There are officially 98 days until the toe meets the ball at AT&T Stadium where the Dallas Cowboys will host the New York Giants on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.
Congratulations! You survived the first day of the countdown until the 2015 NFL season. Be honest with yourself. You’ve tried to dilly dally with the NBA Finals or Stanley Cup Playoffs, but like the Cavaliers’ playoff hopes without Kyrie Irving you’ve snapped out of it. To appease your football appetite Inside The Star has prepared a feast of the Greatest Dallas Cowboys to wear each jersey number in History. Today we focus on 98.
The following players have all worn 98 for the Dallas Cowboys:
- Shante Carver, DE
- Kenyon Coleman, DE (this isn’t déjà vu, you did see Kenyon yesterday. He wore 99 also)
- Tyrone Crawford*, DE/DT
- Alex Daniels, FB
- Greg Ellis, DE
- Curtis Johnson, DE
- Orie Lemon, LB
- Godfrey Myles, LB
- Brady Poppinga, LB
- Marcus Spears, DE (better known as 96, but he briefly wore 98 in 2011)
- Ken Tippins, LB
- Mitch Willis, DT
*Active player on the Dallas Cowboys roster
Fans are well acquainted with 98, as one of the breakout stars of 2014 was the current 98…Tyrone Crawford. The Boise State Bronco has a lot to live up to seeing as the Greatest 98 in Dallas Cowboys History is an all-timer.
While Orie Lemon is a close friend of one of the greatest 88s of all time, and current Cowboy Dez Bryant, his resume isn’t strong enough for legitimate consideration. Shante Carver was neat-o in 1997 and to be honest if this was a breakdown of the players who’s names were the most fun to say then Brady Poppinga would win in a landslide.
The 98 theme is especially cool today as this Cowboy was taken in the 1998 NFL Draft. As the eighth overall selection Greg Ellis came out of North Carolina hungry to prove himself in the NFL, and boy did he ever. He put together a very impressive Cowboy career totaling 372 tackles, 77 sacks, and 20 forced fumbles in 11 seasons. He, like 99 great Chris Canty, was a sound leader during the 2007 13-3 season and as a result was selected to the Pro Bowl that year.
Check back tomorrow to find out who the Greatest 97 in Dallas Cowboys History is!
I always liked Greg Ellis until he got into this habit of whining about everything. But that was only for the last two years or so in Dallas.