The NFL Hall of Fame Committee revealed the 2024 nominees earlier this week.
Amongst the laundry list of names are 16 players who were part of the Dallas Cowboys organization at one point or another in their careers.
Some of these players either only suited up for one game (Allen Rossum) or did not spend the better part of their careers in a Cowboys uniform.
For that reason, I won't go into detail on those particular few, but I will list them here anyway.
- QB Randall Cunningham (2000)
- RB Eddie George (2004)
- RB Chris Warren (1999-2000)
- WR Jimmy Smith (1992)
- OL Brian Waters (2013)
- DT La'Roi Glover (2002-05)
- LB Keith Brooking (2009-11)
- DB Allen Rossum (2009)
- K Mike Vanderjagt (2006)
The other seven former Cowboys on the ballot all spent their entire careers with Dallas, or were big contributors to Super Bowl winning teams.
I won't speculate as to whether they can become finalists, but we can reminisce about the things they accomplished while in a Cowboys uniform.
QB Tony Romo
Years Played With Dallas: 2004-2016
Career Accolades: 4x Pro Bowl, 1x 2nd team All-Pro
We all know the story of Tony Romo.
He went undrafted in the 2003 NFL Draft after a stellar college career a Eastern Illinois University.
Romo had offers from the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos but chose the Cowboys despite them offering a lower signing bonus.
He sat behind quarterbacks like Quincy Carter, Vinny Testaverde, Chad Hutchinson, Drew Henson, and Drew Bledsoe before finally getting his chance early in the 2006 season.
Romo never looked back, starting 127 games until a preseason back injury in 2016 forced him to retire at the end of that season.
His on-field magic was a welcome sight after so many years of terrible quarterback play following the retirement of franchise legend Troy Aikman.
Romo never made it to an NFC Championship Game, much less the Super Bowl, but he will forever have a place in Cowboys history.
Countless memories of Romo dancing around and dodging pass rushers in the pocket to find a wide open man downfield are burned into our brains.
He finished his Cowboys career as the leader in several franchise statistical categories.
His final stat line is a 78-49 record as a starter, 34,183 passing yards, 248 passing touchdowns, and a 97.1 QB rating.
FB Daryl Johnston
Years Played With Dallas: 1989-1999
Career Accolades: 3x Super Bowl Champion, 2x Pro Bowl
Daryl “Moose” Johnston is most known for paving the way for NFL all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith.
Behind the hard-nosed blocking of Johnston, Emmitt amassed 12,556 yards rushing and 125 touchdowns over a span of 10 seasons together.
Johnston was no slouch with the ball in his hands either.
Moose finished his career with 232 rushes for 758 yards and eight touchdowns.
Most of his damage outside of blocking was done as a receiver, however.
Johnston was a master of catching the football out of the backfield from his fullback position and even lined up out wide in certain packages.
Over the course of his career, he caught 294 passes for 2,227 yards and 14 touchdowns.
One of the last true fullbacks, it would be a delight to see Johnston recognized with a bust in Canton.
OL Nate Newton
Years Played With Dallas: 1986-1998
Career Accolades: 3x Super Bowl Champion, 2x 1st team All-Pro, 6x Pro Bowl
Nathaniel “Nate” Newton Jr., lovingly nicknamed “The Kitchen” by his former teammates, is already a member of the HBCU Hall of Fame.
He is one of those players who make you scratch your head once you find out he is not already part of the NFL Hall of Fame.
Newton played a huge part in the Cowboys dynasty of the 90's and was one of few players from those teams to play for both Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson.
From 1992 thru 1998, Newton played in six Pro Bowls and was selected 1st team All-Pro twice.
He is one-fifth of the offensive line dubbed The Great Wall of Dallas and helped pave the way for NFL all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith.
Big Nate is overdue for his induction, and I hope to see him get his gold jacket in the summer of 2024.
C Mark Stepnoski
Years Played With Dallas: 1989-1994, 1999-2001
Career Accolades: 2x Super Bowl Champion, 3x 2nd team All-Pro, 5x Pro Bowl
Mark Stepnoski spent a total of nine years with the Cowboys in two separate stints.
The first six years of his career were with the Cowboys, winning two Super Bowls along the way as the anchor of the original Great Wall of Dallas.
Fellow Texas team, the Houston Oilers, signed him in free agency, where he spent four years before returning to Dallas for three more seasons prior to retiring in 2001.
Penalties were not tracked until 1995, but between then and 2001, Stepnoski committed just two penalties in that time frame.
Fun fact: Stepnoski has one career kickoff return for 15 yards.
OL Erik Williams
Years Played With Dallas: 1991-2000
Career Accolades: 3x Super Bowl Champion, 2x 1st team All-Pro, 4x Pro Bowl
Yet another member of the Great Wall of Dallas of the 90's dynasty finds himself on the ballot.
Erik Williams started 133 games for Dallas and was there for both the beginning and end of the dynasty, finally retiring in 2001 after a five-game stint with the Baltimore Ravens.
Williams was notorious for his mean streak on the field and could be counted on to be the enforcer when needed.
A car crash and subsequent recovery in the middle of the 1994 season dampened what appeared to be a first-ballot Hall of Fame career, and Williams never fully recovered.
LB Ken Norton Jr.
Years Played With Dallas: 1988-1993
Career Accolades: 3x Super Bowl Champion, 1x 1st team All-Pro, 3x Pro Bowl
Ken Norton Jr., son of World Heavyweight Champion boxer Ken Norton, played the first six seasons of his career with the Cowboys.
He was part of the Doomsday II defense that powered the Cowboys to back-to-back Super Bowl championships in the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
Norton is the only player in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls.
He was poached in free agency by Dallas' rival San Francisco after the 1993 season and immediately helped them stop the Cowboys from completing the three-peat.
Norton would spend the rest of his career as a 49er, retiring after the 2000 season with 1,272 tackles, 12.5 sacks, 13 fumble recoveries, and 5 interceptions.
S Darren Woodson
Years Played With Dallas: 1992-2003
Career Accolades: 3x Super Bowl Champion, 3x 1st team All-Pro, 5x Pro Bowl
Don't get me started on Darren Woodson. I can write an entire article on why he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame as of his first year of eligibility. Lucky for you, I already have.
That may have been a shameless plug, but believing Woodson is more than deserving of a spot in the Hall of Fame is shameless as well.
He is the Cowboys' all-time leading tackler with 1,350 to his name.
On top of the tackles, he also racked up 11.0 sacks, 11 fumble recoveries, and 23 interceptions in his 12-year career.
Not shown in the stat sheet is the fact that Woodson is the first safety in the history of the NFL capable of covering an opposing team's number-one wide receiver.
In the slot, no less.
Players like Jerry Rice, Herman Moore, Sterling Sharpe, Tim Brown, and many others met their match with Woodson lined up across from them in the slot.
Woodson would be a force to be reckoned with even in today's game, and that's why it's past time we see him on stage putting on the gold jacket.
