How different things could have been with one simple change in draft philosophy? You hear all the time about the what-ifs of the NFL Draft and how certain players thought they were going to one place and ended up at another. However, when it involves a Hall of Fame pass rusher and the feeling he was going to go to their biggest rival, it gets your attention.
Such is the case with former New York Giants great Michael Strahan and the story he shared with Tom Brady on the latest episode of Brady’s Podcast “Let’s Go,” where he shared a story of how then Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson told him they were going to make him a Cowboy. It didn’t happen, and the rest is history, but Strahan tells his side of it.
Michael Strahan Reveals Jimmy Johnson Almost Made Him a Cowboy
A lot could have changed for the Giants and the Cowboys had this scenario unfolded, but the fact remains it didn’t, even as Strahan tells just how ready he was for it to go down.
“Jimmy promised he was going to draft me to the Cowboys.”@michaelstrahan on what could have been, with @TomBrady & @JimGrayOfficial on this week’s all-new Let’s Go!
Available NOW on the @SIRIUSXM App
🔗 https://t.co/uqPRryMvx2 pic.twitter.com/EnldouEDVj
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) January 24, 2024
“Jimmy (Johnson) promised me he was going to draft me to the Cowboys and flew me to Dallas,” Strahan started.
“Had me go and meet with him and Jerry (Jones), I met Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin and all these guys, and he’s like, ‘draft day deal, we’re going to draft you in the first round, but we want to do a draft day deal, we don’t want any holdout.'”
“Sitting in my uncle’s living room eating our food with a briefcase, and I’m like, ‘my contract is in that briefcase; I’m going to be a Cowboy,'” he continued.
“Then he gets a call that they traded down the pick…and I say to Jimmy, ‘Jimmy, you lied — like you promised me’ … and he said, ‘well, I thought you were going to drop, and I can get you a lot lower, plus I didn’t know you were going to be any good.'”
It’s safe to say that everything worked out for Strahan and his eventual pairing in New York, as he became a Super Bowl champion and one of the most feared pass rushers in the NFL during his career.
With Johnson and Strahan both enjoying successful NFL careers and both now being teammates on Fox Sports’ NFL coverage together, it is something that both men seem to be laughing at as they look back on the past.
MORE: NFL Playoff Bracket
But what could have been sure plays in all the minds of Cowboys fans who had to live through the days of Strahan wreaking havoc on their offensive lines throughout his career.
Want to predict the results of the 2023 NFL postseason with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? How about looking into in-depth breakdowns of team depth charts or the NFL playoff schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with all that and more!