riled up. He goes, I don't care if you go three for fifteen in the first half, you

throw the ball away. You do not take a sack. Well, he listened because I think he was like four for twelve or some ridiculous number like that until they got that punt return and then put the game away in the like was a late third quarter or fourth quarter when that happened. But yeah, Burlton listened to what he said because we're gonna make sure we played defense and we don't give him anything. And that was the instructions.

And then just lets you know, guys, the same old tried and true offense what sales tickets, and defense wins the games. It is so prevalent right now. The only teams in the NFC East that are playing defense are the ones that actually have a chance at this point to make it to the playoffs. Even as bad as the NFC East looks right now, you have two teams,

two teams in the nfcast. When it's all said and done and everything balances out, those two teams have a chance to win because of how good their defense is. All you got to do is hold on. All you gotta do is not make mistakes, play good defense, let your special teams work for you. And with the Cowboys, it's so funny because they started off with that mentality and then as they start to win the Super Bowls, it all became about paying offensive players. They're the ones

that they keep on the team. But guys like Ken Norton, he's gone. You know, your middle linebacker is gone. Yet you still continue to win. But there's no emphasis put on defense for this entire organization. I think they need to kind of kind of pivot a little bit. And of course you still have the amazing offensive players, but I wish we would really concentrate more on being creating a culture of defense around this organization. You know. And the other part of that is that was a December

game in frigid Philadelphia. Okay, you take you back to Tuesday night in Baltimore. You talk about special teams, Okay, and it's a different game in December when you're playing out in the elements. Okay, it was a thirty nine forty degree night in Baltimore. The other night on Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati. I think the high temperature it's gonna be thirty nine and forty degrees when they play in Cincinnati. You cannot kick the same length field goals when it's

in the thirties, is what it is. In the seventies, okay, And so when you're kicking these fifty yard field goals, your chances of making I don't know what the analytics say on making fifty yard field goals when it's thirty eight degrees outside, but I guarantee you it's not as great as when you're kicking when seventy eight degrees exactly, that's right. But they don't have to hook or fade. Well, no, but but as a kicker that means he has to

put more effort in training. He's trying to compensate be a different dynamic. Yes, right, rights fast. I'm not giving a pass. I want him to make those field goals, but there is a dynamic too kicking a heavier ball and how it was going to go through there. And it wasn't just cold that night, Bill, it was windy windy as well. So you can see it. You can see it just playing with them try no matter way you kick it. I mean justin Tucker early in that

game has his seventy field goal. Uh Street mayfield goal streaks snapped, you know, because inside forty yards and so that was an indicator that maybe maybe it's not a good night for field goal kickers. That's why you need to have a team that is built for the playoffs, and that starts with defense and special teams. All right, never an hour, ever change nine miles in Baltimore. I'll give you what was it in Philadelphia? Oh that I don't know what it was, but it was nine an

hour in Baltimore. Ye, I'll give you that. That could have been a burst, Nicky, was the last time you were on that inner harbor in Baltimore? That that way? Don't kick up? Oh no, I know it will. The windchill was thirty two miles an hour. Wind the windchill was thirty two miles an hour. On that note, Chris giving us, you know, it's a good thing you had that recording. We at least mentioned Cincinnati for forty five minutes. Yeah,

well tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, we are definitely on the Cincinnati. Okay, We're onto Cincinnati tomorrow and mix shots. So we will see you again on Friday. Go Cowboys. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.