The Dallas Cowboys have announced Hall of Fame defensive end and linebacker DeMarcus Ware will be inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor this season.
Team owner Jerry Jones made the announcement on Wednesday, and Ware is expected to be honored in a pregame ceremony before Dallas’ Thursday Night Football game against the Seattle Seahawks on November 30 — although it has not been officially confirmed.
“This is the second time you’ve surprised me,” Ware told Jones during a press conference shortly after the announcement was made. “First of all, when you told me I was making the Hall of Fame, and secondly, me getting into you’re Hall of Fame. That means so much to me because the guy who gave me the opportunity also told me about the hard work and everything that was enshrined and helped me get to that point to that Hall of Fame situation.”
“Then, also him saying, ‘You are part of MY Hall of Fame,'” he continued. “Yes, Canton was great, but this is my home, and [to] ‘my dad’ who I played for, I did enough, which is one of the coolest things to say.”
Ware spent nine seasons with the Cowboys after being selected by the team in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft, becoming a four-time All-Pro and the franchise’s all-time leader in sacks.
“I came in here in 2005, and I said, ‘I want to etch my name in the star,’ and I told Jerry that arrogantly when he asked me, ‘What are your goals?'” Ware recalled. “Every single year, I said that. I wanted to etch my name in the stone of the Dallas Cowboys, and I worked every single year.”
The atmosphere of the stadium and the constant reminders of the legacies of the players that came before him helped keep his mind on those goals as he became one of the team’s leaders and one of the fiercest defenders in NFL history.
“I always looked up at the top [of the stadium] at the Ring of Honor, and I said, ‘Man, I want to be right there,’ he said.”I still know the exact spot of the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium, and every single time I came out of the tunnel, I looked to the left, and I said, ‘I want to be right there.’ It wasn’t about me letting the guys down that were up in the Ring of Honor. It was becoming one of those guys and saying, ‘I’m a star.’ Now, it’s going to shine in the way that it needs to shine.”
The Cowboys released Ware after the 2013-14 season, and he continued his career for three more seasons with the Denver Broncos, winning a Super Bowl in 2015 before retiring as a Dallas Cowboy in March 2017.
“When I left here when I was released, it hurt because I felt like my dad was sending me away from home,” Ware admitted. “But guess what? I got to come back, and he did something even more special.”
Ware was officially inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this month as one of three new inductees from the Cowboys franchise. Because of that, Jones felt this was the perfect time to honor him in Cowboys lore.
“With the Hall of Fame and the recognition that goes with that and the attention that goes with that, this is DeMarcus’s year,” Jones told the media. “This is his year, and the Cowboys want to — in any way we can — be a part of this year. The Dallas Cowboys are as grateful and benefitting from him being in the Ring of Honor as he feels about being in the Ring of Honor.”
Ware will become the 23rd member of the Ring of Honor and just the sixth player to join since Jiones bought the team. Defensive back Darren Woodson was the most recent player added in 2015. The team also plans to add former Super Bowl-winning head coach Jimmy Johnson in the near future, but Jones wanted to highlight the importance of recognizing his former players for their work on and off the field.
“I like to think that when you go in the Ring of Honor, it also means that that’s not where it stops for the Dallas Cowboys organization,” Jones explained. “It goes forward from there…I emphasize player, I emphasize ambassador, I emphasize future, and more importantly, I emphasize the person.”
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EXTRA POINTS
— Jones says the recent arrest of defensive end Sam Williams will not impact his playing status.
— Running back Ronald Jones and rookie offensive lineman Matt Walletzko have returned to practice.
— Wide receiver Corey Davis is retiring from the NFL at age 28. The former top-ten draft pick from Western Michigan spent six seasons in the league with the Tennessee Titans and the New York Jets.
— The Arizona Cardinals have traded former eighth-overall pick Isaiah Simmons to the New York Giants in exchange for a seventh-round pick.
— The San Francisco 49ers have named Sam Darnold as the backup quarterback to Brock Purdy and will “explore all options” for former third overall pick Trey Lance.
— The Minnesota Vikings have released former first-round pick N’Keal Harry.
