- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 122,622
Stars of Cowboys' '90s reign can't believe team's playoff drought continues
RAINER SABIN
Staff Writer
rsabin@dallasnews.com
Published: 14 January 2014 10:19 PM
Updated: 15 January 2014 04:04 PM
In the winter of 1996, the Cowboys were the kings of pro football. They had just finished off Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XXX, reestablishing their position at the top of NFL’s pecking order.
The league’s most popular franchise was also its most successful. At the time, no organization had more Vince Lombardi Trophies or playoff victories than Dallas, a dynasty in living color.
That February, when the Cowboys visited the White House, President Bill Clinton joked that all this winning “is beginning to be boring for them, I think.”
Back then, no one could have imagined the Cowboys being in the spot they are today, least of all the men who played for them. If somebody had told safety Darren Woodson in 1996 the Cowboys would win just two playoff games in the next 18 seasons and come to symbolize mediocrity, he’d have scoffed.
“I would have called him a flat-out liar,” the ESPN analyst said. “There is no way. There is no way.”
Former fullback Daryl Johnston’s reaction would have been just as dismissive, refusing to believe a prophecy that not even the boldest doomsday preacher would have dared to make in those days.
“Absolutely not,” said Johnston, who provides commentary for Fox. “I would have never expected a franchise of that stature to go through such a lull.”
No one then could have envisioned in the year 2014 the Cowboys would be among three teams that have not made an appearance in an NFC Championship Game since the 1990s. No one could have anticipated 24 clubs — including the perennial losers of yesteryear, Arizona, Tampa Bay and New Orleans — having more playoff victories than Dallas during the period since its last Super Bowl victory.
“It’s crazy what’s happened over 18 years,” Johnston said. “You expect a lull. But you also expect a spurt at some point.”
Rarely has there been a distinct line of demarcation separating an empire’s rise and fall. But in the Cowboys’ case, it is easy to identify the precise point they began their decline: The end of the 1995 season.
At the time, the Cowboys were without question the NFL’s dominant franchise. They had won five Super Bowl titles, a total equaled only by San Francisco. The Cowboys had also collected 31 postseason victories in the modern era — 10 more than any other club.
During one of their most successful stretches, from 1966 to 1985, it was practically a given the Cowboys would surface as a contender. They made 18 playoff appearances during that stretch. When the bad times eventually hit, they didn’t last long.
The Cowboys emerged from the wreckage left at the end of the Tom Landry era and were quickly reborn under Jimmy Johnson, climbing from worst to first in four seasons.
The ascent was so rapid the players, including Johnston, didn’t process what was happening.
“I had no idea what we were accomplishing along the way,” he said.
But after three championships in four seasons during the 1990s, things began to unravel for the Cowboys. Johnson parted ways with the Cowboys in 1994 after his relationship with owner Jerry Jones soured. A roster once stocked with stars in their prime was beginning to show its age. The advent of free agency and the salary cap affected Dallas’ ability to retain its best players and acquire new talent. And a series of bad drafts sent the Cowboys spiraling toward the abyss.
“I think it got discouraging for me, of course,” said Woodson, who played from 1992 to 2003. “I was discouraged by the fact that we weren’t getting enough help. Yeah, I was discouraged by that. I think Jerry did everything he could to find guys out there that were name guys. But they didn’t do a good enough job of bringing in role players that could help us out on special teams, role players that could come in and give a guy breath. They just didn’t fill those voids, man.”
As the Cowboys’ star lost its radiance, franchises that hadn’t left much of a footprint in the NFL began to shine. New England, which had won three playoff games before 1996, made its second Super Bowl appearance that season before becoming one of the league’s elite franchises under the stewardship of Bill Belichick, their coach since 2000. No team has won more playoff games (21) and Super Bowls (three) than the Patriots since the Cowboys’ last title.
Meanwhile, five other clubs, including the New York Giants and the Steelers, have collected the same number of Vince Lombardi trophies — two — as the Cowboys have postseason wins in the last 18 seasons. Dallas’ drought has been so prolonged the Steelers now lay claim to the most Super Bowl titles and have equaled the Cowboys in playoff victories.
Perhaps more discomforting to Cowboys fans than the success of Pittsburgh is San Francisco’s recent escape from the bonds of mediocrity.
Not long after Dallas began its decline, so too did the 49ers, the Cowboys’ chief conference rival. From 1999 through 2010, the 49ers made two playoff appearances and won only once during the postseason. But since Jim Harbaugh was hired before the 2011 campaign, they have reached the NFC Championship Game three times and will have the chance to advance to their second straight Super Bowl if they beat Seattle on Sunday. The Cowboys, meanwhile, have remained in postseason exile since 2009.
“It makes me feel sick,” Woodson said. “Harbaugh comes in and changes the complete culture of that football team.”
Woodson pauses on the other end of the telephone line.
“I always felt like the leadership of this organization would get the Cowboys back on track,” he continued. “I always thought that way. I felt like Jerry — Jerry, he is a gambler. He’s the best owner in football. He’s the best owner you want to be around. He will give you everything. He is going to find a way to get the right guy in here and run this system and make it work. It just hasn’t happened.”
Not for 18 seasons. Not since the winter of 1996, when the Cowboys were on top and America’s Team was also the NFL’s best.
RAINER SABIN
Staff Writer
rsabin@dallasnews.com
Published: 14 January 2014 10:19 PM
Updated: 15 January 2014 04:04 PM
In the winter of 1996, the Cowboys were the kings of pro football. They had just finished off Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XXX, reestablishing their position at the top of NFL’s pecking order.
The league’s most popular franchise was also its most successful. At the time, no organization had more Vince Lombardi Trophies or playoff victories than Dallas, a dynasty in living color.
That February, when the Cowboys visited the White House, President Bill Clinton joked that all this winning “is beginning to be boring for them, I think.”
Back then, no one could have imagined the Cowboys being in the spot they are today, least of all the men who played for them. If somebody had told safety Darren Woodson in 1996 the Cowboys would win just two playoff games in the next 18 seasons and come to symbolize mediocrity, he’d have scoffed.
“I would have called him a flat-out liar,” the ESPN analyst said. “There is no way. There is no way.”
Former fullback Daryl Johnston’s reaction would have been just as dismissive, refusing to believe a prophecy that not even the boldest doomsday preacher would have dared to make in those days.
“Absolutely not,” said Johnston, who provides commentary for Fox. “I would have never expected a franchise of that stature to go through such a lull.”
No one then could have envisioned in the year 2014 the Cowboys would be among three teams that have not made an appearance in an NFC Championship Game since the 1990s. No one could have anticipated 24 clubs — including the perennial losers of yesteryear, Arizona, Tampa Bay and New Orleans — having more playoff victories than Dallas during the period since its last Super Bowl victory.
“It’s crazy what’s happened over 18 years,” Johnston said. “You expect a lull. But you also expect a spurt at some point.”
Rarely has there been a distinct line of demarcation separating an empire’s rise and fall. But in the Cowboys’ case, it is easy to identify the precise point they began their decline: The end of the 1995 season.
At the time, the Cowboys were without question the NFL’s dominant franchise. They had won five Super Bowl titles, a total equaled only by San Francisco. The Cowboys had also collected 31 postseason victories in the modern era — 10 more than any other club.
During one of their most successful stretches, from 1966 to 1985, it was practically a given the Cowboys would surface as a contender. They made 18 playoff appearances during that stretch. When the bad times eventually hit, they didn’t last long.
The Cowboys emerged from the wreckage left at the end of the Tom Landry era and were quickly reborn under Jimmy Johnson, climbing from worst to first in four seasons.
The ascent was so rapid the players, including Johnston, didn’t process what was happening.
“I had no idea what we were accomplishing along the way,” he said.
But after three championships in four seasons during the 1990s, things began to unravel for the Cowboys. Johnson parted ways with the Cowboys in 1994 after his relationship with owner Jerry Jones soured. A roster once stocked with stars in their prime was beginning to show its age. The advent of free agency and the salary cap affected Dallas’ ability to retain its best players and acquire new talent. And a series of bad drafts sent the Cowboys spiraling toward the abyss.
“I think it got discouraging for me, of course,” said Woodson, who played from 1992 to 2003. “I was discouraged by the fact that we weren’t getting enough help. Yeah, I was discouraged by that. I think Jerry did everything he could to find guys out there that were name guys. But they didn’t do a good enough job of bringing in role players that could help us out on special teams, role players that could come in and give a guy breath. They just didn’t fill those voids, man.”
As the Cowboys’ star lost its radiance, franchises that hadn’t left much of a footprint in the NFL began to shine. New England, which had won three playoff games before 1996, made its second Super Bowl appearance that season before becoming one of the league’s elite franchises under the stewardship of Bill Belichick, their coach since 2000. No team has won more playoff games (21) and Super Bowls (three) than the Patriots since the Cowboys’ last title.
Meanwhile, five other clubs, including the New York Giants and the Steelers, have collected the same number of Vince Lombardi trophies — two — as the Cowboys have postseason wins in the last 18 seasons. Dallas’ drought has been so prolonged the Steelers now lay claim to the most Super Bowl titles and have equaled the Cowboys in playoff victories.
Perhaps more discomforting to Cowboys fans than the success of Pittsburgh is San Francisco’s recent escape from the bonds of mediocrity.
Not long after Dallas began its decline, so too did the 49ers, the Cowboys’ chief conference rival. From 1999 through 2010, the 49ers made two playoff appearances and won only once during the postseason. But since Jim Harbaugh was hired before the 2011 campaign, they have reached the NFC Championship Game three times and will have the chance to advance to their second straight Super Bowl if they beat Seattle on Sunday. The Cowboys, meanwhile, have remained in postseason exile since 2009.
“It makes me feel sick,” Woodson said. “Harbaugh comes in and changes the complete culture of that football team.”
Woodson pauses on the other end of the telephone line.
“I always felt like the leadership of this organization would get the Cowboys back on track,” he continued. “I always thought that way. I felt like Jerry — Jerry, he is a gambler. He’s the best owner in football. He’s the best owner you want to be around. He will give you everything. He is going to find a way to get the right guy in here and run this system and make it work. It just hasn’t happened.”
Not for 18 seasons. Not since the winter of 1996, when the Cowboys were on top and America’s Team was also the NFL’s best.
