Thursday, November 26, 1998

Famous, not-so-famous made Cowboys look like turkeys

By Kevin Lyons

Knight Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - As Cowboys fans scowl at Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman John Randle, or curse Cris Carter and Randy Moss, they shouldn't forget about ESPN television announcer Sterling Sharpe.

In 1994, when he was a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers, Sharpe came to Texas Stadium and caught four touchdown passes from quarterback Brett Favre. Only two other players in history have scored four touchdowns in a game against the Cowboys.

And though Jason Garrett rallied the Cowboys for a 42-31 victory, Sharpe's game remains the top performance by a Cowboys opponent on Thanksgiving Day.

That also means Sharpe tops Craig James' 112 yards rushing for the Patriots in 1984 as best performance by a future television announcer at Texas Stadium on Thanksgiving Day.

Here is a sampling of the unofficial all-time best Thanksgiving Day performances by Cowboys opponents. They are a collection of players, famous and not-so-famous, who made Cowboys fans sick to their stomachs for more reasons than the undercooked stuffing.

Best performance by ...

...a former Cowboy: Duane Thomas was traded to the San Diego Chargers after the 1971 season after run-ins with Tex Schramm and Tom Landry. He found himself in Washington a year later, and in 1974, he got revenge against his former employers , rushing for one touchdown and catching another. It took Clint Longley's miracle pass to Drew Pearson in the final seconds to save the Cowboys, 24-23.

...a guy with a funny name: San Francisco linebacker William Gerard "Skip" Vanderbundt had three touchdowns in his career. Two came against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving in 1972, when he returned a fumble 73 yards for one score, and returned an interception 21 yards for another. Also notable that day: Current Florida Gators coach Steve Spurrier was the 49ers quarterback, and completed 16 of 24 passes for 177 yards with one touchdown in a 31-10 San Francisco victory.

... future Hall of Famers: Paul Warfield played in two Thanksgiving Day games here (1966, 1973), but he was held to just two receptions for 67 yards and one touchdown. Bart Starr (9-of-21 passing for 83 yards in 1970) and John Riggins (12 rushes for 40 yards in 1978) were also future Hall of Famers who proved to be Turkey Day flops.

But there were games in 1979 and 1981 that could have served as a highlight tape for two future Canton-bound players. In '79, Houston Oilers rookie running back Earl Campbell had touchdown runs of 61 and 27 yards and finished a 30-24 Oilers victory with 33 rushes for 195 yards, most ever by a Cowboys opponent on Thanksgiving. Two years later, Chicago Bears running Walter Payton sprinted to 179 yards on 38 carries, but the Cowboys survived a nail-biter, 10-9.

And finally, for those of you who wondered, the last time Minnesota played in Irving, on Thanksgiving Day in 1987, the Cowboys' tormentor was Anthony Carter, who had eight receptions for 184 yards and two touchdowns in a 44-38 Vikings win in overtime.

The game remains the highest-scoring Thanksgiving Day contest in Cowboys history.Inside the locker roomWith injuries to Ernie Mills and Deion Sanders, wide receiver Patrick Jeffers is getting a lot of attention - on and off the field. Jeffers said it has been strange to see so many reporters at his locker lately. One reporter asked Jeffers to describe his playing style. "Ed McCaffrey!" Jeffers said of the Broncos' 6-foot-5, 215-pound receiver. "It seems like all tall white guys get lumped into the Ed McCaffrey boat. As long as they think I'm a slow white guy, then I'll keep surprising them." ... Out in public at malls or at dinner, if people are thinking it, they don't say it when they walk by Greg Ellis. "Nobody has ever come to my face and said, 'Yeah, they should have picked Randy -1/4RMoss-1/4S over you.' Randy's a good player. Mr. (Jerry) Jones knew he was a good player when he didn't take him. He realized the best thing to do for this football team was to take me. Randy, as everyone can see, is an excellent football player. But they needed a defensive lineman here." ... Nate Newton is always talking about how handsome he is. Well, last week, somebody put a fake cover of "People" magazine in Newton's locker. The cover superimposed svelte Newton under a headline that billed him as "America's Sexiest Man Alive, 1998." Joked Newton: "A lot of the (Hollywood) guys called me. The little guy from Titanic (Leonardo DiCaprio), it sunk his ship. He went under after he saw that picture, man."

YARDSTICKS: How far do the Cowboys have to go?

1st-and-10

Everyone talks about how dangerous the Vikings are in their three-wide receiver set. Well, Troy Aikman is no slouch himself with three wide receivers on the field. Aikman's quarterback rating when he has three wide receivers to throw to is 113.0.

Running to daylight

Here is yet another fact to show that running back Emmitt Smith has nearly regained whatever it is he didn't have in 1996 and 1997. He has 32 rushes for 10 yards or longer. That is third-best in the league, just behind Barry Sanders (35) and Terrell Davis (33).Throw him the ball

Leading rookie-of-the-year candidate Randy Moss is getting a lot of ink for his big-play ability. But the Vikings should not forget about Michael Irvin. He ranks among the league leaders with eight catches this season of at least 25 yards or longer.

(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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