No one in the Dallas Cowboys locker room was more thrilled with the team's 37-21 victory over the Falcons last Sunday than Keith Brooking, the linebacker who--if you haven't heard--played for eleven seasons in Atlanta. Pair that tidbit with the fact that, over the course of the season thus far, Brooking has established himself as an emotional team leader, and the veteran's mindset in moving on will likely set the tone for the rest of the locker room.
The key for Brooking and, in turn, the Cowboys, is a balance of confidence and humility--of swagger and, as Brooking terms it, "humble pie."
"This is a game of momentum," Brooking said on Wednesday. "It's a game of confidence, and we just have to keep on eating our humble pie. We played one really solid game across the board, offensively, defensively and special teams, so at the end of the day, you've got to look at the big picture and you just got to keep that going."
Keeping with a season-long trend, Brooking asserted his belief that Dallas has the pieces in place to be a true contender; the key in making this possibility a reality, though, is found in a cliche seemingly as old as the game itself: taking it one game at a time. For Brooking, in the wake of maybe the most gratifying win in his almost 12-year career, this was no easy task.