Strickland: If you can't beat 'em...AUSTIN - Linebacker Fred Strickland took the old saying, "if you
can't beat 'em, join 'em" phrase to heart this offseason.
Strickland, an unrestricted free agent, signed with the Dallas Cowboys after
two successful seasons with the Green Bay Packers.
But they were only partially successful, because the Pack never did beat
the Cowboys in four meetings over those two years. In fact, Dallas owns
a seven-game winning streak against the Packers, and has knocked them out
of the playoffs in each of the last three seasons.
Last year's exit, however, was the toughest for the Packers to swallow because
it came in the NFC Championship Game. And it was a game the Packers led
27-24 until Emmitt Smith and the Dallas offensive line took over in the
fourth quarter.
Strickland thought he would return to Green Bay to try and help the Packers
break their losing skid against the Cowboys this season, but that didn't
happen.
Instead he was cut loose by the Packers, and he was signed by the Cowboys
on March 11.
"I wanted to go back to Green Bay, and I thought it would happen,"
Strickland said. "I was upset because of the losses we had suffered
to Dallas in the last couple of seasons. I really had to ask myself if I
wanted to do this (come to Dallas)."
The Packers - their fans, organization and players, Strickland said - have
developed an obsession to beat the Cowboys in any way possible. And he said
jumping ship to what they consider to be the enemy made the decision a difficult
one.
"The rivalry part was tough," he said. "That made it a real
hard decision. It wasn't a quick one, either. But after thinking about the
opportunities I would get to play here I decided to make the move. I have
a great opportunity here to show what kind of player I am."
Cowboy coaches certainly hope he can do that, because they're counting on
the free agent to plug the hole at middle linebacker that was left when
Robert Jones signed with the St. Louis Rams.
While Jones was a solid boundary player, he wasn't as physical in the middle
as Cowboy coaches would have liked for him to have been. And that led them
to Strickland, whose game has always been about being physical at the line
of scrimmage.
"The first thing I want to do is be physical with offensive guards
and fullbacks," said the ninth-year veteran out of Purdue. "I'm
looking forward to it because it won't change my style of play at all."
The Dallas run defense has suffered some in recent years because of free
agent defections and other losses. But it also suffered because of its lack
of a dominating physical presence on the inside.
That's reflected in the statistics that saw the Cowboys' run defense ranked
16th in the NFL last year after allowing 1,772 yards. Washington's Terry
Allen had two big days in the Redskins' two wins over Dallas, and New York's
Rodney Hampton had 187 yards on 34 carries in the Giants' 21-20 loss to
Dallas in mid-December.
And in the Super Bowl, Bam Morris led all rushers with 73 yards on 19 carries.
"I'm here to help those numbers," Strickland said. "I want
us to establish a run defense so solid that people will think twice before
they try to cram it down our throats."
And if Strickland can do that, he and his new teammates will likely be forced
to dispatch his old Green Bay teammates in the playoffs.
"We play them in the regular season (Nov. 18 in Dallas), so that should
be fun," Strickland said.
"But if we have to play them in the playoffs, it'll be business as
usual. I don't have any hard feelings towards those players; a lot of them
are still friends. But that's not going to stop me from trying to beat them
to get to the Super Bowl."