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Home , Brig Owens, Dallas Cowboys, Darryl Grant, Dexter Manley, Diron Talbert, FedExField

NFC EAST RIVALRIES: REDSKINS-COWBOYS A X A IIV!,l{l-} 51 \G S !'; rP}-}rli* \'f

By Michael Iichman

f, lo opPonent in the modern l\lera oi the Washington I IR.ortint has sparked as much resentment among PlaYers and fans in the Nation's CaPital' Maybe it's those stars on the helmets, or that sacrosanct image of the self-dubbed "America's Team," or that mYth about the hole in the roof at "so God can watch his favorite team play" - all elements that have fueled an abhorrence of the snooty CowboYs. As former Redskins guard eloquently Put it after a41-14 rout of in 1986: "There are three great things in life' Winning the lottery. having a baby and beating the CowboYs this badly." That Washington and Dallas Extra Etfort: seanTavlor made a great 1X""il^tTT$:LT":fr:1":1on" or,r," besr, in fact, the NFL has ever had-to from the attempt but couldn't stopTerry Glenn's somerhing to do with it, too. The .i""i;;";k; early offer has 27th - foes, btitr perennial contenders for in this year's sept' 1g70s ro rhe mid-1gg0s, when the NFC Easr anoihet. Those clashes meeting at FedExField' .".i period, collideJin one epic battle after "i,t moments, including: produced noihottug." of indelible in 1913; iine to preserve a Redskins' Monday night victory ! Kenny Houston tackling at the-goal IobscurerookieclintLingleythrowinga5o-liarotouchdownpasstoDrewPearsoninthelastsecondstobitethe Redskins on Thanksgiving Day in l9'74; final regular-season game in 19'79 to spoil the Redskins' I Tony Hill catching a last-minute scoring pass in the nt*"fl$X;rl intercepted pass to secure the Redskins'NFC Granr high-stepping into the with an c"'"i$,;il|,%i"X? down fleet-rooted running back l?i,1ll;?:,,t or nowhere in a 1e83 Monday Night game to bring o t"JJ.iffi*rics the dreaded games pitting the burgundy and gold against bo are part of rhe hysteria rhat has accompanied

ttHJlL;tlH, a Harl of Fame safety who played in played Dallas was unbelievable," says Houston, when we you hadn't o ..If and you weren't bleeding or could barely walk, from 1g73 to 1gg0. you came out of the game, washington year' We just loved to play F we could have played them ev:ry game during the + played. They really feft tite that. I wish games a 4 o'clock stafi' RFK' Those kinds of perfect setting: Monday Nllrtt, rnuntsgiving Day' a.l them. It was always the o still give You goose bumPs'"

ST]PPLF'MENT HAIL IO THE REOSNII{S A SPEC]AL H]STORICAI- A,\ A *VllR'f'i $ I 5l* S i-' PPi AL4;1lJ'l

who played during the Cowboys Hall of Fame ' Sameera,agrees:..ltwasuultt"'rivalry,andbothteamswerereallyintense.We respect'" didn't like itrem, they didn't like us' But there was a lot of meetings (with Dallas holds a 53-34-2edge over the Redskins in head-to-head attributable to Dallas winning u o"". ze matchup ahead) , i sizeable gap largely seven of the last eight games and 13 of the last 16'

1 t ffiwhenthestakeshaveu."nt'lgt'""'t.IlntheNFCchampionshipgameo1D'ec.3|,l972,posted a 14-7- victorv-,1^t^-., to cap a 17-0 26-3 toadvance t" s"p* B;;l vll,^where the Dolpliins !1- - rrn^ ^L^*-:^-.l^ih guo'"a^ma onnn lqnlan.22,1e83,washington )) 1QR3. WashinStOn campaign in NFLnrrJ'y. rn' the NFC champronship ":iljJrffih]|fiBlir^::::ll!|'#iliffiffi, - o.--^- D^..,1 v\/TT f^r thethc Redskins'theirRedqkins' thei rirst i,lffi;l'ih"iiiJ ;H*,,;i:i;";";;;;;.;;il the Dorphins zt-it insuper Bowr XVII ror NFL title in 40 Years. that began boiling when the cowboys were wins represent the pinnacle for washington in a rivalry Those spectacular moved to the meeting betiveen the teams 26-14 in 1960' the Cowboys just a thought. After the Redskins *on ih" first between the rivals that has existed since' over the 1961, the first season of a home"-and-home series Eastem Conference in team and the Redskins remained mired in mediocrity, neither next seven seasons, u, tt" io*roys rose to prominence and 1967 engaged in some wild battles resembling recorded a season sweep of the otirer. And between 1965 ,they offensive shootouts at the OK - . .=- Conal: 34-31 Redskins' 31-30 :s * .* ,# nff*ff 't r' I €= ".e->w k ifll?,i;iJ;fil;15''' " %::*; Redskins. In four of those five ,".$: 19. &+; "@' 3€ games, the winning Points came q; <. two minutes. '"f, in the final ;* Washington's strength was a potent aerial attack led bY quarterback ' receivers and , all future Hall of Famers, and talented tight end Jeny Smith. The CowboYs, who lost in the NFL title games to Green Bay in 1966 and 1961 , featured quarterback and wide receiver and Olympic gold medal sPnnter , along with a star- studded defense. "They had a very, very explosive passing game," Cowboys Hall of Fame defensive tackle saYs' "Sonny was alwaYs scarY. a very good receiver for a tight end' Hitting the Hole: (43) Bobby was fast. Taylor was always open. Smith was you really didn't need a running followed and Jerry The running game wasn't that gr;at, but with Sonny, defense, there's no telling what they would have smith.in 1g72, game. If they'd have had a coiparable done." AccordingtoJurgensen,..PlayingtheCowboyswasatremendouschallengeforus.Therivalrygrewbecausetheywere trying to get better, and any time we avery good football team. For us, we were struggling and a class organi zarion, them to score a toi of points to beat them, we couldn't stop played them, we knew *" tiO to be at our best. We had 'Hey, this is what we're going to do, see if you can beat us'"' defensively. They lined op uno said, rivalry iefore the arrival oi ro-.on" who would intensify the The cowboys did so sii straight times from 196g to 1970, many times over: George Allen. FormerlythecoachofthepowerhouseLosAngelesRams,AllenknewallabouttheCowboysfromwhentheteamsTex He detested Dallas coach ' scrimmaged during training camp in Southem . giddy over the chance to face them again in Washington' Schramm and others in the-organization, and was

SUPPLEMENT HAII. TO THE REITSKIIIS A SPECIAL HISTORlCAL 1 \ rf i) tr

"We always hated the ," Jennifer Allen, George Allen's daughter, wrote in her 2000 book Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter. "And now, with the Cowboys in the Redskins', we hated them even more." But enmity would not suffice for defeating the Cowboys,losers in V the year prior. With no patience for inexperienced players, the defensive-minded Allen revamped his Redskins fff& by acquiring a stream of savvy, tough veterans known as the "Over the Hill Gang." Washington %f' proceeded to shock the Cowboys 20-16 early in the 191 1 season en route to qualifying for the @" for the first time in a quarter century. The €g eventual Super Bowl champion Cowboys won the {d; .. rematch at RFK Stadium, and the teams split in Lt*"rrr = the regular season in l9T2before playing each wx other again in the NFC championship game at RFK. By then, Allen had elevated the rivalry to an * even higher level. He whipped his players into a fury by stressing his loathing of Dallas and its pompous reputation, while the Cowboys accused ry the coach and his staff of spying on practices. There were also charges of dirty play. The end #& result was a mutual feeling of animosity. The animated Allen also motivated his troops using the austere and stone-faced Landry as the centerpiece, sometimes going to the Streak Buster:The Redskins won ru extreme. Case in point: Allen, who took karate lessons with marlial arts expert Jhoon the 2002 season finale. lt was Rhee, chopped board after board in a team meeting to show what he could do to 's emotional farewell, Landry during a game. "That was just his way of saying to us, 'Get ready,"' former Redskins safety says. "If it came between the fl two of us at the 50-yard line, I'd be a little older but in better shape. He was saying it was all about preparation. If you work harder, and you're better prepared than your opponent, then you can win. He was a great motivator, one of the greatest motivators of all time." Allen also tapped one of his treasured veterans, defensive tackle , to make comments to the press intended to rattle Staubach, a Naval Academy graduate with a goody-goody image. Talbert, a Texas native, obliged by saying the Cowboys' quarterback "wears skirts" or "can't read defenses," among other inflammatory remarks. "Those things kind ofworked," Staubach says. "George believed you distract the other team by saying things, and Landry wouldn't allow us to say anything." Prior to the championship game, Talbert said Lanclry should start Cowboys quarterback over Staubach, who had missed the 1972 season with a shoulder injury until retuming to lead a miracle comeback in the first round of the playoffs. Landry opted to start Staubach and even tossed a needling remark at Redskins quarterback , saying ihe'Cowboys had the edge because the mobile Staubach was a better athlete than Kilmer, who was known for his wobbly passes. Old No. 17 went out and played the game of his life, completing 14 of 18 passes for 194 yards and two , both to Charley Taylor, in Washington's 26-3 victory. In one of the enduring images in Redskins lore, Kilmer threw a

HAIL TO THI RtOSilIlls A SPECIAL HIS'I.ORICAL SUPPI-EMENT \ r\ A ll Vllt'lt Ii t N {i S U J}P1-Llv-l ! \i'f

bomb down the right sideline to Taylor, who caught the ball in stride past diving Mark Washington and scored to put the Redskins up 17-3 in the fourth quarter. When the game ended, thousands of delirious fans stormed the field, and the Redskins hoisted Allen onto their shoulders and carried him through the mob like a king. "We were all on top of the world after that game," defensive end Ron McDole says. "That was kind of like our Super Bowl." No Herculean win, though, would stop Allen from spouting his anti-Cowboys propaganda, as the rivals continued vying for supremacy in the NFC East and produced classics, Houston's tackle, Longley's pass arrd a30-24 overtime win by the Redskins in 1915 to name a few. They split each year during Allen's reign until his final season, l9ll ,when Dallas swept the series before appearing in the Super Bowl for the fourlh of five times in the '70s. "George's thing about playing the Cowboys was they were prima donnas, and we were bullies, let's get them in a whole *It street fight, and we can kick their rear ends," former Redskins quarterback says. was all about us getting physical with the Cowboys. At the time, the Cowboys used the shotgun *3* * on offense and had the flex *e defense, and so much about %:: them seemed cerebral. It wasn't that they were better 'l# " than you, it was that they €."s could outsmart you. We felt 'i we needed to take it into the gutter." # As Brig Owens remembers: s- "The Cowboys promoted themselves at the time as t America's team. But we were in the Nation's Capital. We were the true America's team ry as far as George was concerned." # Despite Allen's deparlure, the rivalry remained strong with exciting encounters ru such as the 1979 season finale that ended on Tony Hill's catch. That game was the Redskins' first of six il straight losses to the Toush Going:carvin Hi'(TL:'o ;;1f9,:il:,Ts:::iT*:;?3"%ff:]iiff1ifl?J,'J.xTi3tffi,l?il;22'1e83 (66) met in 1972' R.ostins, *u, ,rraping a that appeared in four Super Bowls and won three over the next decade. That the rivals would collide in a game with such ramifications triggered a chorus of anti-Cowboys rhetoric, with Redskins defensive end front and center. The talkative Manley espoused his hate for the Cowboys and predicted a Redskins victory. "I wanted to beat them so badly," Manley says. "I grew up in Oklahoma watching the Cowboys. They had this attitude that they're bigger than life, that they're supreme, that they're prima donnas. But if it wasn't for two plays,I didn't have a good game that day." Those two plays were huge. The ferocious pass-rushing specialist plowed into Dallas quarterback in the second quarter and knocked him out. He also tipped a screen pass in the fourth quarter that defensive tackle intercepted and returned l0 yards for a touchdown to lock up the 31-17 victory' RFK Stadium, where 55,000 fans smelling blood that day erupted in chants of "WE WANT DALLAS! WE WANT DALLASI," rocked like never before. "The stadium was unbelievable," Gibbs says. "Those stands were moving about

HAIL IO THE REOSI(IllS A SPI]CIAL }{IS |ORICAL SUPPLEMENT !r'o Al)\ l:i{: ittr*C Slii)f i-ll11 }::X'}

three feet, they were going up and down." As Theismann recalls: "I remember standing on the sidelines at the end of the game, and people were just banging their feet against those aluminum seats. I felt the ground shake beneath my feet, literally. That's all parl of the Redskins- Cowboys rivalry." So is Dec. 11, 1983, when Washington dismantled the Cowboys 31-10 at and psyched them out at the same time. The Redskins'players traveled to Dallas wearing military fatigues, aiming to prove they were on a mission in what they called the "Invasion of Dallas." The Dallas media caught wind of their new attire. "The press was going nuts, they wanted one of us to talk about this," former Redskins offensive tackle says. "Our spokesman was (middle ) Neal Olkewicz. Olky told reporters, 'We're just going to war; we want the Cowboys to understand this.' It freaked the Cowboys out and got into their heads." That was clear as the Redskins built a comfortable lead in the second half. Landry yelled "No, no, no, Danny" before a fourlh-down audible by the quarterback failed. threw the ball at Danyl Grant's head. Two frustrated Cowboys r{E'E3 * tried to break up a celebration by n# uu the "Fun Bunch," Redskins who &* slapped high-fives in the end zone . -f ."k after touchdowns. And the ffi Cowboys lined up only l0 players -,s *: for an extra point. The win was the first of three ,g.t straight over Dallas, the Redskins' E first winning streak ever in the series. Later in the '80s, Washington won four straight, t-# including a 13-7 win solely with replacement players during the nt strike-shortened 1987 season. Several Cowboys stafiers, ;*** including Hall of Fame defensive ffi lineman Randy White, played in that game. The Cowboys, struggling at the time, slipped precipitously in 1989 t by finishing 1-15 under first-year But that & coach Jimmy Johnson. one win came over - you guessed r Outmanned: {74} and it, the Redskins - proving that a victory over Dallas is never a certainty. Then, when the Redskins stopped Herschel the Redskins began the 1991 season 1l-0 en route to their third Super Bowl win under snapped the streak with a 24-21 victory. The Cowboys, improving rapidly Walker in 1 ggg. Gibbs, Dallas at the time, proceeded to win three Super Bowls by the 1995 season with such marquee players as quarterback , running back and receiver . In all three of those seasons, the Redskins beat Dallas once. The Cowboys' dominance of the Redskins in recent years has dampened the intensity of the rivalry, which nonetheless has spawned some breathtaking games, like when the Redskins relinquished a 21-point fourth-quarter lead on opening day in 1999 and lost 41-35 in overtime. And this year, with Gibbs back in D.C., and in his second season in Dallas, all signs indicate that old Redskins-Cowboys intensity will resurface. The two coaches staged a fierce rivalry of their own during Gibbs' first stint in Washington, when Parcells coached the two-time Super Bowl champion Giants. "I'm sure the rivalry will be back," Parcells said this offseason. "I don't think there's any doubt. It will be great. It's good for , it's good for everything, and hopefully, it will be good for both Joe and I. It will be great to see him over on the other side.It will be like d6jd vu." Pro football enthusiasts can only hope.

IIA:L TO THE REBSI(IIIS A SPECIAL HISTORICAL SUPPLEMENT