It has been 16 years since the Dallas Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX. In those sixteen years, the Cowboys have made the playoffs just seven times. In those seven playoff appearances, they have managed to win but two games.

On January 1, 2012, the Cowboys needed to get one win at home against the New York Giants. Just one win and they would be NFC East champions and playoff bound. Of course, the Giants clobbered the Cowboys 31–14 and took the first step towards the unlikeliest Super Bowl triumph since the last time the G-men won the Super Bowl.

The game that catapulted the Giants into history relegated the Cowboys to ancient history. The team that was once considered the shining star, the flagship franchise of America’s greatest professional sports league is now all but irrelevant.

During the sixteen years since their last taste of glory, the Cowboys have wandered aimlessly through the Wilderness of Mediocrity. They have employed six head coaches and been led by seven different quarterbacks. But the man with the compass, the fearless leader of this ill-fated expedition is the only general manager the team has ever had under owner Jerry Jones.

That would be GM Jerry Jones.

Jones and those in his deluded company may console themselves by saying, “Look! The team that beat us to get into the playoffs won the Super Bowl.”

Bitter fans, however, will be incensed and say, “Look! The team that beat us to get into the playoffs won the Super Bowl.”

What Jerry sees as hopeful, the discouraged, disheartened, distrustful fan will see as hopeless.

Ah, Jerry Jones.

Here is a fellow that says, “Come with me. I know the way.”

But he keeps changing the map, altering the direction and getting nowhere. Long ago, it became painfully apparent to anyone paying attention that Jerry Jones does not know the way, he cannot read a map and when it comes to building and guiding a successful NFL franchise, he is as lost as a goose in the desert.

Meanwhile the Roman numerals keep rolling. Each passing Super Bowl is another mile marker along the Lost Highway for the driver that has no idea how to get there and is too stubborn to ask directions of anyone that does.

Somewhere a coyote howls, a tumbleweed ambles aimlessly across the lonesome prairie and Jerry Jones studies his map.

“Outlined against a gray November sky, The Four Horsemen rode again Sunday in the Cotton Bowl. You remember their names: Death, Famine, Pestilence and Meredith.”

That opening line—penned by Gary Cartwright of The Dallas Times Herald some time in the 1960s, after the Dallas Cowboys and their irrepressible quarterback Don Meredith had failed to acquit themselves well on the football field—may be the greatest ever penned by a Dallas sports writer. It is also representative of how patently unfair media and fans alike were to the quarterback who led the team from expansion woes to the threshold of greatness.

Most people my age remember Don Meredith primarily as the funny man in the booth, the one who gave Howard Cosell hell. We loved him for it. More seasoned Cowboys fans like my father-in-law Tommy Weir remember Meredith as one of the franchise’s first great offensive players.

They remember the way he and “Bullet” Bob Hayes stretched defenses. They remember the high-flying offenses of 1966-68. They remember the heartbreak of the “Ice Bowl.” they remember “Next Year’s Champions.”

Don Meredith was the first Dallas Cowboy. He was, in fact, signed by the team to a personal services contract before they were even officially a team, before they had even settled on calling themselves the Cowboys.

This is how The Dallas Morning News reported it yesterday:

“The contract read, ‘If we get a National Football League franchise, we’d like for you to play quarterback,’ ” Meredith chuckled in October 2009, when a News reporter visited Santa Fe for a profile commemorating the 50th anniversary of Meredith’s signing.

The expansion Cowboys did not have so much as the benefit of a draft in their inaugural season of 1960. So, in 1961, with their first pick, they chose Bob Lilly, the man who would leave his mark as one of the greatest defensive ends to ever play the game. Lilly is known as Mr. Cowboy.

What Lilly was to the defense, Meredith would become to the offense: the unquestioned leader, the catalyst, the transcendent player.

Don Meredith did not become the Cowboys’ starter until 1963. By 1966, he had them in the NFL Championship game, a classic shootout, which they lost to the Green Bay Packers. In ’67, Meredith led the Cowboys to the championship game again. Again it was the Green Bay Packers.

The ’67 championship game would become one of the most famous games ever played. It was called the “Ice Bowl,” because it was played in the coldest temperature ever recorded for an NFL game. The official game temperature was -13 degrees, with a wind chill of -36.

Meredith’s Cowboys lost to Bart Starr’s Packers on the final play of the game. Final score: Green Bay 21, Dallas 17.

In 1968, the Cowboys would have one of their best years ever. They posted a 12-2 record and scored 438 points, just over 31 points per game. Meredith threw for 2500 yards and 21 touchdowns, both gaudy numbers in that era. He would be named to his third consecutive Pro Bowl.

The ’68 Cowboys, however, would fall short again, losing in the playoffs to Jim Brown’s Cleveland Browns, 31-20. They would remain what they had come to be called: The Bridesmaids of the NFL.

After the heartbreak of the 1968 season, at age 31, still at his athletic peak, Don Meredith walked away from the football field forever. Men like Dan Reeves, Lee Roy Jordan and Bob Lilly would play in Super Bowls, and ultimately become world champions. Meredith never would.

In just six years as a starter, Meredith threw for over 17,000 yards and 135 touchdowns. He won NFL Player of the Year in 1966 and was named to the Pro Bowl in ’66, ’67, and ’68. He posted a record of 47–35. Fans and critics alike felt he left plenty of wins and touchdowns on the field when he quit. But he was done and there was no changing that.

Before becoming the face of the 1960s Dallas Cowboys, Meredith was already a local hero, having been a two-time All-American quarterback for the Southern Methodist University. He played his home games with those Mustangs at the Cotton Bowl, the same place his Cowboys played.

Don Meredith grew up in Mount Vernon, Texas, which is just 30 miles down the road from where my mother lives in Mount Pleasant. If you eat lunch in Mount Vernon, as I have on several occasions, and find an old-timer to ask about Don Meredith, you will see eyes light up and stories start flying.

People in Mount Vernon and Dallas—though not as many these days, since it was more than 50 years ago—still talk about Meredith as a 16 year old schoolboy, playing in the Dr. Pepper Classic basketball tournament in Dallas in 1954. Just a junior, Meredith scored 52 points in one game and totaled 164 points in five games, leading the tiny Mount Vernon school to a huge upset championship over much larger schools.

Former teammate and NFL coach Dan Reeves, in an interview with Mike Ryner and Corby Davidson, known as The Hardline, on KTCK today, remembered Meredith as a fierce competitor who loved to have fun. He said that people misunderstood and underestimated his competitive spirit because he was such a fun-loving guy. Reeves said Meredith refused to continue playing if he couldn’t have fun doing it. So, he retired.

(In that regard, Meredith reminds me of Tony Romo, who is often heard saying, “Football is fun.” I guess folks just don’t want their quarterbacks having too much fun.)

Don Meredith will forever be remembered as the man who sang, “The Party’s Over.” He will always be beloved for his work as a broadcaster on Monday Night Football. He may also forever be underestimated as an athlete. But not by men like Dan Reeves, Lee Roy Jordan, Bob Lilly, and the others who wore the star with him.

Those men know what we all ought to appreciate: Don Meredith was a tremendous athlete, a fierce competitor, and a great football player.

One of my favorite MNF plays and Meredith’s classic commentary.

Don Meredith was listed at 6’3″, 210 pounds, but to a growing nation of football fan, he was bigger than life. Because of him and his ABC booth partners, Frank Gifford and Howard Cosell, the NFL experienced unprecedented growth during the 1970s. The game that had long labored under the giant shadow of Major League Baseball emerged to become America’s new pastime.

People tuned into Monday Night Football, not just for the game, but for the show. Meredith, Gifford and Cosell became overnight sensations and household names. Gifford’s no-nonsense play-by-play delivery, Cosell’s haughty intellectualism and abrasiveness, and Meredith’s homespun, down-home wit made for a chemistry in the booth never seen before or sense.

People loved to hate Howard Cosell, which contributed to their affection for Don Meredith. The east Texas-born former Dallas Cowboys quarterback handled Cosell masterfully, often pointing out Cosell’s gaffes or disagreeing with his points, but always in a humorous way that took the edge off.

Meredith was genuinely funny. But he knew football, too. He was the perfect foil for the sometimes infuriating Cosell.

I would venture to say that more people worldwide relate Willie Nelson’s country tune, “The Party’s Over,” with Dandy Don Meredith than with the man who actually wrote and recorded it. Whenever a game was out of hand, Meredith would begin singing the song in perfect pitch. It got so a young viewer such as myself couldn’t let the game end until Dandy Don sang his song.

Don Meredith was a quote machine, often making poignant points in humorous ways. In fact, the most-read article in the history of silverandblueblood.com is my article, Top Ten Quotes from Dallas Cowboys, written July, 2009. Meredith had three of the ten quotes.

Meredith once quipped, “If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, wouldn’t it be a merry Christmas?”

Well, Don. For millions of football fans old enough to remember the most colorful color analyst to ever grace a booth, your “ifs” and “buts” were candy and nuts. Ironically, here it is Christmas time and it’s time to turn out the lights, but thanks to you and your undying influence, the party is far from over.

Rest in peace, our old familiar friend.

Note: Tomorrow, we look at Don Meredith the football player.

I used to drive a fully-loaded Olds 88. (That’s insider talk for Oldsmobile 88. Wink.) I enjoy the musical stylings of the Old 97s (not to mention their nostalgic-sounding, cool-vibing name.)

But for Dallas Cowboys’ wide receiver and rookie of the year candidate Dez Bryant, any appreciation of team history begins with the Old 88s.

One of the smartest things general manager Jerry Jones has done for team owner Jerry Jones in recent years was to draft Dez Bryant in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft. The jury is still out on most of this year’s picks, but dazzling Dez has both hushed the mouths and dropped the jaws of his critics. Every week, he shows himself to be one of the best players on the field and one of the most electrifying in the entire league. Former player/analysts from Troy Aikman to Chris Collinsworth and pundits with names like Lombardi (Michael, not the ghost of Vincent) are hinting that the kid with the giant hands and circus-like acrobatics might just be the steal of the draft.

Duh.

The smartest thing owner Jerry Jones has done for general manager Jones is put his faith in the pick by awarding Dez Bryant the number 88 and making a big deal about it, both to the kid and the football world at large.

In the sparkling history of the NFL’s shiniest franchise, there have been some numbers that have stood out and that, when mentioned, can only stand for one player. No one can see a Cowboys’ jersey bearing the number 12 and think of anyone but the transcendent leader and legendary quarterback of five Super Bowls, Roger Staubach. 74 is Mr. Cowboy himself, Bob Lilly. 33 is Tony Dorsett. 55 is Lee Roy Jordan. Troy Aikman is the 8-ball.

Almost without exception, you think of one name in team history associated with each of the standout jersey numbers. I say almost, because there is that number 54 on defense. The old guard (and no, I am not the old guard, so shut up) would blurt out the name Chuck Howley. And with good reason. Howley was a six-time Pro Bowler and was named All-Pro five times in his thirteen-year Dallas Cowboys career.

The middle guard, of which I am proudly a member, would shout, “Randy White!” Nine times a Pro Bowler, seven times All-Pro, NFL Hall of Fame member, and the meanest son of a gun to ever be converted from linebacker to defensive tackle, dadgum it.

On offense, only two numbers have that kind of dynamic duo distinction. 22 was worn by the one-time world’s fastest human and the reason zone defenses came into existence, Hall of Famer Bob Hayes. It was also worn by the NFL’s all-time leading rusher and Super Bowl MVP Emmitt Smith.

The other number is 88.

We children of the 70s, the ones who lost our voices screaming when we saw Roger Staubach throw the original Hail Mary pass to the original 88, Drew Pearson, to win a playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings in Minnesota as time expired will always see that bushy afro bulging from under the helmet when we see the number 88. It was 1975 and We all knew that Mr. Pearson was Mr. Clutch.

But then the mind immediately skips to the big, strong, outlandish 88 of the 90s. We see Michael Irvin out-fighting defenders for underthrown passes, snagging touchdown passes to salt away a Super Bowl victory before halftime has even arrived, and generally wreaking havoc across the NFL on his way to Canton.

Michael Irvin is in the Hall of Fame. Drew Pearson is a member of the all-70s team and ought to be in the Hall of Fame. And maybe one day, if he stays healthy and keeps that wonderful fire in his belly, Dez Bryant will be enshrined in the annals of football glory, as well.

Bryant is off to a good start. Nine games into the season, he has 41 catches for 539 yards and five touchdowns. He has also returned two punts for touchdowns. In a forgettable season, Bryant has already strung together a half dozen memorable moments.

When Jones gave Dez the number, the rookie said, “I know me having a chance to put on No. 88 really means a lot to Mr. Jerry Jones. I’m excited to wear it, and I’m very excited that he thinks I can be a great player and wear that number.”

We are all excited, Dez. The Old 88s play like a treasured vinyl record in our football brains, reminding us of glories past, of gridiron crunch-time heroics, of Super Bowl winning teams, and dreams that did come true.

We hope you can make the old new again. If you can, Old 88 might just become the single greatest jersey number in Dallas Cowboys history.

The most notable— and easily the most remarkable— father/son tandem in NFL history is the Manning Trio. Father Archie, though he labored on a losing team his entire career, was widely recognized as a highly-talented quarterback. His two boys, Peyton and Eli, have each led their respective teams to a Super Bowl championship…and Peyton is (or should be) in the argument whenever “greatest quarterback of all time” is kicked around the water cooler.

But what about the Dallas Cowboys? Which of your star-spangled heroes did the best job of following his father’s footsteps to NFL notoriety or leaving footsteps for his son to follow?

Truthfully, there aren’t that many to choose from. Athletic greatness does not often pass from one generation to the next. Precious few are the sons who can live up to the standards set by extraordinary dads. I have only thought of four father/son tandems to include here, and I give them to you in order from least to greatest…

Rob and Bobby Carpenter

Rob Carpenter spent ten years in the NFL as a running back. He played four-and-a-half years each for the Houston Oilers and New York Giants, and then spent his final season with the Rams. He never rushed for 1,000 yards in a season, nor was he ever named to a Pro Bowl team. he was, however, a favorite of Coach Bill Parcells and contributed a Giants’ Super Bowl winning season.

Son Bobby was a first-round draft choice of, you guessed it, Bill Parcells. Parcells, at the time the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, selected Carpenter with the 18th pick in the first round of the 2006 NFL draft. It was arguably one of the five worst picks ever made in team history. Bobby proved himself too soft to play linebacker for the Cowboys, never won the admiration or trust of his teammates or coaches, and was traded this past off-season for Rams’ offensive tackle Alex Barron.

The Carpenters can say they put two generations of their family into the NFL, and that is nothing to sneeze at. So far, the dad has certainly outshined the son. But who knows? Maybe a change of scenery and scheme will do Bobby some good.

Jim and Jason Garrett

Jim Garrett was an assistant coach for the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns. From 1987—2004, he served as a scout for the Dallas Cowboys.

Jason, one of three sons to work in the NFL, is beginning his fourth season as Offensive Coordinator for the Cowboys. He also served as a backup quarterback to Troy Aikman from 1993—99. His most famous moment as a player came on Thanksgiving Day, 1994, when he led a miraculous comeback victory over Brett Favre’s Green Bay Packers. He led the Cowboys from a 24—13 deficit to a 42—31 victory.

Jim has two other sons, John and Judd, who also serve on the Cowboys’ coaching staff.

Bum and Wade Phillips

Bum Phillips was the head coach of the Houston Oilers from 1975—1980. It was the most successfuly era in Oilers’ history. He led them to five winning seasons in six years and made the playoffs three consecutive seasons. He was a real cowboy and a larger-than-life figure. Known for his personality and homespun wit and wisdom, Bum became a darling of the football media.

Bum left Houston and took the head coaching job in New Orleans, where he spent five seasons. Like so many before him and so many after, he had no luck in New Orleans, only managing a .500 season once.

Wade Phillips got his start in the NFL on his daddy’s staff. He coached defense. It didn’t take long for him to become known for his prowess as a defensive tactician, which garnered him defensive coordinator positions in various stops around the NFL. Wade has spent eight full seasons as a head coach in the NFL, the last three in Dallas. He has only had one season below .500 as a head coach. He has made the playoffs five times in those eight years, yet has only managed one post-season victory.

Wade does not have the flair his daddy had. He has not yet achieved as much as Bum did either, at least not as a head coach. He does, however, have the same number of Super Bowl rings: Zero. Cowboys fans are hoping that this is one son who will soon outshine dear old dad.

Tony and Anthony Dorsett

When Tony Dorsett came out of college, he was the most prolific running back in history. He had run for more yards than anyone before him and set a career rushing record that would not be eclipsed for twenty years. When he got to the Cowboys, he continued to play at the level of excellence everyone had anticipated, helping his team to two Super Bowl appearances and a world championship.

Until Emmitt Smith came along, Dorsett was without question the greatest running back in team history. Though Smith would eventually surpass Dorsett in just about every category and become the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, some Cowboys followers still consider Dorsett the greatest running back in the Cowboys’ glorious history.

Count yours truly among them.

Anthony Dorsett played cornerback in the NFL from 1996 to 2003. He played for Houston/Tennessee and Oakland. He only amassed three interceptions in an eight year career, but he did return two of those for touchdowns…a thing one might expect from the offspring of Tony “TD” Dorsett.

So, here’s to all the dads whose sons make them proud, and here’s to all the sons proud of their dad.

Happy Father’s Day.

I love a good quote. Who doesn’t? When you quote someone else, not only do you get to borrow from the genius or insight of another, you can do so without culpability.

If anyone takes issue with it, just say, “Hey, I didn’t say it. I was just repeating what so and so said.”

I also love sports and I love the fact that some of the most memorable American quotes have been the product of our obsession with the games of our American pastime and the men who play them.

Not everyone is obsessed with the games men play with their balls…

Is it a reasonable thing, I ask you, for a grown man to run about and hit a ball?  Poker’s the only game fit for a grown man.  Then, your hand is against every man’s, and every man’s is against yours.  Teamwork?  Who ever made a fortune by teamwork?  There’s only one way to make a fortune, and that’s to down the fellow who’s up against you.  ~W. Somerset Maugham

I do like teamwork. I think it is a beautiful thing—especially in the great game of American football. I especially love teamwork when it involves my team—America’s team— the Dallas Cowboys.

“Football incorporates the two worst elements of American society: violence punctuated by committee meetings.”

~ George Will, author, commentator, humorist

The game of American football – especially at the professional level – lends itself to copious and memorable quotes, like the one above.

The Dallas Cowboys organization has been home to great leaders, singular players, and colorful characters throughout its noble history. Many of them have, with their words, weaved a colorful and rich tapestry, a verbal masterpiece draped on the walls of our memories.

Meredith: Always Quotable

If you are old enough to have been there, and if you can quiet your spirit enough, you can almost hear the even, measured words of  Tom Landry, uttered in that south Texas drawl, words of wisdom, words to play – and to live – by. You can hear the even more twangy Texas twang of the witty Walt Garrison deadpanning about his coach. You can hear the almost musical quality of Meredith’s smooth delivery of yet another masterful bon mot.

It is not easy to sift through these treasures and find the ten most memorable, or ten most representative quotes of the franchise’s history. I doubt I have succeeded in doing so. I am sure you will correct me…and add your own sweet memory to this tapestry.

Number Ten: “That was the triumph of an uncluttered mind.” ~ Blaine Nye on Clint Longley’s Thanksgiving Day performance

Number Nine: “If ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ were candy and nuts, wouldn’t it be a merry Christmas?” ~ Don Meredith

Number Eight: “He couldn’t spell ‘cat’ if you spotted him the ‘c’ and the ‘a.’” ~ Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson on Terry Bradshaw

Number Seven: “There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.” ~ Roger Staubach

Number Six: “Leadership is getting someone to do what they don’t want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve.” ~ Tom Landry

Number Five: “He’s a perfectionist. If he was married to Raquel Welch, he’d expect her to cook.” ~ Don Meredith on Coach Landry

Number Four: “If the Super Bowl is the Ultimate Game, why are they playing it again next year?” ~ Duane Thomas

Number Three: “If it was third down, and you needed four yards, if you’d get the ball to Walt Garrison, he’d get ya five. And if was third down and ya needed 20 yards, if you’d get the ball to Walt Garrison, by God, he’d get you five.” ~ Don Meredith on Walt Garrison

Number Two: “Nope. But I have only been here nine years.” ~ Walt Garrison, when asked if he had ever seen Tom Landry smile.

Number One: “Texas Stadium has a hole in its roof so God can watch his favorite team play.” ~ D.D. Lewis

Like I said, it was quite difficult to narrow them down to just ten. These are my ten. It is entirely possible that the reader remembers ten others that were just as memorable, witty, or astounding. If so, feel free to reply and add your own list…or at least your own favorite quote.

As for me, I will let the most quotable Cowboy of them all get the final word…

“Turn out the lights: the party‘s over.”