How the Dallas Cowboys ruined DeAngelo Williams’ childhood
The Dallas Cowboys are a team that 34-year-old running back DeAngelo Williams refuses to play for, as his bitterness is nothing new to this fanbase.
Bad news for the Dallas Cowboys.
It seems that 34-year-old former NFL running back DeAngelo Williams, who’s trying to find work these days, won’t be suiting up with America’s Team.
Well, let’s just cancel training camp, shall we?
Williams made some inflammatory comments about the Cowboys and their massive fan base during a recent interview with ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The former University of Memphis star made it clear that he will never play football in Dallas and apparently for just two reasons.
First off, Williams is envious that the largest fanbase in professional sports never supported him. Understand that Williams has only played for the Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers during his mediocre 11-year career. Yes, the Steelers sport a pretty strong fan base, but it’s nothing like the one Dallas enjoys on both a national and international stage.
Second, Williams claims to have grown up a fan of the San Francisco 49ers, the most dominant franchise of the 1980s. This makes some sense given the historic nature and magnitude of the Dallas-San Francisco rivalry over the years.
But this is where things get much more clear.
Williams didn’t grow up in Northern California – or anywhere in California, for that matter – and he would amount to nothing more than a bandwagon supporter of the Niners, at best. Even during the height of the 49ers dynasty of the 80s, you wouldn’t find too many S.F. jackets and caps in Williams’ hometown of Wynne, Arkansas.
Also telling is the fact that Williams is of the belief that the Cowboys win a lot, but they don’t show up in the playoffs.
The reality is that about all the Cowboys did during Williams’ childhood – at least the portion he remembers – is win Super Bowls. As he was born in 1983, the 49ers had already won half of those four 80s championships by the time he was just two years old. In fact, Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana won his last Super Bowl for San Francisco when Williams was still only six years old.
No, Williams is still angry over the fact that ‘The Triplets’ emerged in the 1990s and did so just in time to take over the NFL when Williams likely thought that the 49ers would always be kings of the NFL – this is how kids think at that age. I know this because I grew into the NFL under the opposite circumstances.
See, I missed the ‘Doomsday Defense’ years by just a few. My Atari console and Star Wars fascination was just more important than watching the last few seasons of Roger Staubach. In fact, Danny White was the first Cowboys quarterback I ever watched with interest as the 80s got underway and if you’ve followed this team for close to 40 years or more, you know how that went.
Remember the conclusion of the 1981 NFC championship game?
If not, go check it out.
I can assure you that Williams, not even alive in January of ’82, remembers both the 1992 and 1993 NFC championship games and their outcomes and implications on power in the NFL.
No, Williams isn’t making his decisions on who he won’t play for based on principle, but rather childhood scars that his own professional football career couldn’t heal. You think he enjoyed watching Ezekiel Elliott torch his Pittsburgh Steelers in that epic comeback win last season at Heinz Field?
Nope.
And what about Emmitt Smith, a Hall of Fame Dallas running back that currently sits as the NFL all-time leading rusher with 18,355 yards? By comparison, Williams has just 8,096 rushing yards.
As far as Williams’ irritation with the Cowboys fanbase, I’ll simply say this: The Cowboys took the NFL by storm last season and probably convinced some 90-percent of Dallas supporters that another Super Bowl is coming soon.
The Baby Boomers handled the success of the 1970s with relative modesty, but Generation Xers, like myself, got pretty arrogant in the 90s – we’ve certainly paid for that over the last twenty years.
But can you imagine how a rabid mass of Millenials will handle their first look at a Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl win?
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Well, good luck DeAngelo – and let’s not act like you could even make the Dallas roster to begin with.