Cowboys' Jerry Jones Reflects on Not Drafting Randy Moss: 'Was a Big Lesson for Me' | News, Scores,

July 2024 · 3 minute read
PHILADELPHIA, PA - NOVEMBER 05: Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones looks on during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles on November 5, 2023 at Lincoln Financial Field. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

It may have been 25 years ago, but Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones still hasn't gotten over the 1998 NFL Draft.

More specifically, he still has nightmares about not selecting Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss when he had the chance.

While reminiscing on the legendary Thanksgiving game between the Minnesota Vikings and Cowboys during Moss' rookie season, Jones laments not taking the superstar wideout despite the conversations he had with Moss in the lead up to the draft.

"Absolutely. I told him if he were there, we were going to take him," Jones said via NFL.com's Judy Battista. "I think I told him the first time I had a chance and I think I told him every time I saw him. That was a miss. I will put it right there for me, not drafting Moss with not having won a Super Bowl when we had Tony Romo as one of my handful of biggest what-might-have-beens.

"Randy was a big lesson for me. It shouldn't have been that hard for me to see that then, because you couldn't help but enjoy Randy Moss. What's ironic is that up to this day, he would have fit the Dallas Cowboys like a glove."

Amid criticism over his character ahead of the draft, Moss wound up landing at No. 21 overall, right in the lap of the Vikings—who couldn't have been happier to take the Marshall star.

Meanwhile, Jones and Dallas opted to take defensive end Greg Ellis out of North Carolina at No. 8. And while Ellis was a decent player, making a Pro Bowl and winning Comeback Player of the Year in 2007, he never came close to the heights that Moss did.

All Moss ended up doing was winning Rookie of the Year, making 10 All-Pro teams, six Pro Bowls, led the league in receiving touchdowns five different times and was part of the NFL's 100th Anniversary All-Time team.

And on that Thanksgiving day, Moss had something special in store for Jones and the Cowboys in a 46-36 win. He racked up a a game-high 163 yards on three receptions with three touchdowns.

"I just remember my first Thanksgiving game, growing up and always playing football, our little form of football, before the game came on, and I was just thinking during the week, "Now I'm playing the big game,"" Moss said. "I was more excited and antsy to get on the field. And it was my first meeting against Dallas. I owed them one.

"There were a lot of emotions running through my head because of the draft and what didn't happen, and at the same time, I'm getting to play on Thanksgiving, where in the past, I'm eating and watching the game."

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