FRISCO, Texas – Have said this so many times over the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee failing to induct Darren Woodson over the past 18 years, and more specifically the four times he has advanced into the Final 15. In fact, until I'm blue in the face.
Why the heck not?
And here we go, angry once again over this continued, inexcusable oversight. Just don't get it, and yep, I'm still blue in the face mad.
And here is exactly why:
Darren Woodson is a three-time Super Bowl winner.
Darren Woodson is the Dallas Cowboys' all-time leader in tackles (1,350).
Darren Woodsonis the Dallas Cowboys' all-time leader in solo tackles (787) and all-time leader in assisted tackles (563).
Darren Woodson is second in the franchise's 66-season history with 134 special teams tackles, only Pro Bowl special teams player Bill Bates with more (216). And Bill spent his 15-year career playing almost exclusively as a special teamer, not starting at safety, AND continued to play special teams until the day he retired. That good. That valuable.
Add to all that, 60 total playoff tackles with the Cowboys going 11-5 in the postseason during his 12-year career, and add to all that three interceptions.
Darren Woodson is a five-time Pro Bowler, three-time first team All-Pro and was named to the 1992 NFL All-Rookie Team.
And here is the kicker to all these numbers: The Dallas Cowboys have eight defensive players in the Hall of Fame – Charles Haley, Cliff Harris, Chuck Howley, Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro, Deion Sanders, DeMarcus Ware, Randy White – and Darren Woodson has more career tackles than any one of them. That should be the crowning feather in his candidacy.
But nope, and the further travesty over not receiving 80 percent of the 50 Modern Day committee member votes (40) is that only four of the potential five yearly candidates allowed were granted entry for the Class of 2026. There was one more spot available. This also means Woody now has just two more years of Modern-Day eligibility before being dumped into the expansive Seniors Category, and the backlog there is immense.
Crime of ignorance.
As I've maintained all these years, this Hall of Fame stuff should not just be about numbers, but it's about preserving stories into perpetuity. Woodson needs to be remembered as the heart and soul of these Cowboys defenses while winning those three Super Bowls, playing in four consecutive NFC title games. And along the way over his career, the Cowboys producing top-10 defenses 10 times and three of those No. 1, including the final season Woody played in 2003.
Somehow, the stories need remembering, like Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells asking Woody to play one more season for him in 2004 after complicated back surgery, even if he initially had to be placed on injured reserve, though all the way to December to finally retire.
Or the time on Nov. 19, 2000, which saw Woody, after five tackles early in a 27-0 loss to the Ravens, exit the game with an arm injury. When the X-ray room in Baltimore's PSINet Stadium mysteriously wasn't working, Woody, in full uniform, then walked across the street with Cowboys associate trainer Britt Brown to an emergency room for an X-ray. And when the X-ray revealed a fractured forearm, Woodson still wanted Britt to tape it up so he could return to play for a 4-7 team on the way to finishing 5-11.
Uh, no way he was told.
All just a glimpse for my "blue" face.
- Easy-Peasy: So really, was anyone surprised the New England Patriots were drummed, 29-13, by the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX? Shouldn't have been if looking deep into their 14-3 regular season record. To me, they were direct benefactors of first, playing a last place schedule; second, playing six games in the AFC East, only Buffalo finishing with a winning record; third, scheduled to play teams from the AFC North, only Pittsburgh finishing with winning record; and fourth, facing the four teams in the NFC South, not a one finishing with winning records. So when it came to the Patriots' strength of schedule, having played 14 of 17 games against teams finishing with losing records, their opponents totaled just a .391 winning percentage, the only NFL team with a sub-.400 strength of schedule. Until the playoffs, their only regular season win against a team with a winning record came in Week 5 against the Bills, 23-20. Now, I've always said you can only play the teams they tell you to play. Fine. But maybe there was a reason they went from last to AFC champs.
- Guess What: The next NFL team in 2026 with the second-worst opponent strength of schedule just happened to be the 14-3 Denver Broncos (.422), the team the Patriots beat in the snow-driven AFC title game. But that's where this analogy ends because third worst became the Dallas Cowboys at .438, and they sure didn't take advantage of what must be considered a soft schedule, having played nine games against teams finishing with losing records, and eight of those nine winning no more than five games.
- Not Taking The Bait: Can't tell you how many times after DeMarcus Lawrence and the Seahawks won Super Bowl LX that the Cowboys' former 11-year veteran defensive end playing his first season in Seattle was asked about what the unrestricted free agent said when signing with Seattle this season. You remember, right, that he had a better chance of winning a Super Bowl in Seattle than in Dallas. But Lawrence didn't bite, saying one time, "Leave the past where it's at. I'm a Super Bowl champion." About as close as he came to saying, "I told you so," is when he remarked, "Players win championships, not logos. Don't ever get it twisted." And actually, when first approached on the field for an interview, D-Law, knowing his wife Sasha came to the game 37 weeks pregnant with their five kids and her doctor just in case, said, "Where's my wife? She isn't in labor is she?" No, she wasn't, but kiddingly said he told her, "Whatever you got to do, this can't happen today."
- Rest In Peace: One week it's noted Cowboys bus driver Emory Tyler passing away, and this week it's the Cowboys' noted super fan best known as just Ms. Price, officially named Carolyn Price, passing away at age 83 after what family has said was losing her battle with cancer. Ms. Price has been a staple at Cowboys games and training camp practices for about as long as I can remember. She was noted for her high-pitched screams calling out players names from the sidelines, even after the Cowboys moved training camp out of Texas to Oxnard, Calif. Even mine, too, in her honorable fashion, "MICK-eeeey" that I humbling tried to avoid in camp and also from the bunker Miller Lite section behind the Cowboys bench at AT&T Stadium. She will be missed, probably now wishing could hear her scream one more time.
- Super Leftovers: Speaking of the Hall of Fame voting after the uproar over Bill Belichick not receiving 80 percent of the votes in the "coach category," here is what needs to change there: Instead of asking voting members to vote for three of five nominees in the three-man Seniors category, one coach and one contributor, just separate those into three categories, the three Seniors nominees and then just yes or no on the sole coach and contributor … So much is being made of the great Super Bowl defensive performance by the Seahawks with six sacks, but to me, pales in comparison to the Cowboys' nine takeaways in their 52-17 beatdown of the Bills in Super Bowl XXVII. And we can even go back to the 1971 season when the Cowboys beat Miami, 24-3, for the Super Bowl VI title, limiting the Dolphins to 11 first downs, 185 yards and three turnovers. Or even better yet, Super Bowl XII when the Cowboys pummeled the Broncos, 27-10, limiting them to 11 first downs but 156 yards, just 61 yards passing and, get this, eight takeaways, four of those interceptions … Here is something to ponder for another day, like what if the Cowboys happened to get George Pickens signed to a long-term extension before the franchise tag March 3 deadline? Meaning the tag would still be available. Might they chance using it on running back Javonte Williams if his market value soars, possibly making the running back tag of $14.1 million more acceptable for one season.
For this week's last word, in case you missed this since probably didn't create huge headlines, but what about Cowboys Pro Bowl kicker Brandon Aubrey's interview with our Tommy Yarrish. He has some history with playing in Brazil, where the Cowboys have been chosen to play the regular season international game in Rio de Janeiro, except it was soccer
"I'm very excited. I've always wanted to play international games, and I've actually been to Brazil when I was a little kid playing soccer," Aubrey pointed out. "So it's a mecca, the stadium in particular in Rio, for soccer players (Maracana Stadium). I'm excited to be there.
"Wish I was good enough to play a soccer game there, but, you know, I'll take a football game."
Not exactly a consolation there, Brandon.
