Here’s to Larry

 

If you are a Dallas Cowboy fan, you have probably heard the news. My prayers go out for his soul and to his family that they be supported in their grief.

There hasn’t been too much in detail yet and unfortunately there will probably be some eventually. I am not one to read obituaries or comb the news looking for excessive facts about a person or celebrity’s death so I will just wait and see if I run across the morbid details.

What is really important is a very important person has died and not just a VIP because of a sport, but more importantly because of who he was to his family and friends. I did not know him, but the people who did are speaking very highly of who he was to them.

I do not write about the Cowboys as much as I did nor even talk about them as much with friends and family. They are one frustrating team even as of late. Sure they started making the playoffs again year after year, but watching them come out flat at the start of playoff games and lose year after year is just mind boggling. And I am not writing to talk about that.

One play early on in Larry Allen’s career said so much to me about what type of player and teammate he must have been. I cannot remember all the details, but I do remember the Cowboys were playing New Orleans and were not doing well in that game and maybe even the year. He was a rookie or second year player. There was a turnover, cannot remember if a fumble or interception, however the New Orleans player had the ball and had one heck of a head start, yet Larry Allen chased the player down and tackled him. And this wasn’t a turn around and catch the opposing player, no this was a full fledge sprint for tens of yards down the field to tackle him. He was already out of the play by the time the New Orleans player was sprinting down the field, but Larry didn’t give up and caught him. Truly an inspiration to watch.

He was a great offensive lineman no doubt, but that play above for some strange reason stuck in my head. I can still vaguely see him running across my television set and make the tackle.

Unfortunately for the Cowboys this era has long ended. Yes we would like it back, yet for now no such luck.

This also reminds me how fleeting for a fan when your team wins a championship. As a player, winning the ultimate prize stays with you for life, no matter what else happens or at what level of your championship. For many people the camaraderie, the memories, the friendships the ultimate sense of accomplishment stay with you for life. For a fan it comes and goes leaving you wanting more. Living it vicariously is wonderful, but once it has come and gone you are left with the desire to have it happen again. Like a drug fix, it doesn’t truly satisfy like actually winning that trophy.

I did not play professional sports, no where near in fact, but I did win I was young and to this day I can still remember defining plays in my head. The lights of night games shine bright in the recesses of memory. I have seen the Cowboys win all their championships, and their losses in the Super Bowls, I stayed up until God knows what hour when the Stars won a Stanley Cup and watched with awe as the Mavericks beat the LeBron lead Heat to win the NBA finals. And of course there was the oh thank God moment last fall when the Texas Rangers won the World Series. All of those moments come with nerve wracking evenings hoping beyond hope.  Yet the details of those games fade over time and I cling like all fans to the hope of the next Championship. On a side note what is funny I do remember the time a pass bounced off Jackie Smith in the end zone against Pittsburgh or the infamous tip or no tip pass against Baltimore in those two losing championship games or the ice bowl against Green Bay and watching Bart Starr cross the goal line with about 20 seconds left. Funny how those moments stick with me as a fan. I do not know why, but I digress.

And Larry Allen was an integral part of the Cowboys for years and contributed greatly to their last shining moment in the 1990’s, yet for some reason that one play mentioned above is the one I most remember.  He played past the prime of the 90’s teams and only had one ring, but I am sure that game meant more to him than I can even begin to relate. The best I remember from that game is that the defensive back, Larry Brown won the MVP for the game due to multiple interceptions. I looked up his name just to be sure, thankfully my memory is working.

I still remember when my favorite Dallas Cowboy passed away, yet he had long since decided to live a quiet life after living a very public life. I was sad, yet it was easy to accept. Don Meredith definitely lived a full life, unfortunately Mr. Allen had a bit more of life in him.

So to all the Cowboy fans, well all sports fans everywhere enjoy when your team wins, try a bit harder to ingrain into your memory those moments because they are as fleeting as life. Larry Allen will be missed by his family and friends and a whole slew of Cowboy fans even though we did not know him personally. Let us hope we ingrain who he was as a player in our heads and who he was as a person in our hearts.

These championships we yearn for are won by individuals who have dedicated their lives to being the best at their sport and position they can be. Unfortunately, we lost a very young man for whatever reason who did climb that mountain and he will be missed. Let’s hope we remember the man as much as the player.