Written by Gil Lebreton at Fort Worth Star Telegram
In the spring of 2011, as part of a franchise-wide effort to keep quarterback Tony Romo upright and in one piece, the Dallas Cowboys drafted an offensive lineman in the first round of the NFL Draft.
In 2013, the Cowboys again used their No. 1 pick to select an offensive lineman.
By 2014, Owner Jones had coined the phrase “Romo-friendly,” and the Cowboys again drafted an offensive lineman.
And some of us scoffed, I must confess.
What, no Kardashians? No Johnny Manziel?
Has Jerry, we wondered, totally given up on the draft?
On the contrary, as it turned out. The fruits of Owner Jones’ draft day restraint were on full display Sunday.
Facing the NFL’s No. 1-ranked defense, the Cowboys watched as their young and talented offensive line took over the game in the second half to defeat the Baltimore Ravens 27-17.
You want an MVP candidate from the team with the NFL’s best record, 9-1?
With all due respect to the compelling rookies, Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, the MVP (plural) is the Cowboys’ offensive line — from left to right, Tyron Smith, Ron Leary, Travis Frederick, Zack Martin and Doug Free.
Not very sexy, maybe, but these are the underpinnings of this team’s unexpectedly magical start to its season.
Or maybe it wasn’t so unexpected, as the owner tried to explain Sunday afternoon.
“You know, as an old offensive lineman, I’ve always thought the character of the team … ,” said Jones, letting the memory of his days at Arkansas finish the thought.
“If you look back at the success that we had in the early ’90s, if you look at the makeup of that offensive line, we didn’t see it at first when we got here. But you had [Mark] Tuinei, you had Erik Williams, you had Nate Newton, you had [Mark] Stepnoski.
“If you want to go back and look at it, that offensive line — and the Triplets would be the first to tell you — was the difference. That reminds me of what we’re depending on here.
