Dallas Cowboys Legend Tony Dorsett: Bleacher Report Exclusive Interview

Tony Dorsett is a legend in the eyes of many. Mr. Dorsett won the Heisman Trophy in college and was a four-time All-American while at the University of Pittsburgh. His NFL stats are nothing short of illustrious. As a member of the Dallas Cowboys, he accumulated over 16,326 total yards from scrimmage, 91 career touchdowns, four Pro Bowls selections, and a 99 yard touchdown run on Monday Night Football that will forever live in football lore as one of the greatest runs of all time.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Tony for Bleacher Report and we talked his involvement with FansChoice.com, the state of his beloved Pittsburgh Panthers, and of course, the Dallas Cowboys.

Jason: Tony I want to ask you about your involvement with FansChoice.com, the Van Huesan Fans Choice Hall of Fame voting campaign?

Tony: Well it’s a program that gives fans a choice of who should go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year. It’s a situation where one lucky winner is going to be picked out of the fans and they get the opportunity to go on the NFL Network to make the announcement, the fans, of who should go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So I think it’s a good thing for the fans to be involved.

In some regards some people think that fans know more about some of the voters about who should go into the Football Hall of Fame. Fans are what make this great game what it is, obviously, so its good to see them have some type of input or can express who they feel should be in Pro Football’s Hall of Fame and I’m sure in years to come they’ll probably influence some of the votes.

Jason: One of the things I want to get your opinion about is the Pittsburgh football program. Tell me your feelings about the gentleman they just hired and the state of the Pittsburg football program?

Tony: Well let me tell you something, what a debacle we’ve gone through here in the last month. It’s just unfortunate that this has taken place. We’re losing a lot of recruits and some current players. Dave Wannstedt was a very likeable guy and all the players liked him extremely well and sometimes change is necessary and they made that move and they got Mike Heywood in and unfortunately Mike got himself involved in a domestic altercation.

Now the program is in disarray and the University had to regroup and now we have Todd Graham who has a high octane offense and I’m looking forward to what he’s going to bring to the University. But right now we need to get all of our alumnus and people involved in this to try and sell this product and get back to being the beast of the east like we were back in the day.

Jason: Moving on to the Dallas Cowboys. As you know Jason Garrett was recently named head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Give me your thoughts on him; do you think he’s the right guy to lead the Cowboys going forward?

Tony: You know, I like Jason, I like his approach and I like him as a coach he’s a very smart guy. Supposedly he’s going to make a lot of decisions; at least that’s what Jerry’s saying right now, on football decisions and that’s good. Jason has been there and done it. He’s been a champion and he knows what it takes to be a champion and he brought back some of the little things like putting pads on.

I’m a strong believer that you practice like you play, little things make big things happen. He’s doing that and holding these guys accountable and those things are important for a group of men being together as a team. You have to do things as a team and be held accountable and he’s doing that. He’s the guy that will get this thing back on track for the Dallas Cowboys.

Jason: Now that the Cowboys season is over the team and a lot of fans are excited about the draft since they hold the ninth pick. Being that they had so many issues, whether it was in the secondary or the offensive line, tell me is there a particular position that you think they should focus on with their first pick in the draft?

Tony: Oh boy. You know you can never go wrong with a lineman. They have some very skilled players right now. You know they have three backs and they seem to be working pretty good and I would pick one of those guys and let him be the workhorse if he can be. If not then we’ll take one of the other ones. You know the offensive line is getting up in age so maybe an offensive lineman or defensive lineman would be pretty good for them or a DB you know the secondary has been hurting here recently. We’ll just have to wait and see how the get in the war room and come up with who they feel would be the best fit for the Dallas Cowboys. But I hope whoever the pick is he’s the guy who can come in and start contributing right away.

Jason: Indeed, moving on to a position that you’re very familiar with the running back position. We’ve been hearing rumors all year that the Cowboys are going to release Marion Barber this offseason. Do you think that’s a good move for them or should they hold on to him a little while longer?

Tony: Well, I…That’s a tough question for me. I love Marion Barber and his passion for the game. He’s a hard worker; a north south type of runner. I think his better years are behind him and he worked himself into a position to get himself a pretty good contract. If they let him go I don’t know what his leadership is or if they’ll miss his leadership but I don’t know if they’ll miss his production on the field because they have guys who can step in there and get the job done. It’s just unfortunate, you know, sometimes you get up in age and you take a lot of licks and all of a sudden there comes a time where you have to move on and that may be the case for Marion.

Jason: Staying with the running back position, there are a lot of top backs in the NFL right now and more guys coming along each year. There was the resurgence of LaDainian Tomlinson, Adrian Peterson is still around; do you have five running backs that are playing in the NFL today that you think someday can make it to the Hall of Fame?

Tony: Whoa boy…Well you know, you’ve got LaDainian he’s the guy that’s proven himself over the years and obviously he’s going to be in the Hall of Fame I think, Adrian Peterson if he can withstand the punishment because he’s a pretty aggressive type of runner and he has a good chance of doing it. I don’t know what’s going to happen with the kid down there in Tennessee, I think he’s big and explosive, has great speed, he’s fast and he’s got shape. I mean, he has a chance to do something there. Uhhhh, you know, I’m kind of lost because I haven’t watched the game as much as I have in the past but those guys come to mind right away.

You know, we’ve got a guy here, I’m not saying he’s going to be a Hall of Famer, but you know I just want to see if he can get out there and pass the test of time. Felix Jones has speed, he’s got shape, he’s got it all and I want to see if he can withstand the pounding of the National Football League. That’s the thing you see nowadays they seem to be platooning these running backs and I don’t know why. You become a better runner when you’re in the game and you get a good chemistry with your offensive lineman and you get a feel for how defenses are reacting to certain formations and etc…But you know off the top of my head those guys come to mind and I’m sure there are others but right now I’m kind of, you know, lost…

Jason: [Laughter] But you know there are so many guys to choose from and with their shelf life being so short…guys like Adrian Peterson, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Chris Johnson out in Tennessee. Last question for you Tony, I want to get your stance on the way the NFL has treated violent hits as of late. You mentioned that you want to see how Felix Jones can stand up to the test of time and the hits that you receive in the NFL. Do you think the NFL is being too strict in the way they are fining guys?

Tony: Wow man, that’s a tough question. You always want to see the NFL try to protect the players. In this particular case I kind of think so because sometimes the guy who’s doing the hitting it’s not his fault. He’s coming in from a certain area and the guy all of a sudden his reaction is to curl up and all of a sudden you have a helmet to helmet or you hit him in an area where they don’t want you to hit him. You know it’s a tough call because it’s the game of football and as long as they aren’t trying to intentionally hurt someone I just think you have to let some of that go, you really do.

Jason: Tony listen man, I appreciate you taking out to talk with me this afternoon and on behalf of the team over at Bleacher Report thank you again sir and have a great afternoon.

Tony: God bless you and have a great day.

Be sure to catch Jason's radio show, "Monday Night Quarterback," every Monday at 8 p.m. EST on www.blogtalkradio.com/cowboyjay.

Follow Jason on twitter @THenProject