Nick Eatman - Dallas Cowboys: Stories from the Dallas Cowboys Sideline, Locker Room, and Press Box

For Olivia, my superstar, my angel, and my world

Contents

Foreword by Darren Woodson

On April 26, 1992, I figured my life was about to change. My dreams of making it to the NFL were about to happen. It was the day of the NFL draft, the biggest moment of my life. At the house we had the draft on, but I didnt watch it. I couldnt watch. Instead, I went out for a round of golfand I didnt play golf.

Living out in Arizona, I had never gone golfing, but thats how much I wanted to get my mind off the draft. There was so much buildup and speculation that I just couldnt take it. I heard Id be selected anywhere from the second round to the third or fourth.

At this point I just wanted the process to be over. I was on the golf course when somehow my mom got me on the phone and congratulated me. Then my best friend, Floyd, called and said, You just got drafted by the team you hate.

I was so excited. All my dreams had finally come true. I was just happy to be in the NFL. But he was rightI hated the Cowboys growing up. I was a Steelers fan. Living in Arizona back then, we didnt have a team, so I rooted for anyone Dallas was playing. And it wasnt just dislike; it was hatred. I hated Drew Pearson and Roger Staubach. Thats how intense it was. My heroes were Mean Joe Greene, Lynn Swann, and Rocky Bleier. Those were my guys.

But when I was drafted by the Cowboys, everything changed. When I got to Dallas and saw Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones, reality just hit me: I am going to be a Dallas Cowboy! Thats all I kept saying to myself.

And I actually knew a little bit about the Cowboys. Everyone talked about Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, and Michael Irvin, but the guy I was excited about meeting was Ken Norton Jr. For some reason I just loved the way he played. Every time I caught a Cowboys game the year before, he was the guy I liked. He was just tough and nasty. He played the game the way I wanted to playphysical from start to finish.

But from that moment on, I was hooked. A team I grew up hating was now my team and my life. And I couldnt have been happier.

When I got there in 1992, we were ready to turn that corner. Theres no way I couldve gone anywhere better, especially after we won two championships in my first two years and then a third Super Bowl ring in my fourth year. I had four seasons in the league and three rings. A part of me thought I might get seven or eight before it was all said and done. But man, I never dreamed I wouldnt even come close to a fourth one.

In my next eight years, we never made it to the NFC Championship Game. We went through four more head coaches, and to this day, Im the only Cowboys player to have played for five different head coaches. I still dont know if thats a good or bad thing.

The longevity is nice, even though I still wish I wouldve played longer. One of my biggest regrets is not having more time with Bill Parcells. He came in 2003, which turned out to be my last season, but I learned more from him in a few months than I had in about five or six years.

If I had played more with him, I guarantee I would have been a hundred times the player I was and I still think my career turned out pretty well. I never considered myself a cocky person and still dont, but I was always confident.

When I think about all of the players I played with, all of the players that came after me, and even all of the players that were before me, I still dont think there has been a more versatile player to ever suit up for the Cowboys than me. You could argue Deion Sanders, who played offense and defense and returned punts. He was an amazing talent.

But I remember one of his first games back in 1995, against the Giants, and hes got big Rodney Hampton in the open field. Deion is wrestling with him and trying to bring him down. And Im over at my safety spot and Im flying to the ball. Surely Deion is going to get him down, but he hasnt yet. Im going full speed and when I get there Im right behind Deion and just smash him in the back, right into Hampton, and we all three go down hard. Deion, with that high-pitched voice, looks up at me and yells, Woody, are you crazy? Whats wrong with you?

I told him right then, Listen, if I have to run my ass across this field because youre not making the tackle, Im going to hit you, him, and anyone else I have toto make the play.

Thats just the way I played the game. I wanted to be all over the field and for the most part I was. I played safety, moved down to linebacker sometimes, and could play the nickel corner. In todays game, you see teams paying a lot of money for a nickel cornerback, but I played the slot my whole career. And I played all of the special teams, too.

One of the things Im most proud of is knowing I played for a dynasty team and never really came off the field. Im hoping one day to see my name up in the Ring of Honor, but thats out of my control. All I could control was what I did on the field, and hopefully my play spoke for itself. I certainly have no regrets. How could I? I got to line up and play for Americas Team for 12 years.

I remember Nick Eatman when he was just a young kid out of college back in Wichita Falls. Hes now covered this team for 15 years and will reveal some of the greatest untold stories over the last two decades. This book, If These Walls Could Talk , isnt about the history of the Cowboys. Its not about the Tom Landry era and really doesnt focus a lot on our championship runs of the 1990s. But Jerry Jones is the best owner in the NFL because hes managed to keep this the most popular franchise in the world even without another Super Bowl since 1995.

The stories in this book will focus on a team climbing to get back to those glory days. I was once a big part of that climb, a journey the Cowboys are still on today.

And as Ive transitioned my career from player to ESPN analyst, Ive grown to appreciate the Cowboys brand even more. Even without the recent success on the field, there is no team more relevant than the Cowboys. In our production meetings at ESPN, were always trying to talk about the Cowboys or Tony Romo because we know thats what sells.

The Cowboys have always been Americas Team and always will be.

Darren Woodson

1. Dying Dynasty

Th e first time I met Emmitt Smith was during his rookie season in 1990. I was just 14 years old and the Cowboys held an open practice at Texas Stadium, trying to make it a fan-friendly event that could hopefully boost ticket sales. Remember, the team was fresh off a 115 season, so they were pulling out all the stops.

I got him to sign a picture that I had ripped out of a Sports Illustrated . He didnt have a football card yet, and thats all I had. He said, Whats this? poking fun at my piece of memorabilia. But Emmitt had yet to play a single snap for the Cowboys. Of course, how could I have ever known then that I would have a front-row seat for his last few years with the team?

So during my teens, I loved watching Emmitt play. He was the guy the Cowboys just couldnt win without, which was evident in the 1993 season when they lost the first two games when he sat out with a contract dispute but returned to win NFL MVP honors and lead the league in rushing.

Needless to say, I knew Emmitt the player and I more than liked the guy. Emmitt the person was a little different, at least when I got there in 1999. Success for the team was fading, and his play was deteriorating, though he was still producing at a relatively high level.

And after Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin were gone, Emmitt was really the only star left, something he made clear a few years after he left the team, saying he felt like a diamond surrounded by trash in his final seasons with the club. His premise was correct. The word choice was poor.