Standing outside a Knights of Columbus hall Friday evening, Nate Newton entertained a circle of a half dozen people with a first-person account of playing against Zach Thomas.
This was 1996, the former Texas Tech linebacker was a rookie with the Miami Dolphins, and Newton and the then-mighty Dallas Cowboys had their way in a 29-10 victory.
“We kind of roughed him up pretty good,” Newton said of Thomas, “but after the game, he came up to me and said, ‘Hey, Nate, great playing against you. I learned a lot this game.’
“Most football players are alpha males, and whether we do good or bad, we just say, ‘Great game’ or ‘Good game,’ and keep going about our business.