Whether new head coach Jason Garrett is the man to restore the Dallas Cowboys to their former place of perennial contender remains to be seen, but Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin, who played with Garrett in Dallas, believes that the man sometimes known as “the Redheaded Jesus” is fully capable of returning the team to the NFL’s own version of the promised land.
Irvin, whose work ethic as a member of the Cowboys became the stuff of legend around Valley Ranch, recalled that his commitment, which at times bordered on the maniacal, was only matched by Garrett.
“Every time I stepped on the field to run routes--extra routes, workouts, offseason--there was one man out there with me,” Irvin said, per the Dallas Morning News. “And that was Jason Garrett. They used to say I was the hardest-working guy on the team. But Jason Garrett was right there with me.”
“I said, 'I need 75 routes,’” Irvin remembered. “And he would stay there and get it in. He never missed a day.”
Of course, the difference between the two is obvious: Irvin is now a Hall of Famer and thought by many to be the driving force behind the team’s early nineties dynasty. Garrett was a career backup, who only now, as a coach, is finding notoriety with the Cowboys.
"He never got the payoff on the field for all the hard work he put in," Irvin said. "But the football gods say that hard work pays off. And he got this job. If they follow him, they will win Super Bowls. This kid worked his [butt] off. If he conveys that message, like he has so far, the Cowboys' star will have a shine on it again."
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