'92 Cowboys reunion a reminder of winning culture

It didn't take long to remind people why the Dallas Cowboys re-staked their claim as "America's Team" in the 1990s.

One night was enough to show just how far the once-mighty franchise has fallen.

Legendary Cowboys "Triplets" Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin dined with their champion comrades last Friday night at a 1992 Super Bowl reunion party in Frisco.

"This is the first time there's been an effort to bring this group back," said Daryl Johnston, the fullback who paved Smith's path through the team's now-distant glory years. "Whether it's '92, '93 or '95, we've never had anything like this...and '92 was the one that got everything started."

The former stars joined other Cowboys greats at The Westin Stonebriar for a pre-party to the third annual Emmitt Smith Celebrity Invitational, a fundraising golf tournament held the next day at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney.

The previous two tournaments raised $600,000 for Pat & Emmitt Smith Charities, a public nonprofit that creates and funds unique educational experiences for underserved children. Emmitt and his wife Pat introduced 10 Dallas-area student members of TEAM 22 who this summer will attend Camp Champions, where they'll learn about leadership and collaboration -- fitting testaments to the other team honored that night.

"Team '92" got it all started with Super Bowl XXVII, a 52-17 Cowboys thrashing of the Buffalo Bills, and the franchise's first championship in 14 years.

But as that team relived its triumphant renaissance, remembered what Dallas has lacked for more than a decade, its owner Jerry Jones best summed up its long fade to mediocrity.

"Memories I have from 1992 are beyond anything I could have imagined," he said.

Cowboys pride now dangles in memories. Throw in 1993 and 1995, and Jones' sentiments are spot on. Super Bowls are hard to imagine when your team just finished an 8-8 season and has won one playoff game the past 15 years.

When Jones took over in 1989, the blue-and-gray star still had a faint glow. After winning Super Bowls VI and XII in the 1970s, the Cowboys hung onto their luster until 1984, when they missed the playoffs for just the second time since 1966.

Three seasons into Jones' reign, the Triplets played the Boys back to the top. They scored the franchise into the history books, winning three Vince Lombardi trophies in four years.

Remnants of the 1990s juggernaut remain, namely head coach Jason Garrett who in those years backed up Aikman, the team's centerpiece but still perhaps the second-most heralded quarterback in Cowboys history.

Hall of Fame-caliber talent like Tony Romo, Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware lead the present Dallas team, which every year seems poised for a Super Bowl, yet underachieves in the eyes of analysts and fans who judge it against its dynastic precedent.

Without a word on the 2012 Cowboys, last weekend's reunion proved there is no comparison. It takes more than ability to be champs.

"To see what this group of men did in the short period of time that they did it, never taking for granted, doing it the right way with attention to detail and hard work and love for one another...that was magic," said Brad Sham, longtime Cowboys broadcaster who called the 1978 Super Bowl and those in the 1990s.

Key players of the '92 team appeared on stage at The Westin Stonebriar hotel to chronicle that magical year, when three seasons after a 1-15 record, they returned the franchise's patriotic nickname.

None of their tales told of talent.

Defensive tackle Tony Casillas talked about the "unconditional embrace for each other" the defense had, how the team always "knew what the task at hand was."

Irvin, the team's emotional leader, said, "Talent is beyond what we do physically. I really believe what worked so well was our personalities matched."

Their chemistry burst through their on-stage dialogue, two decades later. Special-teams standouts Clayton Holmes and Kenny "The Shark" Gant bragged about shutting down Irvin and Co. every day in practice -- to Irvin's immediate, standup protest.

Aikman and Smith touted their coaches and "the guys up front" as the oil to the machine that flattened teams in the fourth quarter. "We were able to finish games, which is a trademark of a pretty good club," Aikman said.

Irvin admitted telling defenses run plays so they'd tighten up and he'd get the ball, to which Smith countered, "Everybody understood that you did not want to block."

Camaraderie, composure, passion -- pieces of a historic puzzle -- were still in place after all this time. And it likely wasn't all cheers and jeers for waning Cowboys fans spread around the Westin banquet hall.

Their beloved '92 team's unity pervades, while many endlessly question the leadership and character of today's Cowboys. Evidenced by their Super Bowl trio, and their overdue reunion, the Cowboys of the '90s had what these Cowboys don't.

They played like "America's Team."

"We all had a role on the team, and we didn't just accept the role, we tried to excel in that role," Johnston said. "That's what made the '92 team very unique."

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