The Day I Started To Love The Game Of Football
Monday, August 20, 2012 at 2:55AM Joe Simmons 
Let the record show that I have been a Dallas Cowboys fan my entire life. I've lived, loved, and cried Dallas Cowboys football for most of my life. It all started when I watched my first game on television as the Cowboys played the Seattle Seahawks on national television. I had seen football before this, but I had never really watched it like I was on this day.
The scene was set and there was a one man show dictating the offense. His name Anthony Drew Dorsett but you can call him Tony D. for short. Dorsett was giving the Seahawks all they wanted. The Year was 1980, the day was Thursday November 27. I remember because it was Thanksgiving and I was finally old enough to sit in the room with the grown folks and watch football. I kept watching Dorsett make move after move on the Seahawks. There were times when it looked like he should be tackled in the backfield, he would “turn water into wine” and break a 10 or 15 yard run against the Seahawks defense.
As far as his career goes, it wasn’t his best game ever, but it was the day I became a fan of his and a vaunted Cowboys fan. Dorsett had me hooked after that game and one thing was for sure, I was going to have to get me a Dorsett jersey and there would be no questioning what number I would wear the rest of my playing career if it were possible.
Dorsett wasn’t your everyday running back. In fact he was kind of small. He played at a mere 185 pounds for most of his career and he was able to still remain durable because it was impossible to get a good hit on him in the hole or the open field. He made a living on making people look stupid as they were trying to tackle him. Dorsett was almost always the fastest man on the field. Except for this one time:
But Dorsett wasn’t caught that often. As you can see here, he took it 99 ½ yards against the Vikings on Monday Night football.
It almost appeared that the bigger the game, the bigger the performance from the smallish Dorsett. I’ve remained loyal to the Cowboys since then, however no Cowboy has ever touched my heart the way Dorsett has. I wore that number 33 in Pop Warner, middle school, high school, and my brief stint in the NFL. I only wore the number 3 in college because someone already had 33 and they didn’t want to come off of it.
Today Dorsett is a vaunted hall of fame member and rightfully so. He still looks like he could suit it up today and do work. Funny thing is, my friends thought my style was more like Earl Campbell’s but that never swayed my loyalty to the Cowboys great. No disrespect to Campbell. He has surely earned his spot amongst the greatest ever. They may no longer be America's Team but they are My Team.
Stay Breezy ~ I’m Out!
Reader Comments (1)
I’ve remained loyal to the Cowboys since then, however no Cowboy has ever touched my heart the way Dorsett..Great stuff