Three legendary Cowboys - Don Perkins, Lee Roy Jordan and Mel Renfro - are getting together for something about a sports & health expo. But that wasn't the interesting part of the article; it was the quotes from Perkins and Jordan.
Don Perkins:
"We were kind of the joke of the NFL when we started," Perkins said. "I think we won one game that first year. I don't think Iremember accomplishments quite as much as I remember us reaching the turning point. We took the Green Bay Packers to the wall in 1966 and 1967 -- my last two seasons. From an emotional level, I didn't think I could go through that again."
The Cowboys lost to the Packers 34-27 in the Cotton Bowl in 1966 and then 21-17 in the famed Ice Bowl in Green Bay in 1967. The Packers moved on from those two victories to win the first two Super Bowls.
"The first year, you could come back," Perkins said of the heartbreak. "But after the close loss the second year, it was really difficult. It was like a morgue on that plane coming home. I was 30 and I was still healthy, and I thought it was time (to retire)."
Lee Roy Jordan:
"I spend about five months a year in Alabama, with family and old college friends," Jordan said. "I still spend most of my time in Dallas. I got two new knees 18 months ago. It was tough the first three or four months. But I'm doing pretty good now. I was fortunate to play for Tom Landry and to be with the Dallas Cowboys my entire career. I came in in '63 and we got it in a winning mode by '65. Then, of course, we had those two games with Green Bay in 1966 and 1967. So, we were close early on in franchise history. But then in 1968 and '69 we had great regular seasons and lost to the Cleveland Browns in the Eastern Conference Championship. In '70 we made it to the Super Bowl but kind of gave it to Baltimore."
Naturally, Jordan holds memories of 1971 closest to his heart.
"You are there to win championships," he said. "So the Super Bowl win over Miami was special. We had had so many near- misses."
By the way, Lee Roy Jordan was one of the first names I ever remember from professional football. I had a trading card of Lee Roy Jordan that came with a football board game. Ah, memories.
Sad news, the guy with cancer that Mike Irvin visited a couple of weeks ago, died from the disease.
Kevin Crayon, who was visited March 15 by retired Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin, died Friday morning in his DeRidder home.
