NFL Rules Named After Players

A discussion with Steven Taylor about the new “Marion Barber Rule,” a new point of emphasis against offensive players stiff-arming to the head, prompted me to note how many rules are (informally) named after Dallas Cowboys.

A quick Web search found the following (Cowboys in bold):

* Bert Emanuel rule — the ball can touch the ground during a completed pass as long as the receiver maintains control of the ball. Enacted due to a play in the 1999 NFC championship game, where Emanuel, playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, had a catch ruled incomplete since the ball touched the ground.

* Bill Belichick rule — two defensive players, one primary and one backup, will have a radio device in their helmets allowing the head coach to communicate with them through the radio headset, identical to the radio device inside the helmet of the quarterback. This proposal was defeated in previous years, but was finally enacted in 2008 as a result of Spygate. This rule is the first, and thus far only rule named after a head coach.

* Bronko Nagurski rule — forward passing made legal from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage. Enacted in 1933. Prior to this rule, a player had to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage to throw a forward pass.

* Chad Johnson rule — players may no longer use a prop or do any act while on the ground during a touchdown celebration. Enacted in 2006. (While Johnson was the foremost offender, the rule also might be considered the Joe Horn rule, after an infamous post-touchdown incident involving Horn and a cellular phone after he scored for the Saints against the New York Giants. [13]

* Deacon Jones rule — no head-slapping. Enacted in 1977.

* Deion Sanders rule– Player salary rule which correlates a contract’s signing bonus with its yearly salary. Enacted after Deion Sanders signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 1995 for a minimum salary and a $13 million signing bonus. (There is also a college football rule with this nickname.)

* Deion Sanders rule II — Player salary rule which correlates a contract’s signing bonus with its yearly salary. Enacted after Deion Sanders signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 1995 for a minimum salary and a $13 million signing bonus. (There is also a college football rule with this nickname.)

* Emmitt Smith rule — A player cannot remove his helmet while on the field of play, except in the case of obvious medical difficulty. A violation is treated as unsportsmanlike conduct. Enacted in 1997.

* Erik Williams rule — no hands to the facemask by offensive linemen.

* Fran Tarkenton rule — a line judge was added as the sixth official to ensure that a back was indeed behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass. Enacted in 1965.

* Greg Pruitt rule — tear-away jerseys are now illegal. Pruitt purposely wore flimsy jerseys that ripped apart in the hands of would-be tacklers. Such a jersey was most infamously seen in a game between the Rams and Oilers where Earl Campbell’s jersey ripped apart after several missed tackles.

* Ken Stabler rule — on fourth down at any time in the game, or any down in the final two minutes of play, if a player fumbles, only the fumbling player can recover and/or advance the ball. If that player’s teammate recovers the ball, it is placed back at the spot of the fumble. A defensive player can recover and advance at any time of play. Enacted in 1979 in response to the 1978 “Holy Roller” play.

* Lester Hayes rule– no Stickum allowed. Enacted in 1981.

* Lou Groza rule — no artificial medium to assist in the execution of a kick. Enacted in 1956.

* Mel Blount rule — Officially known as illegal use of hands, defensive backs can only make contact with receivers within five yards of the line of scrimmage. Enacted in current form in 1978.

* Mel Renfro rule — allows a second player on the offense to catch a tipped ball, without a defender subsequently touching it. Enacted in 1978.

* Michael Irvin rule — no taunting. Another rule, resulting in offensive pass interference, prohibiting WRs to push off CBs, is also often called “the Michael Irvin rule.”

* Neil Smith rule — prevents a defensive lineman from flinching to induce a false start penalty on the offense. Enacted in 1998.

* Phil Dawson rule — certain field goals can be reviewed by instant replay, including kicks that bounce off the uprights. Under the previous system, no field goals could be replayed. Enacted in 2008 as a result of an unusual field goal that was initially ruled “no good” but was reversed upon discussion.

* Ricky (Williams) rule — rule declared that hair could not be used to block part of the uniform from a tackler and, therefore, an opposing player could be tackled by his hair (aka “The Ricky Rule” due to Williams’ long dread-locks). Enacted in 2003.

* Roy Williams rule — no horse-collar tackles. Enacted in 2005 when Williams broke Terrell Owens’s ankle and Musa Smith’s leg on horse-collar tackles during the previous season.

* Shawne Merriman rule — Bans any player from playing in the Pro Bowl if they test positive for using a performance-enhancing drug during that season. Enacted in 2007 after Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman played at the 2007 Pro Bowl after testing positive and serving a four-game suspension during the preceding season.

* Terrell Owens rule — no “foreign objects” on a player’s uniform (enacted in response to the 2002 “Sharpie incident”), though existing rules already forbade this.

* Tom Dempsey rule — any shoe that is worn by a player with an artificial limb on his kicking leg must have a kicking surface that conforms to that of a normal kicking shoe.

* Tony Romo rule — teams will now be given 45 minutes - 25 extra minutes than in years past - to prepare the balls for the game; and 12 sequentially numbered “K” balls will be used in the game, monitored by an official, instead of the ball boys. Enacted in 2007.

* Ty Law rule (also known as the Rodney Harrison rule — placed more emphasis on the Mel Blount rule after the New England Patriots utilized an aggressive coverage scheme, involving excessive jamming of wide receivers at the line of scrimmage, in the 2003 AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.

Sources: “National Football League lore - Rules named after players,” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, “National Football League - Rules named after players,” Spiritus-Temporis, “Penalties Named after NFL Players,” The Football Palace Forums

Aikman Says Romo Best Cowboys QB Ever

Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, who has three Super Bowl rings and a Hall of Fame jacket to his credit, says that Tony Romo is having the best season ever for a Cowboys quarterback:

I would say it’s by far the best season a quarterback has had. I understand those who would argue against that – well, the season’s not over. Well, I think already, if you’re just looking at a season for a quarterback, it’s without question the best year.

If you put my best two years together, I don’t think you’d come up with the numbers that he’s going to have at the end of the season.

Unless Roger’s got a beef with it, I certainly don’t.

That’s a generous thing to say. I disagree, though.

Statistically, he’s certainly right. Romo has shattered all manner of Cowboys single season records with only three quarters of the games in the bag, as Albert Breer notes.

Romo’s 2007 numbers project to rank in the top three in club history in seven major statistical categories – passer rating, attempts, completions, completion percentage, yards, yards per attempt and touchdown passes.

Danny White’s 1983 season ranks in the top three in four of those categories.

The only other seasons that are top three in even two of those categories are Troy Aikman’s 1993 campaign and Roger Staubach’s 1971 season.

But it’s a different league than Aikman, Roger Staubach, Don Meredith and others played in. The rules are set up for passing in a way that simply wasn’t the case even then years ago.

Further, Aikman’s numbers were hampered by Emmitt Smith’s dominance in the red zone. Emmitt scored more TDs than any other running back in NFL history and, because he was so reliable, it made sense to hand off to him rather than risk interceptions.

It’s true, as Aikman admits, that Romo is more mobile and athletic. Of course, Aikman had a great arm and was as accurate a passer as you’ll ever see.

On the other hand, this is Romo’s fifth year in the league and he’s only been starting a season and a half. By this point in Aikman’s career, he’d started virtually every game he’s been on the team and was on his way to his second straight Super Bowl.

What Romo has accomplished so far this season has been quite remarkable. But let’s view it when it’s over before proclaiming it the greatest ever.

Staubach led the Cowboys to a 12-2 mark and a Super Bowl in 1977. Aikman led them to a 13-3 mark and a Super Bowl in 1992.

If Romo can go 14-2 or 15-1 and win a Super Bowl in 2007 to go along with shattering the franchise record for TDs and 300 yard games, he’ll have a good claim on the title.

Stephen Jones Profile

Mac Engel has a longish piece on Stephen Jones, son of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has emerged as one of the most respected executives in the league.

For 18 years, since his father bought the Dallas Cowboys, Stephen has been the son off to the side. At 43, he’s the chief operating officer, executive vice president and director of player personnel, and he does more than people realize. Seldom craving credit, Jones has earned a respect that was slow to come and has established himself as something more than Jerry’s oldest child.

[...]

Because his father is so visible and his own role is by nature mostly peripheral, Stephen is seldom seen. His achievements are infrequently documented, cherished or criticized.

When the Cowboys signed Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith to good but not “great” contracts in a pre-salary cap world, Stephen orchestrated the deals. “People would tell you this, but the one you want to negotiate with is Jerry, not Stephen,” said Rich Dalrymple, longtime Cowboys director of public relations. “Jerry may get sentimental about things, whereas Stephen will drive the hard bargain.”

Stephen does contracts. He manages the salary cap. He brokers sponsorship deals and trades, and handles player personnel decisions and Texas Stadium issues. When the Cowboys decided to push for a new stadium, Stephen was instrumental in working with Dallas city officials before he moved on to Arlington. The same with the Super Bowl bid.

[...]

“Do I want credit? Sure, sometimes. That’s natural,” Stephen said. “I think you have to work harder and I think it takes longer to get that respect being in my position. But I have a peace of mind that a lot of [respect] is there.”

The team will be in good hands when Jerry hands the reins over.

Michael Irvin Hall of Fame Induction

Former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame yesterday, two years later than it should have happened.

Mickey Spagnola describes the day:

Leave it to Michael Irvin. And the Pro Football Hall of Fame did. Michael Irvin stepped to the podium last, the sixth of six great athletes entering into the Hall of Fame here Saturday night at an emotionally-drained Fawcett Stadium, where tears flowed freely all night long.

[...]

Then Cowboys owner Jerry Jones took the stage, charged with presenting Irvin, the man who gave him so much joy and put him through so much pain during his 12 years with the Dallas Cowboys, right to the bitter end when Irvin went down in Philadelphia and never got up, carried off on a stretcher the fourth game of the 1999 season forever more.

“I don’t know that we’ll see again a professional football player with a combination of his strength and his skills as an athlete on the field and his unbelievable people skills,” Jones said. “Smart, resourceful, communication, charm, the kind of charisma and tremendous will with the strength to get the respect of the team. He had his faults. But in a unique way, that only Michael Irvin could pull off.

“His fallibility by the people who follow him, by the people who were looking at him, his fallibility gave them strength because they knew, too, how fallible they were and that they wanted to see somebody that could go down and come up stronger and try to get better when they got on their feet. That’s what Michael Irvin brought to the Dallas Cowboys.”

How ironic then, that at the end of his career, Irvin went down one last time, his head piled into the Veterans Stadium turf and carried off the field on a stretcher, never to step on the football field again as a player.

Well, as he had his entire life, one which began as one of Walter and Stella’s 17 children in a home with a barren refrigerator and a cereal bowl without milk, Michael Irvin rose one more time Saturday night, giving a speech from his heart, without a single note, baring his ever-lovin’ soul before God and everybody.

The lady down the road from me was wiping her eyes. Grown men in front of me were looking down, not wanting to appear weak. The sheriff’s deputy in the holding zone was shaking his head afterward, as if he had never heard the likes. Stella Irvin cried, cried so hard she was biting the towel in her hands to muffle her emotions. Gene Jones cried, as did her husband, Jerry Jones, who made it through his presentation, but not Michael’s.

We cried. You cried. Michael cried, not ashamed to wipe away his tears.

“You could hear a pin drop,” Jones said of the atmosphere on stage with the other Hall of Famers and the former inductees. “You saw some of the ways he can motivate people, relate to people.”

The entire world saw what Irvin was capable of in the locker room and in the huddle. You saw why former Cowboys head coach Dave Campo, an assistant with Irvin at the University of Miami, asked and received special dispensation from Jacksonville head coach Jack Del Rio to miss Saturday’s practice so he could attend Saturday’s ceremony and why he would say beforehand, “I loved Mike. He was always my guy.”

You saw why the Cowboys’ list of who’s who was so long on the floor of Fawcett Stadium: Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Troy Novacek, Nate Newton, Erik Williams, Jim Jeffcoat, Russell Maryland, Deion Sanders, Daryl Johnston, James Washington, Hubbard Alexander, Ron Stone, and no telling who else was there.

Why you might have heard and read all our stories, but you saw first hand why Irvin indeed was the heart and soul of those Cowboys teams winning three Super Bowls in four years, the flamboyant receiver confirming every single tale with how he related to the every-day man on this night.

Someone afterward asked Irvin if his speech, his brutal honesty was cathartic, as if he was doing penance for all the social and legal transgressions he went through when he was on the top of the world playing for the Dallas Cowboys.

Irvin stared at the inquisitor, knowing he had told everyone the day before he was planning to speak from his “heart.” He kept secret the part about from his soul. “It was real,” Irvin said, summing up what NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told Deion Sanders afterward, saying, “That was the best speech I’ve heard in a long time.”

Me, forever. You?

“I just felt I needed to share with all that had messed up their lives what I had done,” Irvin said. “It haunts me. People think I got away with something now that I’m up here.”

So he was trying the best he could to make something good out of some things bad, but he couldn’t without going down to his knees.

Irvin realizes his life has been as transparent as his career. People saw his greatness on the field, but also saw him in the courtroom that summer of 1996, finally pleading no-contest to a felony drug possession charge, receiving a five-year probation sentence, 100’s of hours of community service and a target on his head for others to implicate him for this and that, Irvin not taking care to keep himself out of harm’s way where people could try to take him down.

He’s not proud of that part of his life, how at times he thought he was invisible after midnight although a married man with eventually a family of four. And indeed it haunts him now that he knows his sons, Michael, 10, and Elijah, 8, can now go online and read about that other Michael, evidently to him, the ultimate embarrassment.

So when Michael spoke here Saturday night, he was selfless. He spoke very little of his accomplishments, while reaching out to put an arm around everyone else - from Hickerson, to the people of Dallas, to the Cowboys fans, to the Jones family, to his teammates, to his mother, father, brothers and sisters, and Aunt Fanny, too.

Why, Irvin put his arm around the people of New Orleans, where he witnessed firsthand the return of a city on “Monday night, Sept. 26, 2006, New Orleans, Louisiana, site of the Superdome. I watched our people who had suffered so grievously through Hurricane Katrina fill a stadium hours before the game and stay hours after the game. I witnessed those fans as they looked for each other, hugged one another, and just be thankful to be in that stadium.

“You see the game flexed its greatest muscle that day: The ability to heal. I experienced a football game that contributed to the healing of a city. So don’t tell me it’s just a game.”

No it’s life, and Irvin, in his inimitable way, came clean, knowing he had to somehow reduce himself to the common man, to all of us who have fallen or will fall, trying to tell them they, too, can get up.

So he began rising once again, referencing the threshing floor, a biblical reference for a healing place:

“The threshing floor is where you take your greatest fear and you pray for help from your great God. I want to share something with you today. I have two sons. Michael, he’s 10, and Elijah, he’s 8. Michael and Elijah, could you guys stand up for me. (They did.) That’s my heart right there. That’s my heart. When I am on that threshing floor, I pray. I say, ‘God, I have my struggles and I made some bad decisions, but whatever you do, whatever you do, don’t let me mess this up.’

“I say, ‘Please, help me raise them for some young lady so that they can be a better husband than I. Help me raise them for their kids so that they could be a better father than I. And I tell you guys to always do the right thing so you can be a better role model than dad.

“I sat right here where you are last year and I watched the Class of 2006: Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Harry Carson, Rayfield Wright, John Madden, and the late great Reggie White represented by his wife Sara White. And I said, ‘Wow, that’s what a Hall of Famer is.’

“Certainly I am not that. I doubted I would ever have the chance to stand before you today. So when I returned home, I spoke with Michael and Elijah. I said, ‘That’s how you do it, son. You do it like they did it.’ Michael asked, he said, ‘Dad, do you ever think we will be there?’ And I didn’t know how to answer that. And it returned me to that threshing floor. This time I was voiceless, but my heart cried out. God, why must I go through so many peaks and valleys? I wanted to stand in front of my boys and say, ‘Do it like your dad, like any proud dad would want to.’

“Why must I go through so much?

“At that moment a voice came over me and said, ‘Look up, get up, and don’t ever give up. You tell everyone or anyone that has ever doubted, thought they did not measure up or wanted to quit, you tell them to look up, get up and don’t ever give up.’”

Look up.

Get up.

Don’t ever give up.

Michael Irvin never quit on the field. That’s why he was here Saturday night.

Maybe now he won’t quit on himself,

Top 25 NFL Players of Last 25 Years

The staff at USA Today is killing time before training camp by putting together a list of the best NFL players during the paper’s existence.

TOP 25 OF THE USA TODAY ERA (1982-2007)
To commemorate USA TODAY’s 25th anniversary, a panel of USA TODAY’s NFL reporters and editors has produced an anthology of the 25 best NFL players of the past 25 years. Working down from No. 25, we are unveiling one player each weekday until training camp season arrives:

They’re up to #18 so far:

Rank	Player	Story
18	Ray Lewis	The ultimate defender — Ray Lewis
19	Marshall Faulk	Faulk brought double threat to new level
20	Troy Aikman	Aikman rescued ‘America’s Team’
21	LaDainian Tomlinson	Tomlinson still climbing list of NFL greats
22	Rod Woodson	Woodson set new standard in backfield
23	Terry Bradshaw	Playoff success carried Bradshaw into Hall
24	Steve Young	After wait, Young made lasting run into NFL history
25	Eric Dickerson	Dickerson blazed early path to NFL immortality

This will spark some interesting debates, as the one Tim McMahon has going on with Dallas fans over which other Cowboys players should join Aikman (I’d say Tony Dorsett, Larry Allen, and Emmitt Smith for sure; probably Randy White and Michael Irvin, too).

Nobody currently on the list is objectionable, although Tomlinson would presumably be higher on the list were he further into his career. One could argue whether Troy Aikman was really a better QB than Terry Bradshaw, for example.

That’s what these lists are for, though.

Overpaying for Free Agents Price of Draft Failure

Jean-Jacques Taylor nails it in his analysis of why the Cowboys overpaid for underachieving offensive lineman Leonard Davis.

Three years ago, the Cowboys made two of their worst draft choices in the past decade, when they took tackle Jacob Rogers in the second round and guard Stephen Peterman in the third. Each was the definition of a bust. Jerry Jones is still paying for those wretched selections Bill Parcells encouraged him to make.

Literally.

On Monday, Jones discussed the seven-year, $49.6 million deal, including a $16 million signing bonus he gave gargantuan offensive lineman Leonard Davis.

Let that sink in for a moment. Jones gave Davis, the second player taken in the 2001 draft, a bigger signing bonus than Deion Sanders, Troy Aikman or Emmitt Smith received. This for a player who has been labeled an underachiever by those in Arizona and has never played in the Pro Bowl.

[...]

But that’s the cost of doing business in today’s NFL, where seemingly every team has unlimited salary-cap room. Besides, other coveted free-agent linemen such as Eric Steinbach and Kris Dielman received similar deals.

Now you know why there’s such a premium on drafting and developing players. The money in today’s NFL is ridiculously high, so you can’t focus on the dollars. You have to figure out whether the Cowboys are better at guard with Davis or Marco Rivera. No need to even answer that question. Is Dallas better at tackle with Davis or Marc Colombo, an unrestricted free agent who started 16 games for the Cowboys last season? They’re easily better with Davis.

But that’s not the lineup Jerry wants to start the 2007 opener. He wants Colombo at right tackle, Davis at right guard, Andre Gurode at center, Kyle Kosier at left guard and Flozell Adams, playing for a contract, at left tackle. On paper, that would be the Cowboys’ best offensive line in years. On paper, that line would give the Cowboys an opportunity to physically dominate games in the fourth quarter. That offensive line wouldn’t have weak links such as Rivera was last season or Rob Petitti and Torrin Tucker were the year before.

“We’ve missed on a couple of our picks over the last three years. This gives us a chance to really play catch-up,” Jones said of signing Davis. “This gives us a chance to get back where we’d be if we had gotten better results with our draft picks.”

But it costs so much more, when teams miss on premium draft picks. Rogers and Peterman would still be on their rookie contracts with salary-cap figures of less than a $1 million. Instead, the Cowboys have spent nearly $30 million in signing bonuses to sign Davis, Rivera, Kosier and Jason Fabini, in part, because Rogers and Peterman couldn’t play. That number will go up if Dallas reaches an agreement with Colombo.

Mickey Spagnola agrees, noting that Davis’ versatility was also a big plus.

[T]he Cowboys’ No. 1 priority in free agency was the offensive line, and here is the reason: “We had McQuistan, Kosier and Flo,” Stephen Jones said. “That’s it. Everyone else was either missing, hurt or unsigned.”

Here is what scared the Cowboys. Of the 10 offensive linemen who finished out the season on the roster, along with one on injured reserve, the aforementioned three were the only sure guys returning and capable of playing.

See, there was center Andre Gurode, headed toward free agency, although the Cowboys headed him off. Al Johnson was an unrestricted free agent. Marc Colombo was an unrestricted free agent. There was no way they were going to count on Jason Fabini, a total washout last year.

There was (is) no way the Cowboys could count on Marco Rivera returning after having a second surgery on a ruptured back disk in two years, and they are still in limbo over his status. The only other two guys on the 53-man roster, Cory Procter and Joe Berger, were exclusive rights free agents, though neither played a lick last year. And as for the IR guy, the Cowboys waived E.J. Whitley.

Yeah, you bet there was a need on the offensive line.

So the Cowboys began by signing Gurode to that six-year, $30 million deal, and paid him the $10 million signing bonus after starting just one full year at center. But there still was that huge void on the right side of the line.

What did they need, though, a tackle or a guard?

Colombo wanted to take a peek into free agency, though he’s sort of in the same boat as New Orleans right tackle Jon Stinchcomb, who had started only 10 games his first three years in the league and was coming off a serious patella tendon injury that cost him the entire 2005 season before starting full-time in 2006. He just signed a two-year, $7 million deal with $5 million guaranteed in 2007. Can’t imagine the Cowboys will offer Colombo much more.

So tackle was a need.

But so was guard. When asked about Rivera, team owner and general manager Jerry Jones said, “That’s up in the air and think it’s up in the air for him. It would be premature to say what direction it will go.”

So yeah, guard is a need since the only other guy on the team with experience is Kyle Kosier, who started on the left side last year.

Now I know what Bill Parcells had to say about Cory Procter. But the guy has yet to play an NFL game.

“We’re not going to count on a guy who hasn’t played, playing,” Stephen Jones said. “You got to have more options.”

Or more than one inexperienced solution to a potential problem.

By signing Davis, they have a potential solution to either problem, tackle or guard. And if you listened closely to Jerry Jones, an alternative to a potential future left tackle need.

The possibility of getting a three-for-one does not come cheap - or often.

Jerry Jones called it “short-term, long-term flexibility. Offensive line was a real must for us.

“Leonard gives us a chance . . . we missed on a couple of our picks the last three years, and this gives us a chance to make up.”

You know who he’s talking about. The Cowboys took a swing and a miss on 2004 second-round pick Jacob Rogers. They took a swing and a miss on 2004 third-round pick Stephen Peterman. And this is the result of making first-day misses in the draft: You pay for your mistakes in free agency. Generally, you overpay, a sort of double jeopardy for missing badly on the first day of the draft. That’s the penalty.

But at least when the Cowboys did pay, guaranteeing Davis $18.75 million on the seven-year deal, they bought themselves some flexibility on the offensive line. He can play guard or tackle.

And when Stephen Jones was asked what happens if they don’t get Colombo re-signed and Rivera can’t play, what do they do knowing Davis can only fill one of those gaping holes, he had a quick answer. “The big thing then will be the draft,” he said. “You’ve got to have more options. We’re not just going to say Procter is the answer or McQuistan is the answer.”

It would have been nice, though, if Bill Parcells were a little better at shopping for offensive linemen at the grocery store, though.

Michael Irvin Finally in Hall of Fame

As Steven Taylor already reported, Michael Irvin was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame after being snubbed twice. It’s about time.

Even as a die-hard Cowboys fan, it’s hard to refute that Irvin can be obnoxious, let alone his problems with drugs. Still, he’s a much better man than Lawrence Taylor. And he was the undisputed leader of the dominant team of the 1990s. He’s a happy and relieved man.

Michael Irvin wrapped his arms around Thurman Thomas in the kind of hug that new Hall of Famers share. Somewhere, Paul Tagliabue could only envy their emotional display. “That embrace Thurman and I had, we talked earlier, we were falling apart on the phone,” Irvin said. “We don’t sound like cool people that played a tough game right now.”

[...]

“This was worth the wait,” Irvin said. “I know my alphabet. When I heard ‘H’ I was like, ‘OK, I (is) next.’ So, whew! I was so afraid we were going to skip over the I’s.” Not this year, his third try.

Irvin didn’t mention his troubled past — pleading no contest in 1996 to felony cocaine possession; getting arrested in 2000 on drug possession charges that were later dropped — but former teammate Troy Aikman did. “I think that maybe some of that is why he hasn’t gotten in until now,” said Aikman, who was inducted last year. “And I know that’s not part of the criteria, and I think all of the voters would tell you that’s not part of the criteria. But we are all human and I think you maybe take what you think of a person as an individual and have that cloud what you think of his athletic abilities. That happens.”

[...]

Irvin finished his career with 750 receptions for 11,904 yards and 65 touchdowns. He was selected to five straight Pro Bowls and picked for the NFL’s all-decade team of the 1990s.

“I played with a lot of great guys and played under some great guys,” he said, specifically mentioning the Triplets — himself, Emmitt Smith and Aikman. “Jimmy Johnson was a great head football coach. And Norv Turner, we always got on him every week: `Get me the ball.’ “He’d say, `Stop bothering me. Do you think I’m stupid? We are throwing you the ball.’ “

Irvin lacked the gaudy stats of great receivers who played in the West Coast offense but was, in my view, the dominant receiver of the early 1990s. At their peaks, he was better even than Jerry Rice. Blessed with better health and playing for consecutive Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Rice unquestionably had the better career.

One benefit of the three year delay is that the announcement came in Irvin’s hometown of Miami. And his friends and former teammates were there.

“Michael Irvin was the most competitive individual I have every played with. He was the heart and soul of our team,” [Emmitt] Smith said. “From a physical standpoint, there is no one who could match his talent and skill. His work ethic, charisma and drive were what carried us to our three Super Bowl titles. I am proud of him for this accomplishment. It is much deserved.”

Among those celebrating Irvin’s election were Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and San Francisco offensive coordinator Norv Turner. Turner is the leading candidate for the Cowboys head coaching job and a former Dallas offensive coordinator. Recently hired Jason Garrett was also present.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram sportswriter Randy Galloway thinks it was about time, too.

Nobody does joy better than Mike Irvin. Nor does anybody do charisma better. He was a special football player as a big-game, big-time receiver, and also always a guy blessed with a unique personality while being cursed by well-chronicled off-the-field demons.

[...]

By any football-only criteria, Irvin being elected was not only deserved, but overdue. Michael should have been voted in two years ago, when he missed out despite making it to the final six candidates, usually an automatic sign of entrance.

But even in Cowboy Nation, there will be dissenters. I read your e-mails, about how Irvin once disgraced the franchise, and about how he is such a poor off-the-field example when it comes to what kind of player should represent the Cowboys in Canton.

I’ve got minimum rebuttal for that, except one thing: The process. The bylaws for voting in the Pro Football Hall of Fame are clear on one thing: On-the-field only. Then there is no argument about Mike Irvin. But human nature, of course, will always slip into the process. And these aren’t computers doing the voting. These are humans, or at least 40 media members from around the country.

As Michael was recognizing those in the audience, and others who have meant much to him over the years, his words Saturday about Aikman certainly stood out. Talking about former teammates, Irvin praised Emmitt Smith and others, but finally said, “my very best, my very favorite, and I don’t mind saying it, is Troy Aikman, a man among men.”

Irving continued by mentioning how much Aikman “hated to throw interceptions,” so every ball thrown his way, he strived to “protect Troy from interceptions.” But the kicker line from Mike on Troy was, “Troy also protected me all the time. I want to thank him for being a great quarterback, but for also being a great friend.”

So after the Saturday festivities, I asked Troy to address those in Cowboy Nation who will disagree, or be uncomfortable, with Michael being in the Hall of Fame. Certainly, Aikman is the ultimate when it comes to the “character” that many desire with this football honor.

“Mistakes were made by Michael in his life, and I have no doubt this is why it took a little longer for this day than it should have,” said Aikman. “But I know all sides of Michael. What kind of individual he is, and what kind of loyal friend. And as a football player, well, they don’t come any better than Michael.” Aikman, the football perfectionist, had a soulmate in Irvin. “He not only showed up for practice every day, he showed up prepared, showed up knowing all his assignments and knowing what had to be done that day to get ready for Sunday,” Aikman added.

“On game day, he was the epitome of the big-game receiver, plus he was our emotional leader on the team. Without question, Michael’s emotional impact on the entire team, and how he prepared to play on Sunday, was the difference in many of the games we won.”

And finally, Aikman finished off with his ultimate compliment: “Michael is a great friend, not just to me, but also my family, and there was none better when it came to being a great teammate,” he said. Believe me, Aikman is very particular about his choices of “great teammate,” and also “great friends.”

And it was also Aikman, of course, who showed up in the Dallas County courtroom as a show of support for Michael in one of Irvin’s dark days with the law. “I was there to support my friend, not to support what he was in the courtroom for,” Troy said Saturday. On the criticism Aikman received for being there, he added that “what was important to me was I thought Michael needed a friend at that particular time in his life.”

Michael Irvin’s career with the Cowboys was a contradiction at times, bouncing between great player and team leader, to a guy who could screw up royally on the streets. But when it comes to judging individual and team accomplishments over many seasons, Mike is now going where he belonged all along. Canton.

The Cowboy fan-in-chief agrees.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who was also in attendance, didn’t draft Irvin but bought the team before Irvin’s second year. He soon became father, friend and confidant. Jones shed tears twice while talking about what making the Hall of Fame meant to Irvin and the Cowboys. “I apologize,” Jones said. “There were some great memories with Michael. He is about life. He says something about getting up. It’s inspirational.”

Indeed it is.

Brad Sham thinks the Hall voters might have been a little inspired, too.

They all credit Norv Turner for giving the Cowboys a championship offense in the early ’90s. Now they might be able to give him some credit for putting one of the main cogs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Turner spoke to HOF voter Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram during the past week. Williams had called to get more ammunition to bolster Michael Irvin’s Hall candidacy when it came time to make the arguments in the voters’ room Saturday, and Turner made the case by looking ahead a year, to the potential first-ballot nomination of Washington’s great cornerback Darrell Green. “Tell ‘em if they don’t vote for Michael to forget about voting for Darrell,” said Turner, who coached them both, “because Darrell hasn’t covered him yet.”

[...]

The stats, of course, set the foundation. Presenter Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth’s Williams and USA Today’s Jarrett Bell brought the stats to life. Bell, who worked at the old Dallas Times-Herald a few years before Irvin arrived on the scene, compiled a dossier of Irvin’s numbers against the top corners, the Hall of Famers: Darrell Green, Rod Woodson, Aeneas Williams and Deion Sanders. It was even better than the overall numbers. That’s why Irvin made it to the Hall of Fame: What he did in the biggest games against the best players.

But he was able to do that because of a work ethic that lifted his teammates and made them better. Garrett, the Cowboys’ newly-hired offensive coordinator, remembers a summer night in the mid-90s that describes Irvin perfectly.

The story Garrett recounted Saturday occurred somewhere in the mid-90s, after the Cowboys’ ‘92 and ‘93 championships, after Irvin had been a Pro Bowl pick at least twice.

“It’s the Sunday night before training camp opened on Thursday,” Garrett recalls. Then the team’s backup quarterback, Garrett was returning to Dallas from his family home in New Jersey. “I land about 5 in the afternoon and I’ve got 10 messages from Michael Irvin. ‘Red, I need you to meet me at the complex tonight. I need to get some throws before camp.’

“So I meet him at the complex at 7 p.m. It’s 100 degrees. No one there but the two of us. I’m wearing grays (t-short and shorts). Irvin’s wearing his helmet, his shoulder pads, this big heavy weight vest he wore in practice and these hot rubber pants. We run metabolics, which are position-specific exercises. For receivers, that means running routes. And he’s running them.

“We do five sets of ten of these things. Not a lot is said. He runs a route, hard, catches the ball, walks it back, does it again. Stops after a set to swig some Gatorade. We’re doing 50, 60 throws, and after about throw 35, I’m sweating, I’m thinking, ‘I’m getting a little tired.’ He’s out there in his rubber pants and his big freakin’ weight vest running more routes. And I remember thinking, ‘This is why this guy is so good.’ And there’s not a soul there to see it.”

Turner mentions how Irvin made average players good, what he did to make the Alvin Harpers and Larry Browns of the world significant cogs. He’s asked, which Irvin was more important: The one who made plays, outfought defenders, prevented interceptions, or the one who lifted his teammates to be better? “You can’t separate them,” he says shaking his head. “You have to have both. For Michael, not doing everything in his power to win championships would have meant he had not done what he was supposed to do.”

Jerry Jones remembers Irvin coming out for stretching in practice, one of the last ones out, standing in front of the whole team “and yelling, ‘Hold up now. Hold ‘em up: who out here is gonna outwork me today?’ Every now and then he had some takers, but no one ever managed it.”

Many observers around the country don’t like Irvin because of his off-field problems. Some don’t like his personality on television. One voter said Friday, “He’s a despicable human being, but I’m voting for him.”

But the point is, he’s not a despicable human being. He is a different person than the one who was in trouble every day 10 years ago. You don’t have to like or be comfortable with his frequent professions of faith, and many aren’t.

All those of us who know him can do is tell you what we know. Five years ago, the recently-retired Irvin was trying to break into broadcasting. One of his first jobs was being the analyst on the TV games of the brand-new Arena League Desperados. I was his partner on those games. I traveled with him. I watched him work. I watched him stay in his room at night and study. We talked a lot. Please don’t try to tell me what’s fake and what’s real about Michael Irvin.

Every new Hall of Famer’s initial remarks are moving, in one way or another. Saturday afternoon, just miles from his boyhood home, from his high school field, from his college experience, Michael Irvin was the most composed and eloquent of them. He’s worked hard on that, too.

Norv Turner ‘Leading Candidate’ for Cowboys Job

Wade Phillips interviewed yesterday and Norv Turner interview Sunday for the head coaching opening with the Dallas Cowboys created with the retirement of Bill Parcells.

While Phillips said his interview went “good,” FWST beat writer Mac Engel says Turner “appears to be the leading candidate to replace Bill Parcells.”

The San Francisco 49ers reportedly have made a substantial offer to keep Turner, the team’s offensive coordinator, from even interviewing with the Cowboys. But Turner, who is in Mobile, Ala., as a coach in the Senior Bowl today, will still interview with the Cowboys and has emerged as the favorite to coach the team, according to league sources with knowledge of the situation.

Turner has a history with Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones and has been a head coach twice previously in the NFL, with Washington (1994-2000) and Oakland (2004-05).

He was the offensive coordinator for the Cowboys in their Super Bowl-winning seasons of 1992 and 1993 and groomed Troy Aikman. He also coached Jason Garrett as one of the backup quarterbacks in 1993, and Garrett on Thursday was named to the Cowboys’ staff, presumably as the offensive coordinator.

Based on their prior record as head coaches, neither Phillips nor Turner are exactly exciting choices. Still, both are solid coaches with a relationship with Jones and who know what they are getting into.

Engel’s colleague, Jim Reeves, thinks hiring Turner is simply “a no-brainer.”

Everyone knows the knock on Norv. He’s a two-time loser. He couldn’t win in Washington or Oakland. Why would anyone think he could win here, in Dallas?

The question, of course, provides its own answer. Dallas isn’t Washington or Oakland. Jones isn’t, thank heavens, Little Danny Snyder or even Al Davis.

There really are a multitude of reasons why Jones should pick Turner.

They already have a strong relationship. This really is important. Jerry needs to know whom he’s dealing with, and there has to be a mutual trust and respect. Turner has to be able to stand firm against Jerry when the owner/GM wants to do something stupid (like bringing Terrell Owens back, for instance).

Turner isn’t Jimmy, but he is a link to the Cowboys’ heyday of the mid-’90s.

There are no sexy hires to be had out there. Jimmy’s still fishing and isn’t coming back. Bill Cowher is home with the family for a year. Not even Jones will pay to ransom Charlie Weis from Notre Dame. Bob Stoops has vowed to stay at OU, and besides, there’s no guarantee it wouldn’t take him a year or two to get up to speed in the NFL.

Turner, though, at least evokes pleasant thoughts of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin, of great offenses and Super Bowls. Nothing wrong with that picture.

Turner already has a great relationship with Jason Garrett, the Cowboys’ brilliant but raw offensive coordinator. Norv can take Garrett under his wing and school him in the nuances of the job, while also prepping him to be an NFL head coach. The owner stepping in to hire the offensive coordinator before hiring his head coach, who should then hire his own staff, is absolutely backward and typical Jerry, but it works if Turner comes in as Garrett’s boss.

Tony Romo. This is pretty self-explanatory. Turner developed one Hall of Fame quarterback already, and don’t you know that Aikman would happily drop by Valley Ranch for a little one-on-one work with Romo if either Turner or Garrett asked him to do it. With Turner and Garrett right there and Aikman available, Romo couldn’t have a better support system.

It’s time to think offense. Jones hinted at philosophical changes to come late in the season as he expressed his disgust at the waste of time, money, draft picks and effort the Cowboys have put in to build what was supposed to a championship-caliber defense. You have to score points in today’s NFL. Turner knows how to do that.

The window of opportunity is now. Perhaps the most important reason of all to hire Turner is that this is a Cowboys team that’s on the brink. It can go one of two ways. Up, to the next level as a championship contender. Down, as the window closes and age begins to catch up with its wide receivers, etc.

That’s why Jones doesn’t want a college coach here and why he shouldn’t give the job to Garrett, either. This team needs a cool, veteran hand on the throttle. It needs to win now.

A relaxed and confident Turner will bring a breath of fresh air to a tense locker room, where players had the life sucked out of them by the dour Bill Parcells each December.

Jones needs to follow his gut. He needs to hire Norv as the head coach and then allow him to go get the best and brightest young defensive coordinator he can find to put some juice into this Cowboys defense.

It’s not sexy. It’s not complicated. It’s almost too easy.

But it’s the right thing to do.

I’ve got to admit, that makes a lot of sense.

Emmitt Smith Wins ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Former Dallas Cowboy and NFL rushing leader Emmitt Smith won this year’s “Dancing with the Stars” competition.

Emmitt Smith danced off with the mirror ball. The three-time Super Bowl champion, who proved to be as nimble on his feet in the ballroom as on the football field, was named the winner of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” Wednesday night. With the victory came the glittering trophy.

The NFL’s all-time leading rusher beat out actor Mario Lopez. The hunky, dimpled Lopez was generally regarded as the series most dynamic celebrity dancer, but the public’s vote, the deciding factor after the contestants had tied in the judges’ tally at Tuesday’s final dance-off, brought Smith the victory.

“It is awesome! It is awesome!” declared Smith, after hugging his professional dance partner Cheryl Burke. “We came a long way, we really have.”

I don’t care a whit about these type of shows but am a huge Emmitt fan, so I’m happy he won. And this marks yet another victory over the San Francisco 49ers, as Jerry Rice managed to come in only second last year!

GHW