Today, the Dallas Cowboys are an average football team that has won one playoff game since 1996 and will be without Tony Romo in a win or go home game Sunday.
But it wasn’t always like that. In fact, the Cowboys were THE team of the 1990s. The Boys had the "Triplets" in Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin. They were a true dynasty, winning three Super Bowls in four years.
While the current Cowboys squad looks nothing like the team from the 1990s, that doesn’t mean we can’t look back on the glory that once was. So here are….
10 UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS FROM THE COWBOYS DYNASTY
Honorable mention for being completely forgettable: Troy Aikman’s country music group
After winning Super Bowl XXVII, Troy Aikman, tight end Jay Novacek, special teams coach Joe Avezzano and former Cowboys Randy White and Walt Garrison thought it would be a great idea to form a country music group. Calling their band “The Boys,” the group released an album titled “Everybody Wants to be a Cowboy.” The first single is “Oklahoma Nights” and is sung by Aikman, who… well, just listen to it yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv0tLz39sZY
10. Aikman doesn’t remember 1994 NFC Championship
Aikman has no recollection of the win over the 49ers, a win which got Dallas to Super Bowl XXVIII. Aikman completed 14 of 18 passes and threw two touchdown passes in that game.
If the NFL had the concussion protocols in place it does now, Aikman might not have been able to play in Super Bowl XXVIII.
Aikman's career would eventually end after another concussion on a hit from LaVar Arrington.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BynBZNiE9EA
9. Super Bowl XXX: Larry Brown
Larry Brown was the Super Bowl MVP. Larry freakin’ Brown, a Round 12 pick. There isn’t even a Round 12 anymore.
Brown was supposed to be the nickel corner on the squad, but became a starter after Kevin Smith was injured. He was the weak-link of the defense, but picked the right time to have the game of his life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbIK3TCZEQI
8. Jimmy Johnson leaves and Barry Switzer is hired
Despite winning two straight Super Bowls, Jerry Jones wanted Jimmy Johnson gone. Jimmy wanted out. The two men just did not get along. Michael Irvin thinks the Cowboys could have won five Super Bowls if Jimmy had stayed. Cowboys fans will never know.
7. Leon Lett in Super Bowl XXVII
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTeqQY_T2mE
From fat-guy touchdown to embarrassment. If only that was the end of Lett’s mistakes….
6. Leon Lett's not-so-Happy Thanksgiving
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrU8z4w8T-4
“It's Leon Lett! Noooooo!”
Every year, Leon Lett’s Thanksgiving Day mistake gets played multiple times on NFL Thanksgiving Day pregame shows. Of course, it meant nothing in the long run, as Dallas went on to win the Super Bowl.
5. Deion Sanders signs
Jerry wanted a cornerback and he got the league’s best when swiped Sanders from the defending Super Bowl Champion San Francisco 49ers.
Sanders did it all; returned kicks, caught passes and shutdown receivers. Well, he did everything but tackle.
He had the swagger, the style and the dance moves. He was Neon Deion, Primetime and the greatest corner to play the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JSVGQjtuJc
4. Michael Irvin arrested on drug charges
Irvin’s arrest was the beginning of the end of the Cowboys dynasty. He loved to party, like many of the Cowboys did. His arrest helped to shed light on the problems the Cowboys had.
Irvin and some of his Cowboy teammates lived the star life. They drank (a lot), did drugs (a lot) and had sex (a lot).
Irvin’s arrest wasn’t the end of his problems, as he later stabbed a teammate in the neck. The Hall of Famer seems to have turned around his life, if his Hall of Fame speech is any indication.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWWmtMlO6Jk
3. Emmitt breaks TD record in 1995
Talk about a great Christmas present. Emmitt Smith scored his 25th rushing touchdown of the season against the Arizona Cardinals just before the holidays, setting the single-season rushing touchdown record. He also broke his own Cowboys’ record for most rushing yards in a season.
Although that record would later be broken twice, it doesn’t diminish the achievement.
2. Super Bowl XXVII
The Super Bowl that started the Dynasty. The final score said it was a blowout. A 52-17 shellacking by a Cowboys team that was among the best ever. But that wasn’t the reality. In truth, it was a close game until Dallas started to pull away late in the second quarter after Bills’ quarterback Jim Kelly was injured.
The Bills actually had a chance to tie the game early in the second quarter, but then Ken Norton and Thomas Everett stepped up. It was fitting that Norton made a key play, as he was one of the last players from the Tom Landry Era on the roster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olb10lOMe3o
1. Emmitt's entire 1993 season
I’m totally cheating here by making Emmitt’s entire 1993 season one giant memory.
Emmitt missed the first two games of the Cowboys’ season because of a contract holdout. Dallas wasn’t the same without him. When he returned, he was unstoppable. Smith came back to lead the league in rushing yards. He won the league MVP. He won the Super Bowl MVP as Dallas beat the Bills again for back-to-back Super Bowls. He is still the only player to win a rushing title, MVP and Super Bowl MVP in the same season.
But the greatest moment from that year (and of the Cowboys Dynasty) came against the New York Giants, in a game that decided the NFC East Division.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVHLRpg1WSE
More from Tom Downey:
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