California

The Cowboys Say Goodbye to Valley Ranch

Since 1985, the Cowboys have called Valley Ranch home. That will be the case for another month, but then the fields that saw legendary players, coaches and teams will no longer be used.

Thursday was the final Cowboys practice at Valley Ranch. When the team returns from training camp in California, they will continue workouts at The Star in Frisco.

Valley Ranch is a charming place full of history and character, but the outdated building's time has come. Head coach Jason Garrett started the day by showing the team a video of what Valley Ranch looked like in the early 90's, and finished the practice with a team picture. Famous ex-players, long-time employees and family members gathered on the field to pay tribute to the Cowboys home. Many of the offensive players wore grey shorts in honor of previous teams who wore them during practices.

Here are some of the best quotes from players and coaches talking about Valley Ranch.

Jason Garrett: "This is a really special place. For the last 31 years, some of the greatest coaches, the greatest players and the greatest teams ever assembled in the National Football League worked here. And the standard they set is high. And what we try to do as coaches and players is embrace that standard everyday."

Tony Romo: "It was a little bit of a nostalgic day. We started off actually looking at a little Cowboys practice from about 20 to 25 years ago. There weren't too many houses out back, a lot of fields. You just remember how many great players and how many practices, how many different guys they've had here, the great coaches, the people who have walked these halls. We're going to miss it and it's been a special place to me over my career. We build a team out here. You go show off what you've built in the stadium."

Cole Beasley on who might get teary eyed about leaving Valley Ranch: "Probably coach Garrett, man, if anybody. Other than that, I don't know. Maybe Witt, and Romo they've been around for awhile."

Many are curious as to what will happen to Valley Ranch when the Cowboys leave this summer. Stephen Jones says the team is still considering options.

"We're going to play that by ear. We have some ideas on what could happen out here at Valley Ranch, but we'll take that slowly. First you have to move out and get everyone prepared to move out to The Star and be ready to go to work when we get back from training camp. It's obviously a special place out here and hopefully in some way it will always commemorate what took place out here," said Jones.

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