Part of the reason Cowboys owner Jerry Jones adores his head coach so much is because Jason Garrett was connected to one of the best stretches in franchise history as a player.
As a backup quarterback, Garrett rode the wave of success throughout the early and mid-90s. Now coaching perhaps the best incarnation of the club since then, he was asked to compare the two.
"I'm not one to make comparisons," Garrett said on KTCK-AM, via The Dallas Morning News, "and certainly don't want to make comparisons with a team that won three Super Bowls in four years. But I was a part of those teams and was influenced significantly by those teams. So much of why those teams were so good was how they played and the makeup of those rosters. Having a big, strong physical offensive line where you can run the football, having playmakers outside; having a quarterback who plays at a high level; having a defense that can really run, make plays and take the ball away.
"Those are all models that I live with, and we had a lot of success here during that time. You can never really recreate another team based on an earlier team, but I do think you can learn from the experiences you've had."
While he was hesitant -- we are also wary of getting caught up in the offseason Dallas hype machine -- it is interesting to look at some of the parallels between both teams, especially on offense.
Players like two-time Pro Bowl tackle Mark Tuinei, four-time Pro Bowler Erik Williams and six-time Pro Bowler Nate Newton don't come together very often. Does Garrett have a budding version of this in Dallas now?
Garrett uses the offensive line as the crux of his non-comparison, though he makes hints at a playmaker outside (Michael Irvin/Dez Bryant) and a franchise quarterback (Troy Aikman/Tony Romo) who are also crucial to success.
Too bad they lost their Emmitt Smith (DeMarco Murray) in the division.
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