Cowboys’ DeMarcus Ware snubbed of first-ballot Hall of Fame induction

No. 1 all-time Dallas Cowboys sack leader. No. 9 all-time NFL sack leader. No. 8 in most forced fumbles of all-time. Super Bowl Champion. Future Cowboys Ring of Honor Member. Legend.

Those are all ways to describe former Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Ware.

It appears that despite checking all of the boxes one could ever want to in their career, his Hall of Fame induction will have to wait.

In what I view as a total travesty and disappointment from the voters, they left Ware off of the ballot and aren’t going to give him the first-ballot induction that he more than deserves.

Cowboys’ DeMarcus Ware snubbed from Pro Football Hall of Fame

Ware’s career speaks for itself.

His sack total has him atop the likes of fellow Cowboys all-time greats such as Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Charles Haley, and many others. Ware was known for his massive arm coming down and forcing fumbles on opposing quarterbacks. His ability to not only get to the quarterback, but create havoc is one that has rarely been seen in league history.

Ware knows he will get it and it really is the classic case of “when, not if” at this point. The response offered by Ware is no surprise, though. Cowboys fans remember the giant white smile Ware was always flashing as if he was still playing a kid’s game, not just going about his career.

That is one thing that always stood out to me. And his on-field play is just half the reason he is my favorite Dallas Cowboy of all-time. Let me tell you a story as to why. I talked about it on Twitter, but let me go into some detail to shed some light on DeMarcus Ware as a person.

It’s back in 2008 and it was the first Cowboys game I was ever going to. I was just 12 years old, and the entire weekend had me in awe. Even then, I wasn’t prepared for what occurred. To set the stage, my brother — who was just 8 years old, at the time — and I were eating dinner in the restaurant at the team hotel. We were crushing chicken tenders like they owed us and chugging Coke like it was going out of style, as kids do on a fun weekend.

Anyhow, we took a walk to the bathroom. We are on our way back to the table and the elevator pops open. It’s an empty hallway except for myself, my little brother, and DeMarcus Ware. We froze. We didn’t have words. We knew who he was, but we looked at up him like the giant he was. I swear he felt 10-feet tall in that moment.

I had a sharpie in my pocket and with my high-pitch voice shaking, I asked, “Are you DeMarcus Ware?” as the only words I could get out. He smiled that giant smile and, without asking, took my sharpie and signed my hat and asked me about where I was from and if I was going to the game, really treating me like he was genuinely interested. As cool as that was, his next move will forever be remembered.

By this time, there was a crowd of probably 25-30 people around him asking for autographs after he signed my hat and we talked. D-Ware looked at my little brother, who happened to be wearing a 94 jersey, and said, “Come here, little man” and signed the back of his jersey. After that, he let everyone know he had to head to a team meeting and went on his way.

After that, my brother and I SPRINTED around the hotel. I mean, we were on cloud nine. We didn’t know what to do, say, or even how to comprehend it. We just met THE D-WARE one-on-one. It’s one of the most special moments I have had not just in my Cowboys fandom, but ever, really.

Ware will get his time to put on his gold jacket. He will give a speech that I am sure will be outstanding. And he will forever be remembered in Canton and the Cowboys Ring of Honor.

It may seem small, but he will also be remembered forever in the minds of us two as the athlete who gifted us the best football memory we have. We were just two kids going to their very first Cowboys game ever, but he went out of his way to give us that moment. It is impossible to wrap up D-Ware into one story, but this shows he is just as much of a Hall of Fame person as he was a Hall of Fame player.

So, D-Ware, your time is coming. It will be worth the wait to you, to me, to all Cowboys fans. But, if you see this, just know you’ve got two fans out there that owe you everything for the small moment you gave us that solidified us as Cowboys fans for life.

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