Boys Will Be Boys (18 page)
Authors: Jeff Pearlman
As it turned out, Smith had every right to talk trash. The Cowboys didn’t beat the 49ers so much as they thugged them. After spending all week publicly fretting about the threat of mud and rain, Johnson came out and attacked. The first half ended in a 10–10 tie, but Dallas pounded the 49ers at every opportunity. As Steve Young scrambled from the pocket in the second quarter, Russell Maryland lassoed him from behind and ripped his helmet off. When Haley knocked down a Young pass, he cursed his ex-teammate out. It was no-holds-barred football, and the dirtier the Dallas uniforms, the dirtier the attitude. “We were not going to lose that game,” says Kevin Smith. “No way.”
Dallas broke the halftime deadlock with its first long touchdown drive of the afternoon. Starting from their own 22-yard line, the Cowboys methodically marched down the field, using eight plays to move 78 yards. On third-and-7, Aikman dropped back and zipped a 16-yard completion to Irvin, putting his team in 49er territory. On the next play, Aikman went for broke, hitting Alvin Harper down the sideline for a 38-yard gain to the San Francisco 7. Two snaps later, fullback Daryl Johnston stormed into the end zone, handing Dallas a 17–10 advantage.
J. Mark Kegans/Dallas Morning News
Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated
Above first:
To celebrate his purchase of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones
(right)
took Jimmy Johnson to Mia’s, one of the city’s best Mexican restaurants. Little did the men know that they would be spotted by a
Morning News
reporter—and that Mia’s was the favorite eatery of Tom Landry
(Above second)
, the soon-to-be-fired legendary coach.
Jerry Jones
(left)
and Jimmy Johnson strategize in the team’s “war room.” Though Jones often demanded credit, it was the Cowboys coach who was largely responsible for turning the franchise around with one dazzling personnel decision after another.
Peter Read Miller/Sports Illustrated
Though blessed with myriad athletic gifts, Herschel Walker was the type of running back Johnson didn’t want—uninstinctive and robotic. When the Vikings offered a bushel of players and draft picks in 1989, Johnson eagerly traded his star halfback. The deal was the key to the Dallas revival.
Manny Milan/Sports Illustrated
Cowboys receiver Alvin Harper soars high into the air after scoring a touchdown in his team’s Super Bowl XXVII rout of the Bills. Though Harper was as athletically gifted as Michael Irvin, his addiction to the nightlife kept him from living up to his potential.
Peter Read Miller/Sports Illustrated
Jimmy Johnson receives the ceremonial Gatorade bath near the end of Super Bowl XXVII. Though he considered the victory the crowning achievement of his coaching career, the obsessive, intense Johnson never truly relished the accomplishment.
Jim Gund/Sports Illustrated
Thanks to back-to-back Super Bowl titles, Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones were often all smiles (and drinks). Behind the scenes, however, the two men shared a distant, oft-heated relationship, burdened by Jones’s jealousies and Johnson’s insecurities.
Al Tielemans/Sports Illustrated
When Jones could no longer tolerate Johnson, he turned to an old friend—former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer. Though Switzer was a charming man with a cheerful disposition, his time in Dallas was burdened by one unalienable truth: he wasn’t an especially competent coach.
Lynn Johnson/Sports Illustrated
Once as determined and team-oriented as any other Cowboy, Emmitt Smith turned increasingly self-centered with success. “He didn’t give a shit about us anymore,” says one teammate. “He was all about Emmitt, Emmitt, Emmitt.” That said, Smith was a four-time NFL rushing champ who cleared 1,000 yards for eleven straight seasons in Dallas. He made the Cowboys offense go.
Robert Beck/Sports Illustrated
Never exactly humble, Michael Irvin reached new heights of arrogance with the fame and the Super Bowls and the money. Says one teammate: “Before a game he’d have the people from Versace enter the locker room and measure him for a suit. He wanted to pick a feather from some exotic animal and put it in his derby hat. He wanted crocodile shoes with the tongue raised.” Irvin’s drug and woman problems helped bring down the dynasty.
Bill Frakes/Sports Illustrated
