This is the season for NFL retirements.

Last week, two potential early retirements were announced, with Wide Receiver Julio Jones and Defensive Back Patrick Peterson hanging up their cleats.  Today, Offensive Tackle Tyron Smith signed a ceremonial deal with the Dallas Cowboys, the team that drafted him ninth overall in 2011, so he could retire in “Big D.” 

A Cowboy for the first 13 of his 14 seasons, Smith went to eight Pro Bowls, seven of which were consecutive (2013 to 2019).  He was also selected for two First Team All-Pros (2014 & 2016).  Smith, who started all 171 of his NFL games, was regarded as one of the football’s elite stoppers of pass-rushers and, had he not suffered a slew of injuries late in his career, could have been one of the best Tackles of all time.

Smith is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2030, and in our pre-2024 Notinhalloffame Football monitor, he was ranked #22 overall.  Notably, he retires two months after his longtime lineman Zack Martin.

We here at notinhalloffame.com would wish Tyron Smith the best in his post-playing career.

It has been reported that Zack Martin, the starting Right Guard for the Dallas Cowboys since 2014 will be retiring, and that brings us a heavyweight contender for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2025.

Martin played his college ball at Notre Dame where he helped bring them to the 2013 BCS Championship Game.  He was drafted in the First Round (16th Overall) in 2014 by the Cowboys, where he immediately win the job at Right Guard.

Martin would become one of the best Guards in Cowboys history, earning seven First Team All-Pros, two Second Team All-Pros and 10 Pro Bowls.  He is now eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2024, and in our 2024 Pre-Season Hall of Fame monitor, he was ranked #4 Overall and #1 among Offensive Linemen.

We here at notinhalloffame.com wish Zack Martin the best in his post-playing career.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2023 revision of our top 50 Dallas Cowboys.

As for all of our top 50 players in football, we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Football League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, Dallas made the playoffs but suffered an early exit.  The 2023 Season gave us two new entrants with three elevations.

As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:

1. Emmitt Smith
2. Bob Lilly
3. Roger Staubach
4. Randy White
5. Mel Renfro

You can find the entire list here.

Offensive Guard Zack Martin cracks the top ten from #12 to #10.

Fellow Offensive Lineman Tyron Smith advanced to #14 from #17.  He is now with the New York Jets.

Quarterback Dak Prescott, who added his third Pro Bowl in 2023, climbed to #29 from #41.

Defensive End DeMarcus Lawrence, who went to four Pro Bowls, makes his first appearance at #47.

Linebacker Micah Parsons, who has only been a pro for three years, has finished in the top three in all of them in Defensive Player of the Year voting.  He debuts at the tail end of the list at #50.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

The National Football League has seen a few Linebackers who became instant stars, and in 2021, Micah Parsons was added to that elite list.

Parsons was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, and the Cowboys were fortunate he was still available when they selected the Penn State product 12^th overall in the 2021 draft and captured the player who became the most versatile Linebacker in football. 

Parsons adapted immediately to the highest level of football, showing that regardless of scheme, he could deliver.  As an exemplary pass rusher (he already has 40.5 Sacks), Parsons’s speed and explosiveness allow him to shift effortlessly in the interior.  Parsons has been named to the Pro Bowl in all three of his NFL campaigns, and the 2021 Defensive Rookie of the Year has finished second, second, and third, respectively, for the Defensive Player of the Year.

He enters this star-studded list despite playing only three years.  That is how good Parsons has been.

A star at Boise State, where he was a two-time All-MWC Selection, DeMarcus Lawrence was an early Second Round Pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2014.

Playing at Defensive End, “Tank” did not break out until 2017, when he had 14.5 Sacks went to his first Pro Bowl, and was fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.  Since then, Lawrence has racked up the Sacks using his power to bull-rush or disrupt offenses at will.  He added Pro Bowls in 2018, 2022, and 2023 and has 58.5 Sacks and 93 Tackles for Loss going into 2024.

An All-American at Syracuse, Daryl Johnston became the “Moose” in Big D when Dallas chose him with their Second Round Pick in 1989.

Johnston was listed as a Fullback/Running Back, but he was mostly a blocker and had far more yardage as a receiver.  Paving the way for Emmitt Smith, Johnston was integral in Dallas’s three Super Bowls in the early 1990s dynasty, and he parlayed that popularity into a broadcasting and executive career.

Johnston is never in the Pro Football Hall of Fame conversation, but to Cowboy Nation, he was a legend.  Many non-Cowboys fans will say the same.

Many football players are large men, but few are freakishly tall.  Hence the nickname of “Too Tall” for the 6’ 9” Ed Jones.

Recruited at Tennessee State for basketball, Jones later turned his attention to the gridiron and was an All-American Defensive End and made history as the first HBCU player to receive the first overall pick (1974) in an NFL Draft.

Jones has a good start to his career, winning All-Rookie honors, while finishing third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.  Jones, whose height made him literally stand above all others.  Showing improvement annually and helping Dallas win Super Bowl XII, Jones shocked the sporting world by retiring and focusing on a boxing career.

Most people were unaware that Jones had boxed in college, and it was one of his original loves.  He had a 6-0 record, and all of his fights were televised nationally.  It made Jones a bigger star, and he returned to football in 1980.  While this time off could hurt others, Jones claimed it made him a better football player.  He was right.

Too Tall had the best period of his career, earning three straight Pro Bowls (1981 to 1983). His best sacking numbers came after he had double-digit sack numbers in 1985 and 1987. Injuries and age forced Jones to retire after 1989 after he appeared in 224 Regular-Season Games and 20 Playoff Games.

Overall, Jones appeared in three Super Bowls, won one, and was a large cog in the machine that got them there.  To this day, there are many who, whenever they think of batted balls, images of Too Tall Jones dance in their heads.

In 2013, Jones was elected into the Black College Football Hall of Fame.

Professional Football lost another great one.

Hall of Fame Guard Larry Allen passed away today at 52.  He was vacationing with his family in Mexico at the time.

Drafted in the second round in 1994, Allen earned a starting job on the Dallas offensive line and helped them win Super Bowl XXX, and would later become their best lineman, earning six consecutive First Team All-Pros (1996-2001) and 10 Pro Bowls as a Cowboy.  He added an eleventh in 2006, in his first of two years with San Francisco.

Allen entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013 in his first year of eligibility. 

We at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to Larry Allen's fans, family, and friends.

Byron Jones, originally from New Britain, Connecticut, was a versatile defensive back who played multiple positions for UConn, before being selected in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. During his time in Dallas, Jones excelled at cornerback, earning Second Team All-Pro honors and a Pro Bowl selection in 2018. After five years with the Cowboys, he spent two seasons with the Miami Dolphins before retiring with a total of 444 combined tackles, four interceptions, and five forced fumbles.

After a decent career at Eastern Carolina, Dwayne Harris was a late round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2011, where he would serve mostly in Special Teams.

Harris was strong not just as a Returner but as a Gunner, which allowed him to enjoy a ten-year career in the National Football League.  A Cowboy for his four years, Harris was a New York Giant over his next three seasons, where he was a Pro Bowl Selection in 2016.  He also played for Oakland where he led the NFL in Yards per Punt Return in 2018.  Harris closed his career with a year in Chicago in 2020.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is important to us that the

Dallas Cowboys will FINALLY be enshrining Jimmy Johnson into their Ring of Honor

The announcement came from Cowboys Owner, Jerry Jones before today’s game against the Carolina Panthers, and will officially happen on December 30, during their home game against the Detroit Lions.

Johnson took the Miami Hurricanes to a National Championship in 1987, and a year later was signed by Jones to take over the helm in Dallas.  After a 1-15 start, Johnson turned the ship around and with the triumvirate of Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman led the Cowboys to back-to-back Super Bowl wins (XXVII & XXVIII) but the success led to fractures in the relationship between Johnson and Jones.  The two agreed to part company before the 1994 Season, and Johnson would later coach the Miami Dolphins, and then work for Fox as a television analyst.  He had an overall record of 44-36 and 7-1 in the playoffs.

Johnson had previously entered the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but this honor, although clearly deserved, seemed to be forever barred from this one.  Jones had previously said that he “could not handle the disloyalty” as to the reason that Johnson was not yet honored.  As always, time and retrospect can heal all.

Johnson will join Cowboys legends, Bob Lilly, Don Meredith, Don Perkins, Chuck Howley, Mel Renfro, Roger Staubach, Lee Roy Jordan, Tom Landry, Tony Dorsett, Randy White, Bob Hayes, Tex Schramm, Cliff Harris, Rayfield Wright, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, Drew Pearson, Charles Haley, Larry Allen, Darren Woodson, Gil Brandt and DeMarcus Ware.  Of that list, all but four (Meredith, Perkins, Jordan and Woodson) are Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Jaromir Jagr for his impending honor.

2022: Pre-Season Rank: #133.  Peak Period: 2020-23*

A four-year veteran with the Dallas Cowboys, Trevon Diggs was named the PFWA Most Improved Player in 2021, in a year where he was a First Team All-Pro. Digges went to his second straight Pro Bowl in 2022, but a torn ACL early in the 2023 Season derailed his push for a third.  

*Diggs has only played four seasons.

2023: Pre-Season Rank: #148. Peak Period: 2020-23*

Last year, we surmised that CeeDee Lamb had an excellent shot at being a first-team all-American in 2023, and he did just that with a league-leading 135 Receptions and a whopping 1,749 Yards. Lamb, who is on a three-year Pro Bowl streak, finished third in OPOY voting last year and could eventually join the elite group of Wide Receivers to win that specific accolade. 

*Lamb has only played four years.

2023: Pre-Season Rank: #102. Peak Period: 2021-23*

The best young Linebacker in the game of football is Micah Parsons, who has only played two years, but was the runner-up for the Defensive Player of the Year in the first two and was third last year.  The 2021 Defensive Rookie of the Year, Parsons is already a two-time First Team All-Pro, had at least a dozen Sacks in his first three seasons, and will likely have more. 

The only reason he is not ranked higher is that he has only played three seasons.  Another year, like the previous three, will propel Parsons into the top 50.

*Parsons has only played three seasons.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022 revision of our top 50 Dallas Cowboys.

As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following:

1. Advanced Statistics.

2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Football League.

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Cowboys returned to the playoffs, and lasted two games before they were eliminated. 2022’s season saw three active players elevate their rank.

As always, we present our top five, which had no changes.

1. Emmitt Smith

2. Bob Lilly

3. Roger Staubach

4. Randy White

5. Mel Renfro

You can find the entire list here.

Offensive Lineman, Zack Martin, skyrocketed nine spots to #12. He added an eighth Pro Bowl last year.

Running Back and Free Agent, Ezekiel Elliott, climbed from #38 to #34.

Quarterback, Dak Prescott, went to #42 from #47.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

From La Belle Provence, Quebec, Canada, L.P. Ladouceur played his college ball at California, and though he was undrafted, he was signed by the New Orleans Saints, but was released before the end of training camp.  He moved one state west, and made the Dallas Cowboys as their Long Snapper in 2005, a role he held for 16 years.

Ladouceur made the Pro Bowl once in 2014, but was one of the most durable Special Teams players of his era.  The Quebecer set NFL records for the most Games Played by a Canadian and the most consecutive Games Played by a Long Snapper.

Ladouceur will not come close to the Hall, but a durable Long Snapper deserves a few sentences.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post-2021 revision of our top 50 Dallas Cowboys.

As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Football League. 

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Cowboys won their division with a 12-5 record, but were unable to make noise in the playoffs.  America’s Team still has stars, and we saw elevations and a top 50 debut.

As always, we present our top five:

1. Emmitt Smith

2. Bob Lilly

3. Roger Staubach

4. Randy White

5. Mel Renfro

You can find the entire list here.

The new entry is current Quarterback, Dak Prescott, who makes his first appearance at #47.

Tight End, Billy Joe DuPree has been knocked off the list.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

Dak Prescott impressed pro scouts at Mississippi State, and he was viewed as a project for the Cowboys when they took him in the Fourth Round in 2016.  A pre-season injury to incumbent Quarterback, Tony Romo, vaulted Prescott to a rookie starter, and he responded with one of the best initial campaigns of any Dallas signal caller.

Prescott was outstanding in his first season, winning the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year, leading Dallas to a 13-3 Season with a 23-4 TD-INT Ratio.  It can be argued that this has been to date Prescott’s most efficient season, as he has yet to top his personal best in Passer Rating (104.9) and QBR (77.6), but Prescott has still been productive.  To date, Prescott has had three years where he threw for more than 4,000 Yards and 30 Touchdowns, and has been a Pro Bowl three times

Still a Cowboy as of this writing, Prescott is entering his ninth season, and last year he led the NFL in Touchdown Passes for the first time (36).  He is closing in on 30,000 Passing Yards with 202 TDs. If he reaches his rookie levels and takes Dallas to a Super Bowl, Prescott could be an all-time top 10 Cowboy.  

The Football world lost one of the great ones, as it was announced that former Offensive Tackle and former Dallas Cowboy, Rayfield Wright, passed away at the age of 76.

Wright came to Dallas as a seventh round pick in 1967, where in his first three seasons, he was used as an Offensive Tackle, Tight End, and occasional Defensive Tackle.  By 1970, he settled in at Right Tackle, and it was there where he became one of the best at that position of all-time.

Wright was named to six consecutive Pro Bowls from 1971 to 1976, and in those first three years, he was a First Team All-Pro.  His contributions would help Dallas win Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl XII.

Wright left Dallas after being released for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1980, but he never played a game for them, thus making his entire career in the NFL with the Cowboys.  He would enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, and he is also a member of the 1970s All-Decade Team.  Wright was also honored with a place in the Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2004.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to offer our condolences to the fans, family and friends of Rayfield Wright.

We lost another great one, as it was announced today that former Dallas Cowboys star, Ralph Neely, passed away at the age of 78

An All-American at Oklahoma, Neely was drafted in the second round in 1965 by the Baltimore Colts, who traded his rights to Dallas.  The Offensive Lineman was chosen for his first First Team All-Pro in 1967, which would lead to two more right after.  Also, a two-time Pro Bowl recipient, Neely, helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl VI and XII, and he would start 168 of his 172 Games.  He would be named to the 1960s All-Decade Team, and is a member of the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.

In our latest Notinhalloffame.com list for those to consider for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Neely was ranked at #178.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the fans, friends and family of Ralph Neely.