It felt weird writing this title.
“Former” Cowboys center Travis Frederick earned what may be his final football accolade, being named 34th on Pro Football Focus’ All Decade Top 101 list. Frederick is the highest rated Cowboy of the entire decade, in front of fellow linemen Tyron Smith and Zack Martin, as well as wide receiver Dez Bryant.
Frederick’s career is unfortunately over, but the Cowboys center made his mark during his time in the league.
“It’s a shame that illness curtailed a career that was trending towards being one of the greatest in NFL history. Frederick hit the ground running as a pro and graded above 85.0 for the first five seasons of his career before Guillain-Barre syndrome forced him to miss the entirety of the 2018 season. He returned in 2019 and played the whole season, but he wasn’t the same player (though he was still very solid), so he chose to walk away. Even five years of Frederick’s best play is enough to see him rank among the best players of the past decade” – Pro Football Focus
I should rephrase that – unfortunately for Cowboys fans his career is over, but I’m happy for the man. He made his money, played his heart out, and battled back from a terrible illness to earn Pro Bowl honors in what would become his final NFL season. Due to the shortened career, I’m not sure that he will get legitimate Hall of Fame consideration down the road, though he certainly played like a Hall of Famer while with the team.
Frederick, Martin, and Smith formed their own sort of triplets on the offensive line – three of the bests at their own positions combining to form undoubtedly the league’s best offensive line from 2014-2016.
Travis Frederick is an inspiration to all football fans, and was the rock of the Cowboys offensive line from the minute he entered the league. Congratulations to him for earning the team’s top spot on this All Decade list.
