Mick Shots: No Shortage Of Topics

We're following the social distancing rules making sure everyone is safe. So I gotta check in with you guys during this quarantine. How have you guys been holding up so far? Well? I think pretty well, you know, being able to work at home and do basically everything we would do in the office. The only downside is is we don't bump into anybody to talk to, uh to get some information I'm getting ready for this draft. But other than that, you know, we're still doing our podcasts and uh still

uh feeding the monster Dallas Cowboys dot Com. So still writing and uh yeah, kind of staying busy, although uh you don't get a chance to talk too many people. You know, I've been doing okay here on this end. I'm working out a lot. Oh my god, spags you and I. We're gonna have a little contest when it's all setting up. Well, we'll have to tour to North Texas, right, we right, we might have. We're gonna we're gonna start out with an ab contest. I want to see what

your abs. Oh gosh, yeah, I would love to see that. Who could do more crunches? Oh my gosh, I'm not come back looking like us dog buffed up a little uh wowa something coming up there. You scared me, Bro. I can't believe you're getting the shah. I don't think so. Right. Yesterday I rode my bike out into the country and I went down some roads that I'd never been on before, and I was like, I don't know where I'm at right now, and I don't know if I've gone too

far to get back in one piece. So but it all worked out and ended up being a huge circuit. And it's amazing you guys out this way, this part of North Texas or North Texas here. Uh, the amount of a country that's out here, the amount of horse fires and the mansions that are out here. I just want to know what these people do for a living. They're steal these bags, they steal, that's how they got it. They stole the minor I've seen. I've seen more equestrians centers,

and I ever knew that. I knew there was one or two out here, but there must be six or seven. It's amazing. But it's great to be out on those country roads. No one's bothered you, and I'm within I'm not within six feet of anybody. I'll guarantee you. There you go, you're following the rules. I love that making back out there with nature. But I know you've been watching some TV two even watching some of those old

games that have been reairing. Yeah. I actually yesterday it was the first time I see I got to go to the National Championship game, the LSU Clemson game, so I never saw the game on television. I never heard the commentary, and so yesterday it was on and I said, oh, let me watching it. I think I watched the majority of the second half, and the one thing I was

surprised about in the third quarter. And remember and Everson, you jump in on here, but Clemson had a pretty good defense, and in that third quarter they were starting to give LSU a little problems and Burrow wasn't completing every pass right, And I heard the guys say, oh, I don't know, Joe looks like he might be ill. He's I don't know if he's heard. He's not playing well,

he might be sick. And I'm sitting there watching this, and as the game continued, I said, the only sick thing about it were the dimes he was dropping on his receivers. It was ridiculous, some of those touchdown passes. Right. You know, it was kind of looking at that whole game, Spags. You look did the entire game. That was some amazing football. You had two great quarterbacks and once again we talked about the wide receivers, the studs that they had in

their game on both sides. That was something that was very impressive. That was one of the more talent ritten exciting playoff games I think I've ever seen in college football. Yeah, and they were. They were starting to give Lawrence the clums and quarterback a hard time, and I'm going, yeah, the reason he's having a hard time is that the LSU front is getting after him. He didn't have a lot of time in the pocket, so it was kind of good to go back and watch that. And then Danny.

The other thing I watched, and it was on last Saturday they showed. It was a replay of all the Peyton's places, the half hour shows that they were showing me, and I had never seen one of them because they were on ESPN Plus and I don't have it. So they were broadcasting these on ESPN, and I started watching one or two or three, and then I said, you know what, I don't know how many of there are, but I'm going to record the whole series. So I just kind of I binge watched like half of them.

What did you learn, spags? Tell me what you learn? Well, here's the one I did learn, and it was about the the Lombardi Trophy because I had forgotten that. You know, once they came up with the trophy in those first years of the Super Bowls, it wasn't called the Lombardi Trophy, right, It was called something like the Professional World Professional Football Championship, and they inscribed that on the trophy, and it was

a traveling trophy. It was like the Stanley Cup, so the winner got to keep it for a year with the team's name on it. And then in nineteen seventy, when they decided after Vince Lombardi passed away after his one year coaching the Redskins, they decided to name the trophy the Lombardi Trophy. So the first year of the Lombardi Trophy was actually nineteen seventy and it dawned on me. And when I saw that, I said, oh, the Cowboys had an opportunity to win the first Lombardi Trophy since

they were in Super Bowl five. They ended up losing to Baltimore sixteen to thirteen, and they could have and that's when they finally gave the trophy away. So they had made a new one every year. And the funny thing, and this is certainly what I didn't know for sure, and Everson you'll remember this. And uh, like midnight in nineteen eighty four, the Baltimore Colts left Baltimore for Indianapolis, right, uh, and no one knew they were leaving. They just kind

of took off. And yeah, that was way before social media. They couldn't get away with that. Now, there's no way they could get away with that. Which, by the way, all you. All you would call was uh, Mayflower trucks being moved and packed up. That's all that they showed that in the dead of night. They snuck out in the dead of night. That was one of the more classless moves I think by any organization until Model came and reversed it with to Baltimore from Cleveland. So do

you remember that happening? Like, were you shocked when you heard a team that you probably could play moved to Indianapolis? That that was a low blow. I was shocked at the entire sports world was shot because they just couldn't believe that a team would would first of all, be able to do it under my under cover of darkness, which it just seemed like such a sneaky way. Could you imagine if a brother had to pay his bills and he just leaves his apartment right not paying his bills.

Come on, they'd be looking for They'd be looking for him all over. Or what if the Chargers just decided, Okay, tonight, we're leaving San Diego for La which I will yeah, and you know daddy. And the funny thing was is so they were awarded the Lombardi Trophy. Uh and in their agreement with the city. When they left, they left the they decided the city of Baltimore said, no, that trophies ours, it's nut yours. And so they left the trophy behind. Oh my gosh. And when I mean, come on,

tell me, that's Cleveland going to Baltimore. That's the same things that I think, right, it's right. They left the records behind, right, and so Cleveland would not let them take anything. When Payton was trying to do the story on the trophy, UH, they basically showed said, okay, we'll show you where we're keeping the trophy. And it was in the basement of the Babe Ruth Base. You'll have the trophy. Yes, it's still base, not on display. It's down in a basement, just sitting on a table. And

I was like, okay, that's a waste. This is too good. So those were some of the things I think I learned. And now here's the other one. And I don't know ever soon if you'll remember this, but that year when the Cowboys went to the Super Bowl, uh, they ended up with a two game losing streak kind of mid season uh. And in the big showdown against the Saint Louis Cardinals, who were in first place at the time. Uh, the Cowboys at the Cotton Bowl get wiped out thirty

eight to nothing. They turned the ball over six times. And now after nine games, they're sitting there five and four, and everybody is given the team grief right there under fire. This is a team that was supposed to be really good and they're sitting there at five and four, and Tom Landry goes, well, the only way we're going to get in the playoffs if we win the last five

games in a row. And they won the last five games, finished ten and four and in the first round of the playoffs beat Detroit just pummeled him five to nothing. That they win. Then they win the NFC Championship game seventeen to ten over samfra Tom Tom Landry called that Detroit game the most dominating defensive effort he's ever seen

by a doomsday defense. Yeah, and that's what's at their height, right, and that's kind of uh they were had You had meyl Winfeld back there doing his thing, doing his d Sanders thing. You had Cornell Green playing both safety and corner at that time. I think he got I'm not sure if he got all Pro at safety that year or if he got All Pro at cornerback that year, but that he was such a diverse player for the Cowboys. That's when you had the versatility, you had the talent,

and you had the scheme all in one. That was a perfect storm for the Dallas Cowboys defense at that time. That's when that's really when doomsday became alive. Right, and then you know they go to the Super Bowl and they basically hold Baltimore to sixteen points and they get beat sixteen thirteen, but giving him sixteen thank you. Yes, So when you had the John Mackie, the John mcke double double tap U double tips, so to speak, you couldn't you couldn't. You couldn't tip the ball to a

to your own player, right right? And how wentz bags? Yes, so they tipped the ball John mckincardon went seventy plus yards, Charlie Waters, Cliff Haris going crazy out on the field. But they didn't take it back. No, we play at that time, of course, so the mistake is mistake. It stood. So that's how close to Cowboys came to winning the first Lombardi Trophy. And then we know what happened after that. They went back to the Super Bowl the next year

and won the first chapel. But I'll tell you with me, I've I've been so bored around here. So I decided to stroke my ego one day. Danny Oh, nineteen eighty one was you know, that's the my rookie year. I get eleven picks. No one's got the eleven interceptions since that year. That's a long time ago. So I go back and I think I'm gonna give my my ego stroke. And all I see was all the times I was getting toasted. Right every time I looked up, I like, I forgot about that play. Oh my god, I got

about that touchdown. Wow, I forgot I gave up those many yards in that particular game. So at first, you know, I started trying to fast forward to my interceptions. That took too long, and so I started calling people. I just started calling the guys that were toasting me. So I called her call Michael, and I cursed him out. I called boy Green, I called him an old goat. And I didn't mean that in a in a complimentary way. I was just calling everybody that I called everybody that

beat me. It was so I got caught up with a lot of guys. We had some good conversations. That's after I ended up, After I cursed him out, I ended up. We had ended up having great conversations, having a good time. But that's what I've been doing, going back on YouTube, watching old Cowboy games and reliving those moments, and you know, it's it's it's good, of course, just

to see those those old memories. But man, you look at the guys that are not here, and that kind of really took me, took me back a little bit as far as the guys that are gone now and the guys that are you know, that are kind of sick right now. And it's just so amazing when you look at the history of the Cowboys and and just

my own brief history here in Dallas. Uh, And you look at your teammates that you you had that bond with, You look at your folds that you actually had relationships with his well post career, and uh, it really made me kind of connect a lot with the people that that I had played with and played again. I called Tony Hill, Who else did I call? I called Billy Joe Dupree. I was just calling everybody, and you know,

just having a good time just making some calls. So that's my that's been my connection through this entire coronavirus. Then you should you should have given Tony Dorsetta call. It was his birthday on Tuesday. You're right, You're so right. I should have give him a call. Found these things that are forty years old, and you found us? Oh yeah, and you on YouTube and find anything. My shame is. My shame is on YouTube, up and down the line. That's good, well, mickey, UM, I have some homework for

you for next week for the Paynes places. You need to go watch the Emmett Smith one. I did the one that they did with Emmett far Vron, Eric Dickerson. Was it that one? Um? I can't remember if it was all three of them. I remember watching it like on social media when it they put it out a couple months ago. But he has the storage unit and it's gone. I saw that football You did see that one? Okay? Yeah? I like that right? And that's and Peyton ever said

Peyton Nascomb. He goes, so is there something in here I can take as a souvenir? He goes, absolutely not. But but the story is Emmett when he when he first started, he would he would keep every touchdown ball that he remember and they put it in and then his dad in Pensacola, um he uh he up. And this was at the at the advent of trading cards and so he epped en up basically a souvenir shop and they had all the balls there and Emmett would just keep storing them in boxes and had to get

a storage unit because he had so many touchdowns. Yeah, it was a pretty cool that was That was one of the pretty cool stories. Absolutely. They also showed the one about making the football and they walked into the lady who was sewing them by hand, and she was shocked that Peyton was standing there. Yeah, it was pretty

good stuff. You're exactly right. I used to I used to keep all my interceptions from my rookie year, and I found out that I would if you give them away to charity, you know, they would bid on them, right, And so pretty much I'd say nine out of the first eleven interceptions I gave away to charity, I kept for my first one. I kept my first one, and I don't know the other one I gave to my nephews. So yeah, it's it's all to up. Did they make you pay for him? No, they did not. Eventually we

pay for everything. Okay, well you pay. You did a better job than Drew did. After he cut the hill, Mary ended up throwing the ball out of the stadium and they never found the football. And get you know what, that is one of the most controversial things ever. Someone has that ball. Absolutely okay someone You would think they would come out with it, but they were so mad in Minnesota. They may have gone home and thrown it into the fireplace or something, or they blew it up,

deflated it or something. Yeah. Absolutely, yeah, Oh my gosh, um, okay, well real quick, going back, Mackey, when you were watching that uh national you're watching that title game with LSU, there's uh you were talking about the defense and they have got some amazing defensive players going into the draft this year, and you kind of touched on that front defensive line, But there is a player in the secondary who is a really top candidate for the Cowboys with

that seventeenth pick. And I'm sure Everson you have a lot to touch on talking about safety, Grant Delpit. Yeah, I saw where Gil Brandt, Cowboys former personnel director and he's still keeping a hand in the NFL after all these years. Said that when they asked him, who do you think the best safety is in the draft, and he said Grant Delpot LSU, and yeah, he's a good one. And Everson, I understand that, you know maybe a little bit about the mister Delpot. Well, you know, I've got

my connections in New Orleans. My college roommates from New Orleans, and of course that's my second family down there. And they talked about the del famed family and how prominent they are in the city. Talked about how this young kid came up even from a from an early age, he was always a stud. And when you look at how he played in the in the playoffs, I was impressed with how he challenged the receivers for Clemson. I had never seen anyone challenge receivers the way he was

down the field. He took the proper angles. He was very anticipatory on every play that was coming down the pike. Now, of course they were able to Clemson was able to get some good plays down the field because they have amazing players at the wide receiver position. But when you look at his play, not only is he adept at playing the ball. He's also a very physical and aggressive defensive back. Right now, you would have to give him. I think he's the top defensive back in the draft.

I thought that as soon as I saw him play, because the ball skills were evident. There was no confusion out there. He was never out of position. And of course there were times when the ball there were playing still made on him. But that's just the way it was in that particular game because you had talent all over the field, but he even stood out amongst all of that talent. And that says a lot about him when you're looking at the game. That just possessed so

many great athletes in their game. Yeah, and if you look at cowboy needs, you know, and gosh, that's a that's a whole segment, right, a whole probably show because there's so many needs, right you know, in safety's one of them, cornerbacks one of them. Uh yeah, and he was awfully aggressive against the run. Now, Gill said, one of his one of his weaknesses is sometimes he doesn't tackle real well, takes bad angles. He goes, but that's teachable.

You could cure that he goes. But the coverage skills and his ability just to play that same position. He considers him that the best guy there, and I thought that was awfully interesting. Well, in years past, the Cowboys haven't used those early draft picks on safeties or cornerbacks. But you know, now we have a new coaching staff, so really anything is up for grabs, and defensive back is definitely a unit where the Cowboys are needing to

add some depth. We will have more discussion though, coming up about the draft and some of the players and things that are going on. And we've actually got a really great interview behind the scenes look at one of the virtual interviews the Cowboys are having to conduct now that everyone is social distancing. So stay with us. We'll have a behind the scenes interview right after this. I'm

Jay Novachik, former tight end for the Dallas Cowboys. Back in the day, I was the guy who always got the tough yards and that's why I run with John Deer today. In fact, I have a John Dear three zero twenty five E tractor that can handle any yard work I need to do, even the tough yards way out back. So if you have one acre or a thousand, John Deer has the equipment that's just right for you. Visit a John Deer dealer today and run with us.

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a great deal with America's best network. Come into an AT and T store to find out how to get one of our popular smartphones for zero dollars down based on GWS one score. Septmber twenty nineteen. Back back to Mixed Shots. Welcome back to mix Shots today. It means that we are two weeks away from the NFL Draft and just a reminder that you can get your draft coverage the Cowboy way with the official twenty twenty Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine Draft Guide, Featuring an exciting new look.

The guide includes all the information and analysis you need for the Cowboys upcoming draft. Get your digital copy today for only four ninety five. You can find out more on Dallas Cowboys dot com, Forward Slash Star and that's got a lot of great stuff. There's more than three hundred and twenty players listed. There's mock drafts writing from

the great Dallas Cowboys dot com writers. I mean that draft guide really has everything you need to know getting you ready for the draft in just two short weeks. And just the way that we are doing this podcast, virtually the Cowboys and all the other NFL teams are

having to start conducting everything moving forward virtually. They no longer we're able to have pro days, They're not able to bring in players for official visits, so they're having to do all those behind the scenes and Mickey, it's been pretty cool seeing the way that at least the Cowboys have been conducting these We've seen some of them go on the Dallas Cowboys social media this past week. Yeah, you guys are it's it's pretty neat, you know. I

was wondering how this stuff was gonna work. Well. The ones that we've been able to see basically has Jerry Jones sitting on a couch in one of his rooms at his house and he's got a huge video screen up on the wall and basically they're doing what we're doing right now. Everybody, uh that's involved in the interview has a little box up there and Danny, I don't know if you'll remember this, but it looks like Hollywood Squares, right, the old TV show with everybody in a boat. I

don't know. I don't know how you know, Mickey, I've watched those vintage shows, all right, very good. We got old school. Yeah, she had the game show Network right. Anyway, So they got Jerry, and they're showing the screen and they've got uh, Mike Nolan, the defensive coordinator. McCarthy's up there,

Harris the dB coach, Will McClay. So there was like six or seven people involved in it, and the one that stuck out to me was they were doing the interview with Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray, who, by the way, when I watched Oklahoma games and I saw this number eight, and I go, I don't know who he is, but I want number eight on my football. He is a linebacker, right,

and he's awfully good. So they conducted an interview with him on there, and it was one of the more amazing answers that I've heard a football player give to Jerry Jones question. And I thought it would be great if we just played it for you guys, because just to try to summarize it, I don't think I could do it justice. So let's hear Jerry Jones along with Kenneth Murray. Let me ask one that I ask it

quickly this play. If you can come up with a setback, if you can come up with where you had to really call yourself at any time in your life when you were young, you were kicked around or what do you think gave you a lot of the the setbacks or the controversy or the challenge that might have helped you be a football player? You are well, uh, you know, situation of them that that I would that I like to talk about it that's made me who I am on the field and off the field. You know, I

wouldn't say it's more so a setback. I say it's more so a blessing. I mean, you know, if you look at it the way I am, from the way you know my family has, it is a blessing. So um, you know, for me, I learned, you know, how to

be selfless an extremely extremely young age. What true gratitude is the extreame me engaged because of what I went through and so um, you know when when I was growing up, Um, my mom and my dad, you know, they they they they did some things that that were true acts of selfless, self selflessness and so UM, around the edge of eleven, my parents adopted three special needs kids and UM, you know, it's kind of a unique situation for us because you know, the disease that they

had was was was extremely extremely rare. Um. Only one of the set of children had it in the world. UM. And so that that pushed my parents into you know, one to twenty five thirty doctors suppointments a week, um, just to you know, be able to get the kids to the proper help that they need to get them um. You know, you know, started and get them the help

that they needed. So you know, you know, going through all that stuff and that that that was a time where you know, my parents were leaving on me a lot, given that I was the oldest. So you know, I was the kid that you know basically you know, my parents anytime they needed anything, anytime you needed um, you know, you know, things should be done. You know, I was the oldest shot, I was just wanted everybody was looking to UM. And so you know I wouldn't I wouldn't

say it was a set back. I would say it was a blessing. Because you know, at that at that age, you know, it really really forced me to be you know what what what you guys see on the field now, which is you know the product of a of a kid that's a go getter, of a kid that that just goes out, um and just and just get it for until um And and for me, you know, I've always been a self starter. Um. You know, I've never

been somebody that that that needs to be started. You know, I've always been a guy that's that's been the first thing to build it, last one out. And I think that's a direct by product of this how I came up and I had to go through as a kid, and you know, you know, early on, you know I was you know, I took you on top like I raised three kids already, because you know, you just got

to grow up fast. Um, you know, you know, going through that type of situation and then my parents you know basically you know, being from one lifestyle to a complete, completely other type of lifestyle. And so you know, for that, for us, you know, it was definitely a unique situation and it's definitely a situation that has mowed to me and maybe who I am today. I can't attends as strong.

Thank you, sir. These interviews are so important because it's not just that the Cowboys want to make sure they're drafting a player who can perform well on the field, but they're also trying to get a feel for who these guys are as people off the field and get a sense of their true character. And when you hear Kenneth Murray talk about his family like that and how he stepped up as a young kid, I'm not sure how you don't want someone like him on your team.

I'll tell you what. That's one of the best answers I think I've I've ever heard a player give off the cuff because he didn't really have a set back to refer to. He talked about what kind of made him the person he is on the field, the leader he is. And Everson, I think when when guys are like that, you sit there and you go, Okay, this guy can play, but he's also probably a pretty quality person. Well,

you know, Danny said it right. When you're talking about character, you know, we talk about grades in school, We talk about evaluations and for your dashes and how how you jump in all of this, you know a lot of being a good football player for a long period of time. Most of the time, those players have good character, They have something else that that drives them other than football. And you could just tell in Mary's case that this

guy was always motivated by things other than sports. You know, when you're when you're when you're burdened, for lack of a better term, with that kind of responsibility, and you come through it on the other side a better person. To me, that just says all about what Murray's all about. Uh, And lets you know that this guy is someone that you can depend on, hopefully to do things well off the field that will allow you to be a better

football player on the field. And that that sounds a little cheeky, A lot of sounds a little corny, but that stuff is real. That's why you have longevity with guys like a Bob Lily or you know, we went way back, guys that played a long time with the Cowboys, Guys like two tall Jones. You know now you're talking about Emmitt Smith, Troy Egman. These guys had they were there were things more important to them or as important to them other than football that kept them to be

good football players. You know, ever, since and you're so right, you know, and I realized, um, gosh, you know, coming out of college, basically I was around a lot of college football players, and then my first job covering some sports for a newspaper, I was close to the Atlanta area and I was able to cover some of the Atlanta Falcons games. And the more I was around some of those professional athletes and I realized how sharp they were. It's like, Okay, now I understand why these guys are

playing at this level. And it's not everybody, but the majority of the guys I ran into they were character guys. They could give you an answer like that, and it was like, Okay, that's why these guys are around the league. And as I got around it more and more I kind of understood. And that's why this time of the off season getting ready for the draft is so important because what they would do, you would do this one

on one in a meeting. But I always thought the interview process was as important, if not more, then watching a guy work out, because you've seen him play, you seen him on tape. But the character, I think is awfully important. There are times facts when you've got a player who you know he may not be that that a category player. He may not be that player, but

he might be on that B level. So the interview itself, in that case will make all of the difference, even more so than a player like Murray, who you know is going to be a number one pick. You know, you got those guys down there, second second rounders, you know,

high third rounders. Those interviews, those interviews will make all the difference in the world because that could be that that X factor that a team would say, you know what, instead of me taking this kid who's an amazing player, but he doesn't have much upstairs or doesn't have much going on otherwise, I think I'm gonna move up and take a chance on this guy. And most of the time those kind of players work out. So I know you didn't get drafted. Did you get any in pre

draft interviews? Heck no, I didn't. No interview was man, were you talking about? I didn't even get an interview for Winny Grown and he was from Grambling. Everybody after they saw my forty yard dads, they were like, okay, moving on. They stopped. They just made a brief stop at Alice's Diner in downtown Grambling and they kept moving on. Man, that was it? So were there were there when you got drafted? Were there seventeen rounds or was it down

to twelve by then? Oh? No, still it was only twelve. It was only twelve. But they held They held six on first day, six on second day? So did how did the Cowboys contact you? Then? Well, they I think I'm mistaken. They sent uh jethroll Pew. Uh sent jet Vill Pew. No, no, it was either Jethvill Pew. It was Wooden, but I remember one of them came. And uh, they came on the first day of the draft. So we're a free agent contract, by the way, which was

at the time, it was kind of off. There were still We're still on the first day of the draft and you're coming to me with a free agent contract. You can tell the future. So I was, I was done. I was done. Did you get any other offers from any other teams? Or was this? I got an offer from Buffalo at the time, and I got an offer at the time from the Aints with really the Saints, they were the Saints. But you know that's when the

bad that's when the bad thing was going on. Now, a little tit bit about that, you know, I'm looking down on the Saints because they were just horrible at the time, and of course the Cowboys that was going to be the place I was going to be because to me, it was the devil, you know. I mean, I knew the Cowboys organization was tough to deal with, but I knew about them, and so when you're talking about going to the Saints, I was like, it's no

way I'm going to that team. Well, they ended up being one of the better defenses in the history of the nineteen eighties for four linebackers. I think all of them are Hall of famers, and so it just l to know that it maybe if I would have gone there, you never know what would have happened. But when you're a free agent, when you might not be on the show ever, so I sort of saying, went there, you might not be on the show if you're a free agent. Though at that time, you want to go to an

organization that's going to be accountable. When you go to a one in sixteen one and fifteen Saints team, you don't expect accountability. So that's why the Cowboys were an easy choice. What was your sighting votus? Oh, it was fifteen hundred dollars. Wait, let me say let me say it differently. Let me say it differently. It was one thousand, five hundred dollars. That makes it sound like it's a bigger,

nuts better. Yeah, yeah, that sounds barely good. Oh my gosh. Well, I gotta say I'm glad that the Cowboys and the other NFL teams are still finding a way to get these interviews done, especially because of the combine. They cut the amount of interviews that the teams were able to conduct this year. So it's nice to know that they're able to still get this done to lead to that draft process. Real quick, I want to hear from you guys. This past week, Rex Ryan kind of went viral. He

was definitely trending on Twitter. He had some comments to say when he was talking about how Dak Prescott hasn't been he hasn't signed a new deal, but other players, specifically Amari Cooper, got a new deal before him, so he was kind of saying he doesn't like that. However, when he was talking about how Amari Cooper didn't perform so well on the road, he ended up whiles kind of talking pretty poorly about his character which people were not a fan of. Were you guys able to hear

his comments? Yeah, I read it, and you know, it's a typical Ryan family deal where they're kind of bombastic, and you know, I don't know did he feel that way or was he trying to make a splash to get noticed on the to get his name out there, to say, oh, yeah, I'm working right, And you know, I get it, I understand it. But I thought it was interesting this week. And I'm going to read a quick little thing here from Ron Rivera, the new head coach of Washington Redskins, and they were in on Cooper.

They were trying to sign him and when they asked him about him, and he said, Amari was someone that we chased very hard all the way up to the very end. He decided to return to Dallas. We were in it and we were talking about substantial money. But at the end of the day, he made a decision. He felt it was best, and we respected. He said. We would have loved to have him as part of what we're trying to do. Believe he would have been a great veteran presence in our room, especially for those

young guys. So Ron Rivera evidently didn't have the same opinion of Amari Cooper as Rex Ryan did. Where you know how, you know how the Ryans have always been spags and you touched on it earlier. You know, when you're talking about somebody like Cooper, we always look at the exception of his entire great career here in Dallas.

So that's just always the way it is. And I'm sure he was referring to the Patriots game and those those those stretch of games that where Cooper was clearly fighting through an injury, and so everyone was looking forward to the matchup between he and the Patriots secondary and just so happened the timing was bad for Cooper because he didn't come through simply, I think simply because of the injury and of course the conditions that they had to play in up in New England at that time.

But when you take a look at Mary Cooper's value to the Dallas Cowboys, you can't put a number on that. He turned our entire season, he turned Dak's entire professional career around because at that time Dak was up against a lot of variables that were affecting his game and affecting his coductivity here comes to Mary Cooper like Superman. He comes in, he saves the season, saves Dak's career, and now all of a sudden, he's a staple for

US here and with the Dallas Cowboys. I don't I don't mind the fact that he signed early for US at all. I like the fact that I believe that that Dak feels the same way. Also stags the fact that your wide receiver, your star wide receiver, signs first, you show him up. I'm pretty sure Dak Prescott doesn't have the same problem with that that Rex Ryan had. Yeah. Absolutely.

And the one thing you know, and I keep seeing it, and it's always nice when you can take some statistics and you kind of put him in a box and put a bow on top of it. With his numbers this past year on the road not as good as his numbers at home. But I think you have to remember and you need to point out you need to go in that box, right And there were two games one game. Now you're gonna it's gonna ruin his average because all he did was played three plays against the Jets.

He was hurt, he tried to play, and he played the first series and that was in so I didn't have any catches all right, And then in New England, as Everson just said, no one had had a lot of catches in the game. I can't tell that was one of the most miserable weather days I think I've ever witnessed. Not only did it rain the whole time, the wind is blowing twenty miles an hour and the

rains coming down in sheets. Right, Tom Brady. If you judged Tom Brady's performance off that one game, you would say I paying him twenty five million a year, right, No one. There was one touchdown in the game. And the only reason, and there was a touchdown in the game is the fumble the Cowboys had, right, and the Patriots get the ball at what the twelve yard line. So other than that, no one scored anything. No one was catching the ball, they were trying to run it.

It was just miserable. So those are two games, and you know, he take two games and put that in eight, Now, that will really mess up an average. Now. I know some of the other games he didn't perform as well, but as Everson said, there were times he was playing through an injury too. By the way, So go back to the year before and look at those final eight games, when nine games he had that he turned around the

Cowboys season that was going down the tubes quickly. And Danny, I must, I must add to that, Danny, the Cowboys this past season, when you look at Mary's numbers, the amount of catches he had could have been so much more. But we are blessed with a number backup tight end who's now starting tight end. We are blessed with a young man on the other side by the name of

Gallop that that just had a breakout year. We were blessed with Randall Cobb to be our slot guy begging for passes himself barely got fifty five catches, got his little quarter of a million dollar boners. You had a lot of talent out there that we had a chance to exploit. Zeke Elliott had fifty plus catches, So there was a plethora of talent out there from the wide receiver position. And Amari Cooper was still extremely impactful for

this team. So to me, that says even more about how important he is about this team than it does for the previous year when he came in and saved us and doing half the season coming from Oakland, absolutely, Everson, and also on his character. I mean, we're around these players, and even after those games on the road when Amari wasn't performing well, he knew it, and he would say he would stand about his locker, and he would talk to the meet and he would answer every question, and

he was holding himself accountable. So I think those comments about his character and it's just not true. That's not that's not who he is. He was holding himself accountable and he knows that he can and needs to be better. Well, Danny Everson will tell you that the Ryan family did never ever like the Cowboys. And as a matter of fact, Buddy didn't like Tom Landry. Who didn't like Tom Landry? Right, Buddy didn't even like players that came from the Philadelphia

team he was coaching to the Dallas Cowboys. If you recall, yes, they had the kicker, Danny. They had a kicker that came Zenn Dajas was his name, if I'm not mistaken, the kicker that came from Philadelphia to Dallas Cowboys. So Buddy Ryan wants to make an example of a kicker.

Who makes an example of a kicker. On the opening kick, they targeted the kicker doing the ball game pretty much knocked him out of the game, and that was his punishment for leaving the Philadelphia Eagles and going to the Dallas cowboyd So Buddy Ryan, Rex, Ryan, both of those guys, Yeah, they got they have. They have a stick after about the Dallas Cowboy, which is which is known to this day as the Bounty Ball, Right, the bounty ball. You put a bounty out on a kicker. That's petty, that's petty.

Oh my gosh. Okay, well, guys, we're still gonna have more to talk about. We got a whole other segment still to dive into things. So mix shots, stick around with us. We'll have more for you in just a moment. Since eighteen sixty five, Stetson hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Want to show your Texas and team pride too? You can by purchasing your own stepson. You can look just like how the

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both can use it. Oh my gosh, they are great. U this time asked week, guys, we had some breaking news. The Cowboys are trying to fill the loss of defensive end Robert Quinna free agency, who led the team in sacks last year. They've been trying to find a pass rusher on that right side, and they signed Aldon Smith

to a one year deal. Now, remember he hasn't played football in four seasons, but he is being reunited with Jim Tomsula, the new Cowboys defensive line coach, and Mickey, you were able to find out some of those details of his one year deal. Yeah, absolutely, and I think there was some you know, when guys signed like that, it's a lot of agent stuff. And initially it was reported as a two year, four million dollars deal, then it was a one year, two million dollar deal. Well,

here's the deal on his contracting the Cowboys. Really this is a low risk opportunity for them and an opportunity for Alden Smith if he gets reinstated. And let's start right there. He's still on reserves suspended, so none of his money is against the Cowboys salary cap at this point.

And we got to see if Roger Goodell reinstatesman. Before everybody gets excited about this, But what I noticed is basically he's playing for I think he's five five years into the league, six years into the league, so he's playing for basically the minimum of nine hundred and ten thousand dollars. That's it, and it's not guaranteed. So basically the Cowboys are betting nine hundred and ten thousand dollars and then the rest of the contract that adds up

to two million. It's one point zero nine million. Is all with various bonuses, various incentives in the contract that he has to meet. And I'll give you an example. He's got a bonus for per game, how many games you play, you get paid so much per game, you get paid a bonus if he gets reinstated, he gets a bonus if he goes to training camp, and he

gets a bonus if he plays two preseason games. And then he's got bonuses tied to how many sacks he produces, going from I think it was a minimum of eight to fourteen, and each level in between you get extra money. So again it's a very from a financial standpoint, a salary cap standpoint, a low risk that you could get a high reward. But Everson boy for somebody that hasn't

played in four years. You just wonder how long it would take him to get back in the swing of things, what his ability still is, and it's compounded by what we're going through right now, possibly no offseason. You know. The thing about this is you talk about him being a low risk sign, but he's a high risk individual. This guy has some serious issues. When he first started playing ball. You know, he had this amazing start where the first three years, I think he averaged like a

sack a game, which is almost unheard of. And along with that, though, was some other things off the field that were also unheard of. I believe he had some issues of alcohol issues that stemmed from that even and I think it was some domestic abuse problems that he was having that just really ran him out of the league. He ran himself out of the league. And so that's why those incentives are so important, because they want to

make sure that he stays on point. You can't look forward when you have the issues that he's had in life. You can't leave and look forward to the next day. And so I think those incentives are stated for that just for that particular reason. I don't know what went into this signing and Spags, I'm gonna throw that back to you in the set. But for someone even as amazing as he was, for someone to get consideration after three four years of being out of football, there has

to be some type of connection there. Not just a relationship with a coach, but there has to be a lot of back and forth going on. And even though you're talking about low risks, that's still a million dollars that you're putting out there for a guy that hadn't been the league for three, four or five years. To me, he's a obviously a high risk individual and he knows that because he's had his struggles. And so the Cowboys once again they're going after some guys that I guess

they think that they're worth taking the chance on. And once against facts, what was the connection that made them think that this was worth it? You know, I think number one it would have been Tom Sula. He had him those first four years in San Francisco, the new Cowboys defensive line coach. And then his agent is local

here in Dallas, so they may had a relationship with him. Uh. Now he's been in supposing, you know, going through rehab looks like he's getting better, and we'll find out if the NFL thinks he is uh, you know, made progress to the point where okay, we'll give you another chance. He's had a lot of chances, you know. I printed out his list of transgressions. Uh, and boy, it's like

a dozen. It's a long long list. And here're saying, also, Spags, when you start thinking about the other league, we just we just have a new league here in the in in America. We have a new team in Dallas. You know, they've got a kid that had his own issues coming out of the out of Carolina, Alexander I think his

named Frank Alexander, defensive end for the Dallas team. You know, you would think they would go out to guys who are also trying to work their way back into the NFL, and you know that could be like a little feeder system for them. So I'm surprised they jumped all the way back to the Algun Smith in San Francisco and they jumped right over some really decent athletes that they have on their their Dallas team. Well, the Dallas Winnigades,

the Runnegades, Yes, yeah, the Renegades. They have some decent talent on that team. I'm surprised they didn't try to sign one of those guys. And like I said, in particularly guy named Frank Alexander, who had a lot of potential when he signed with Carolina coming out of college. Yeah, and think about this, the last time Aldon Smith actually played in the game was around Thanksgiving of twenty fifteen. That's a long time and I don't know ever since. If I can think of somebody that's been out of

the league that long, I've never never seen successfully returned. Right, Winton was out one year, Right, he came back to Jones to talk. Jones was out one year, he came back. But yeah, and without that offseason, boy, that's going to make this one difficult. But we'll see because first and

four words, he's got to be reinstated before he does anything. Yeah, that's why I'm just gonna say macause it would be very, very helpful for him if he got reinstated and had OTA's mini camps a training camp, and we just we don't know what the future is going to look like. That's why we've been doing this virtually, why the Cowboys have been doing this virtually, why the NFL announced this week that the draft is going to be virtual, So that'll be something that we'll have to keep our minds

on real quick about the draft. It's going to be all virtual, like we've been seeing those behind the scenes interviews. Real quick, each of you, what is what concerns you the most about that or what excites you the most? What's one thing? Well, the all star of these this virtual draft is going to be the IT departments because they got to be perfect, right to keep the connections going,

keep the fodes going, keep the video going. And I know for a fact that these guys are working night and day to coordinate because all the coaches, the scouts, whatever, they're all going to be in separate places. So they're gonna be like us doing the draft. You know what we're doing right now, you know doesn't have anything to do with winning and losing, right, but this is going

to be serious important. And I was reading a story yesterday ever Sin that they said that they were going to try and do a dry run, like have a mock draft to make sure all thirty two teams they're hooked up together and they could communicate, they could communicate with the NFL office. They would have an open conference call line for everybody to use. Boy, that's a lot to coordinate. But again, and I think the tough thing

will be how are you going to make trades? You know, the conversations back and forth and you're on a video board, but you're gonna be on your phone. And that's true. Oh. I think ever Sin John also see that that that's a concern. That's what what if Jerry Jones drops off in the middle of the draft, right, uh? Or Stephen Jones And so yeah, that's the difficulty of this whole thing.

So uh, you know what, Uh, I remember reading this book, I think goes back in high school, Brave New World, and we are certainly in a brave New world situation here trying to conduct an NFL draft over uh the seven rounds without everybody meeting in person. Yeah, it'll definitely be a change for everyone, but hopeful that the Cowboys will be able to still do their jobs to the best of their ability. That's gonna unfortunately do it for us.

I think ever Sin might have popped off. But Mickey, thanks for Lenn Everson I pop on with you this week. We hope you guys had as much fun as we did. Stay tuned to Dallas Cowboys dot Com. The Draft Show is coming up live at eleven in the morning, and the Draft is two weeks away from today, so that crew is definitely going to have plenty to talk about for Mickey Spagnola, Everson Walls. I'm Danny Sak. Thanks for

watching Mick shots. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Clock.