In the Nick of Time (July 11)
By Nick Gholson
Friday, July 11, 2008
During a backyard barbecue on the Fourth of July, the “guy” table got into a discussion that I consider myself an expert in.
Dallas Cowboys football.
“Who was the Cowboys’ running back in 1989?” one guy asked.
“Paul Palmer,” I answered to his utter amazement.
“And who was the only Vikings player to come to Dallas in the Herschel Walker trade and start in a Super Bowl?”
“Ike Holt.”
Then I went brain dead.
I remembered a Minnesota running back had been a part of the Walker trade but got mad and refused to play for the then winless and seemingly hopeless Cowboys.
But I couldn’t remember his name.
Maybe that’s because after the Cowboys quickly shipped his angry butt off to San Diego, Darrin Nelson never did anything in the NFL that would make anybody remember him.
Nelson had been a versatile runner/receiver at Stanford. I watched him and John Elway whip up on Oklahoma back in 1980.
Then he was the seventh player taken in the first round of the 1982 draft and had a nice career with the Vikings — although some Minnesota fans remember him most for what they call “the drop.”
With just under a minute to play in the 1987 NFC Championship Game, the Vikings faced fourth-and-four at the Redskins’ 7-yard line.
Nelson ran a crossing pattern left at the goal line. Quarterback Wade Wilson threw a perfect pass.
Some say Nelson dropped it. Others argue that Darrell Green knocked it out of his hands.
Whatever — the Redskins were going to the Super Bowl. Darrin Nelson wasn’t.
It also wouldn’t be the last time he dropped the ball and missed out on a Super Bowl.
The Cowboys won a ring just three seasons after he refused to play for them.
After Jimmy Johnson traded him to the Chargers, Nelson — who had 7,001 rushing/receiving yards and 21 touchdowns in his first seven NFL seasons — spent the last four years of his career as a kick returner.
In 1990, Dallas got another running back with a draft pick that came in the Vikings trade.
Emmitt Smith now has three Super Bowl rings and more rushing yards than any running back in NFL history.
Ironically, in 1995, Wade Wilson — the guy whose pass Darrin Nelson dropped — won a Super Bowl ring as the Cowboys’ backup quarterback.
Darrin Nelson, though ring-less, has done pretty well for himself. The former academic All-American is now senior associate athletic director/program services at Stanford.
Friday, July 11, 2008
During a backyard barbecue on the Fourth of July, the “guy” table got into a discussion that I consider myself an expert in.
Dallas Cowboys football.
“Who was the Cowboys’ running back in 1989?” one guy asked.
“Paul Palmer,” I answered to his utter amazement.
“And who was the only Vikings player to come to Dallas in the Herschel Walker trade and start in a Super Bowl?”
“Ike Holt.”
Then I went brain dead.
I remembered a Minnesota running back had been a part of the Walker trade but got mad and refused to play for the then winless and seemingly hopeless Cowboys.
But I couldn’t remember his name.
Maybe that’s because after the Cowboys quickly shipped his angry butt off to San Diego, Darrin Nelson never did anything in the NFL that would make anybody remember him.
Nelson had been a versatile runner/receiver at Stanford. I watched him and John Elway whip up on Oklahoma back in 1980.
Then he was the seventh player taken in the first round of the 1982 draft and had a nice career with the Vikings — although some Minnesota fans remember him most for what they call “the drop.”
With just under a minute to play in the 1987 NFC Championship Game, the Vikings faced fourth-and-four at the Redskins’ 7-yard line.
Nelson ran a crossing pattern left at the goal line. Quarterback Wade Wilson threw a perfect pass.
Some say Nelson dropped it. Others argue that Darrell Green knocked it out of his hands.
Whatever — the Redskins were going to the Super Bowl. Darrin Nelson wasn’t.
It also wouldn’t be the last time he dropped the ball and missed out on a Super Bowl.
The Cowboys won a ring just three seasons after he refused to play for them.
After Jimmy Johnson traded him to the Chargers, Nelson — who had 7,001 rushing/receiving yards and 21 touchdowns in his first seven NFL seasons — spent the last four years of his career as a kick returner.
In 1990, Dallas got another running back with a draft pick that came in the Vikings trade.
Emmitt Smith now has three Super Bowl rings and more rushing yards than any running back in NFL history.
Ironically, in 1995, Wade Wilson — the guy whose pass Darrin Nelson dropped — won a Super Bowl ring as the Cowboys’ backup quarterback.
Darrin Nelson, though ring-less, has done pretty well for himself. The former academic All-American is now senior associate athletic director/program services at Stanford.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:17 PM
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