No. 88

As the OTA season s now upon us, I thought it would be a good time to talk about legacy.

There has been much uproar over the past few months about Dallas' first round selection in the April draft, WR Dez Bryant. Hailed as a top-10 talent and blasted for having a 5 cent head, Bryant spent the last 9 games of his junior season at Oklahoma St. suspended. What did he do? Well, he had dinner with NFL great Deion Sanders, then lied about it to NCAA investigators. Why lie? Well, the NCAA are douche-bags who ignore major violations by prominent coaches (I'm looking at you, Pete Carroll and Tim Floyd) and programs (cough, cough USC, cough) so they can squash little programs for minor infractions. They also follow the rules to the letter if and when they want to, but by no means all the time. So this 20 year old son of a single mother worried that his having eaten dinner with an former professional player would constitute "receiving payment" (unlike Reggie Bush or OJ Mayo, who actually DID receive payment) and would lose his eligibility. So he lied to investigators, and they suspended him for 12 months. Not the rest of the season- 12 months. By the way, Oregon RB LeGarrette Blount sucker-punched an opposing player, then charged into the stands to fight fans and got 5 games.

So Bryant fell in the draft due to "character concerns." Great. Made me happy. Anytime you can get a top 10 talent at #24, you are relieved. Of course, this being the Cowboys, nothing can be quiet. Reports surfaced that during one of the many inane interviews given during the NFL's Combine, a GM asked Bryant if his mother was a prostitute. To top it off, Jerry gave Bryant the number 88 jersey.

For those of you unaware, #88 was the jersey worn by Cowboy greats Michael Irvin and Drew Pearson (and Antonio Bryant, who threw his sweaty jersey in Bill Parcells' face- but we'll try to forget that). I liked the move- honor your past, challenge your future. But while you're honoring hte past...

Why hasn't Drew Pearson been added to the Ring of Honor?Drew Pearson became Hall eligible in 1988. Since then Fred Biletnikoff, Charlie Joiner, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, and Bob Hayes have all made it to Canton.

Drew Pearson averaged more catches and yards per season than all of these current Hall of Fame wide receivers of his same era, and was in the middle of this pack when it comes to touchdowns and yards per catch.

Pearson played in three Super Bowls, helping the Cowboys to their second championship in Super Bowl XII over Denver. He was named to the NFL's All Decade Team for the '70s, went to three Pro Bowls, and three times was a First Team All Pro selection.

Drew Pearson finished his 11 year Cowboy career with 489 catches for 7,822 yards and 48 touchdowns.

Jerry, if you want to push your draft pick to succeed, put Pearson in the Ring.