IRVING, Texas - And from behind the opening darkened-pane glass door emerged . . .
A smiling Felix Jones.
Oh, that's right, almost forgot. Felix Jones still is on this Dallas Cowboys football team. Been so long since we actually have seen him, you know, the out of sight, out of mind thing.
So that he surprisingly sprung out the side door of the Cowboys Golf Course clubhouse on Wednesday afternoon was good news on two fronts.
One, he was smiling . . . again.
Two, he was participating in the team's annual sponsor appreciation golf outing, even though he admitted to not being much of a golfer, if at all, but sure looked the part, and was about to look even better with the new pair of golf shoes he had cradled under his arm.
That was the great news. Felix Jones was healthy enough to play golf, not that in these scramble tournaments you are required to walk or carry your bags for 18 holes. But hey, you got to walk some, right? You got to be able to put pressure on your feet to swing, no? And when you're not real good, then I bet you got to be able to kick the ground in disgust when your shot skulls over there into the right rough?
But Felix said, "no problem" with any of that, that his foot was just fine.
Now if you remember, Jones first went to the sideline in the third quarter at Arizona, in what was Game 6, with what would be classified as a torn hamstring. He was through for that game, an eventual 30-24 overtime loss to the Cardinals in which the Cowboys also lost the services of punter Mat McBriar for the season (broken bones in his right foot) and quarterback Tony Romo for three games (fractured right little finger).
The Cowboys still were 4-1 when Felix went to the sideline, and actually still 4-1 when Romo fractured his finger getting sacked the first offensive play of the overtime game that he gutted out for two more plays. But by time the Cowboys loaded onto their bus for the drive to the airport and trip home that night of Oct. 12, they were 4-2.
The season would never be the same after the Cardinals recovered the blocked McBriar punt that put him on injured reserve for the rest of the season. With Romo's finger eventually being casted, Brad Johnson was exposed as the backup quarterback, the Cowboys losing two of the next three, and only by the grace of their defense able to beat Tampa Bay, 13-9.
As for Felix, he would never play again his rookie year. He missed the next five games, a total of six weeks since the bye was sandwiched in that span, while rehabbing his left hamstring. But while doing so, possibly compensating for the hamstring, Jones developed a bad case of turf toe, something he previously suffered from at Arkansas. He would return to practice for only one day, Nov. 19, and by the 20th the Cowboys had decided the best thing for the rookie's bright future was to surgically repair the torn ligament under his left big toe.
Dr. Robert Anderson, a foot and ankle specialist in Charlotte, N.C., performed the surgery that Saturday, and seemingly ever since that Nov. 22nd day we lost track of the Cowboys' first of two first-round draft choices last year.
Until Wednesday when he emerged onto the outdoor patio.
Certainly had not seen Felix walk that well since, well, maybe that 33-yard touchdown run against Cincinnati in Game 5.
Certainly had not seem him smile so grandly since, well, maybe that 60-yard touchdown run against Green Bay in Game 3.
And don't remember him being as talkative since, well, maybe that 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Philadelphia in Game 2.
What, you forgot about all that? Forgot about how he was carving a path to becoming the most dynamic rookie the Cowboys have had since, well, wait, let's think about it: Tony Dorsett, in 1977, when he rushed for 1,007 yards and 12 touchdowns to lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory over Denver that season?
I mean, in just 30 carries, Jones gained 266 yards and scored three touchdowns, meaning he averaged 8.9 yards a carry and a touchdown every 10 carries. He also returned 16 kickoffs for 434 yards, averaging 27.1 a return and had the one for a touchdown, putting him on pace for one of the best kickoff return yardage seasons for a rookie in club history.
And just in case you have forgotten, he also was confounding defenses when motioning wide out of the backfield, causing matchup problems inside on Jason Witten.
So no wonder as big a smile came over the face of executive vice president Stephen Jones when asked about Felix Jones' return this season and the impact he could make, this Jones calling that Jones possibly the most impactful single player the Cowboys have had "since I don't know when."
Tony Dorsett?
Stephen Jones also agrees of all the injuries the Cowboys suffered last year, and that included Romo's fractured finger, McBriar's fractured foot, Kyle Kosier's fractured foot and Roy Williams' twice broken arm, the loss of Felix was the most devastating to the entire team.
"Without question," Stephen Jones said.
That impactful.
Which means you will be very relieved to hear Felix Jones say he's running again these days. Running hard, too, doing everything he needs to be doing to be ready for the 2009 training camp - now just approaching six months since his season-ending surgery. Says the foot is good, the hamstring is good.
Says he'll be ready to go for the start of next week's organized team activity workouts, beginning May 19, three days a week for four consecutive weeks followed by the lone mandatory team minicamp set for June 15-17, all at nearby Standridge Stadium in Carrollton. The coaching staff might limit him some that first week, but only for precautionary reasons.
Here's more good news. Felix looks bigger - sort of thicker in the chest, as if he's had nothing else to do these past six months but work on strength and conditioning, and I'm told they about have to kick him out of the weight room he's been in there so much.
Now he wasn't exactly rail thin as a rookie, listed at 6-0, 212. And maybe he's only like 215 or so, but just giving him, as owner Jerry Jones is known to say, "the eye-ball test," it appears to be a better 215, if you know what I mean.
Many have asked how the Cowboys have gotten better this off-season, worried about the rookie and free-agent additions of the Eagles, Giants and Redskins. In fact, one guy today in the Mailbag asked what would be the most exciting thing going into this season.
You want excitement?
Let me present you a smiling, healthy Felix Jones.
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Mickey Spagnola - 
