Cowboys: DeMarcus Ware Heading to 1st Super Bowl

Dallas Cowboys franchise sack-leader DeMarcus Ware left for the Denver Broncos two years ago, and now he’ll play in Super Bowl 50 on February 7.

I’ll be the first to admit that during the run-up to the 2005 NFL Draft, I was all about the Dallas Cowboys selecting University of Maryland pass-rusher Shawne Merriman. Entering his third season as head coach, Bill Parcells had decided to make the complete switch from the 4-3 defensive scheme that he had tolerated for two seasons to his preferred 3-4 alignment that had brought him two Super Bowl wins with the New York Giants.

To make that change work, an apex pass-rush specialists had to be acquired, and also one that was ready to dominate right away.

Merriman looked the part in every way, but during the closing weeks of that year’s player selection meeting, another name out of little-known Troy University emerged: DeMarcus Ware.

Now, I didn’t know much about Ware or Troy at that time, at least beyond the fact that the New York Giants had a great defensive end named Osi Umenyiora that had also attended this small school in Alabama. This should have told everybody something right there about the Trojans’ knack for cultivating NFL-ready pass rushers, right?

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With the 11th-overall selection in the ’05 draft, the Cowboys ended up with their choice of either Merriman or Ware. Parcells took the latter while the San Diego Chargers grabbed the former with the very next pick.

The rest is history.

Ware, having been released by the Cowboys following the 2013 campaign primarily for financial reasons, was immediately signed by the Denver Broncos as the dust was still settling after a blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII in New York.

Following Denver’s victory over the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game on Sunday, Ware will play in his first Super Bowl against the Carolina Panthers in just under two weeks.

Merriman, in sharp contrast, had 39.5 sacks with the Chargers over his first three seasons in Southern California – but he’d only end up with six more over his final five seasons, two of which were spent with the Buffalo Bills in 2011 and 2012. Merriman retired from the NFL during the 2013 offseason.

It’s hard to say where the road ends for Ware, a veteran of 11 NFL seasons and the franchise-leader in sacks for a Cowboys franchise that’s had more than its share of great pass rushers. Names like Charles Haley, Ed ‘Too Tall’ Jones and Harvey Martin all pale when compared to the immediate problems that Ware caused as soon as he stepped onto the field as a rookie in ’05.

In Ware’s first preseason game, a meeting with the Seahawks in Seattle, the young rookie was making veteran Pro Bowl left tackle Walter Jones look like he was actually the rookie. Ware blew passed Jones repeatedly in this game which left Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck with little time to do much of anything.

Remember that later that season, Seattle would represent the NFC against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL.

Ware was a big play waiting to happen during all of his seasons in Dallas, even if nagging injuries prevented him from making the same impact he did over his first eight seasons with the Cowboys.

Some might feel that Ware was released too soon, this coming after his second season without double-digit sacks in 2013. Ware would also miss his first games due to injury that year as the Cowboys were making the switch back to its historic 4-3 defensive alignment that season.

The only other year, upon Ware’s release, that he failed to record double digits in sacks was that rookie year of ’05 when he logged eight quarterback take downs.

Yes, Ware was expensive, but that wasn’t his fault. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones had once again backed himself into a financial corner which allowed no real options other than to release the then-nine-year veteran and perennial Pro Bowl talent.

Ware won’t come close to his 117 sacks with the Cowboys during these last few seasons with Denver. He currently sits with 17.5 sacks after having left the Cowboys, a solid mark for sure, but not the 19.5 sacks he had in Dallas during a 2011 season in which Ware didn’t even make the playoffs.

It’s a travesty that Ware, despite all the effort and on-field results, only ended up with a single playoff victory while with Dallas, that coming after the 2009 regular season.

It didn’t look like Ware’s postseason fortunes were ever going to change in 2014. His first season with the Broncos saw a 12-4 regular season that ended with a horrible loss at home to the Indianapolis Colts in the divisional round of the playoffs. This game had many wondering whether or not Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was beyond his legendary status as an NFL quarterback.

In ’15, things finally came together for Ware and the Broncos with Sunday’s win over the Patriots, one that must be beyond ‘deflating’ for the New England fan base – pun intended. Ware picked up a half-sack during Denver’s four-sack mauling of Pats quarterback Tom Brady.

Now comes the moment of truth for Ware. It’ll take everything the he and fellow Broncos pass rusher Von Miller can bring against Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and a Carolina football team that represents the same type of challenge that the Seahawks defense did two years ago in that blowout win over Manning and a Denver team that was completely over-matched.

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No, Super Bowl 50 isn’t the best matchup for Ware and his Broncos teammates in this championship game.

However, unlike all those years spent being the face of the Cowboys defense, at least Ware has a shot at a ring, something he probably wouldn’t have gotten playing for America’s Team.

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