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The Dallas Cowboys haven’t made an NFC Championship game in over three decades.
Their drought turned 30 last January and no matter what moves have been made, nothing has worked.
It’s a far cry from the organization’s glory days, when Emmitt Smith was running rampant in the backfield. And even though Smith has been off the field for a while, he has an inkling of what’s been holding them back.
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Former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith (left) shakes hands with owner Jerry Jones after being presented with his hall of fame ring at halftime of the game against the Detroit Lions at Cowboys Stadium on November 21, 2010. (Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports)
“I think if there’s anything that I think has held us back, I think we’ve gotten away from the thing that actually helped build the organization from the beginning. In the beginning, you had Jimmie Johnson, you had Jerry Jones, both had a wild passion for what they wanted to accomplish, and winning Super Bowls was the ultimate goal,” Smith said in a recent interview with Pakinomist Digital.
“Building that team required some sacrifices and some decision-making that took place. And they made the right decisions. They traded players away, they got more players, and they rebuilt that organization overnight. But to bring that thing together and be passionate about rebuilding the organization and doing it in the past, in a quick way, that’s what they both did. To me, that has to be the blueprint for what this organization should be. organization should be forever.”
Smith then hinted at a lack of toughness for the Cowboys.
Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith (22) before facing the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XVIII at the Georgia Dome on January 30, 1994. (James D. Smith/USA TODAY Sports)
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“You think about the Pittsburgh Steelers, you don’t have to think about the toughness because they’re going to play hard. That’s how the Cowboys should be. And when you think about the (San Francisco 49ers), they’re kind of like that now. And when you think about the (New England) Patriots, they were like that with (Bill) and it was like that with (Bill) Belichick and Kraft. That’s who they were.
“Organizations have a fiber that made them great. When you see organizations get away from that fiber, now you see how long it takes to get back to where you once were. And I think that’s the problem with the Cowboys. There should be a common thread: expertise on the football field leads to expertise in the licensing world, or in the marketing world, or in the sports Hallmark world in general, because you can forget what an account in a bank in general sells. tons of merchandise, and that means that you’re a better marketing team that way, but you don’t stand for excellence when you haven’t won anything in 30 years, that’s what you’re trying to regain.
Last year’s Cowboys defense was already suspect even before the team traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. They then allowed a league-leading 30.1 points per game. game en route to a 7-9-1 record.
Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith reacts at Candlestick Park on January 17, 1993 after their NFC Championship victory against the San Francisco 49er’s in San Francisco, CA. The Cowboys won 30-20 and will face the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII. (Garcia/AFP)
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The offseason has been filled with another contract dispute as George Pickens was franchise tagged after a career year, his first with the Cowboys.
The Cowboys scored 27.7 points per game, the fifth most in the league.
