Dallas Cowboys News & Notes: Cowboys Well Represented At NFL Honors Celebration

Hall Of Fame 2015: Cowboys Charles Haley Voted Into Hall - Blogging The Boys
This year marked Charles Haley's sixth time as a finalist for the NFL Hall of Fame. How he wasn't voted in previously is still a mystery, but most attribute it to some in the press never forgiving him for his adversarial behavior in his playing days. Finally, they have rectified this and Haley is now a Hall of Famer.

DeMarco Murray Named Offensive Player Of The Year By Associated Press - Blogging The Boys
DeMarco Murray was voted by the AP as the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year. The Cowboys star running back has picked up plenty of awards since the season ended, and he can add this one to his collection.

Cowboys make strong showing in NFL Honors celebration | David Moore, DMN
In addition to DeMarco Murray, the Cowboys were well represented at the NFL’s Honors celebration Saturday.

Zack Martin came in second in the Rookie of the Year voting; Rolando McClain was second for Comeback Player of the Year; Jason Garrett tied for second in Coach of the Year voting; Rod Marinelli finished second in the Assistant Coach of the Year category, Scott Linehan finished third; Tony Romo tied for third for MVP.

Cowboys' DeMarco Murray: 'Too early' to worry about contract | David Helman, FOX Sports
Pro Bowl, All Pro, Offensive Player of the Year. The awards keep pouring in, and every time they do, Murray's asking price goes up a little more. Not that he's worried about that just yet.

"I don't know, I don't know yet -- it's too early," he said in a radio interview with 105.3 The Fan on Thursday. "I'm just hanging out, relaxing with my family and enjoying life."

Asked about maintaining the progress from 2014 with the Cowboys' other core contributors -- Tony Romo, Jason Witten and Bryant -- Murray was effusive in his praise. Beyond that, though, it's simply wait-and-see.

"Those are guys that I've spent my entire career with, those are guys that I've become great friends with. I consider them my brothers, and I love playing with those guys," he said. "We all play well together and we have a good thing going. You never know what's going to happen, we'll see what happens. But all you can do is hope for the best."

Tony Romo wins Greatness on the Road Award - NFL.com
I've never heard of this award before, but I'm taking it.

Romo won the award for his four-touchdown, comeback performance in a 31-28 road victory over the New York Giants. The award is given to the player who demonstrates the best performance in a road game during the regular season. NFL Media Analysts selected Romo’s Week 12 play as the pinnacle of "Greatness On The Road."

New AFA University Video - Expected Points Added - Advanced Football Analytics
Brian Burke created a new Advanced Football Analytics University video series, and his inaugural video explains the concept of AFA's Expected Points Added (EPA) statistic, and how it can be used to value plays and production in football. Here's the tutorial, which I highly recommend for anybody with even a cursory interest in NFL statistics.

Pro Football Focus mines endless NFL data to find subtle advantages | SI.com
In case you missed it, Jenny Vrentas profiled the Pro Football Focus operation for Sports Illustrated. Here's a small preview:

"What really impressed me is the fact that 13 NFL teams have contracted with Pro Football Focus for their data," Cris Collinsworth told The MMQB last August, after becoming a business partner. "I have been around the NFL for over 30 years, I know how hard it is to get behind the wall of those teams. And they’ve got 13 teams to trust their data. That’s huge."

Leaving BWW last night and a federal agent flashes his badge, grabs my arm and says come with me. Then walks me to his wife for a pic. Lmao

— Sterling Moore (@SterlingMoore) January 30, 2015