AP Reminds Me Of TD

The Cowboys are set to play host to the most electrifying running back to hit the NFL in years. Just six games into his rookie season, Adrian Peterson has established himself as an elite runner...maybe the best in the league. I know that LT might have something to say about that, but this kid is special.

Asked by the hosts of the morning show on KTCK (The Ticket) in Dallas to compare Peterson to other backs he has seen, Cowboys' head coach Wade Phillips evoked the names of Eric Dickerson and Gale Sayers. That's pretty high cotton and heady company and all those other cliches.

The conversation between the coach and the Ticket boys reminded me of the glory days in Dallas, when our beloved Cowboys had the most electrifying running back in the league. NO! I do NOT mean Emmitt Smith. I mean the greatest tailback in Cowboys' history - and one of the greatest in NCAA and NFL history - Tony Dorsett (TD, we called him). I was a teenage football fanatic in 1977 when the Cowboys pulled off the blockbuster trade with the brand new Seattle Seahawks franchise that landed the Good Guys the greatness of Dorsett.

Playing the Vikings invokes precious memories of those halcyon days for a couple reasons. Peterson is the first reason, as I mentioned. The second is that long ago Monday night game between the Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings when my all-time favorite running back set an NFL record that may some day be tied but can never be broken. With his team backed up inside the one yard line, TD broke loose for a 99 1/2 yard touchdown. It was second only to the miraculous Hail Mary pass (again against the Vikings) from Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson in magical moments for me as a lifelong Cowboys' fan.

This weekend, my wife and I are in Seattle visiting her brother and his family. We will attend the Seahawks/Rams game tomorrow (they have season tickets, so that's cool.) Being in Seattle, the place that made the whole Dorsett era possible for the Cowboys, and the Cowboys playing the Vikings and Peterson...these things have conspired to make me just a wee bit nostaligic.