It has been a very long time since Zack Martin was not a part of the Dallas Cowboys.
It was reported on Thursday that longtime Dallas Cowboys guard Zack Martin is set to retire from the NFL after an incredible career that will land him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday. You cannot find a Cowboys fan who does not hold Martin in the highest regard and that is because he is among the greatest players in franchise history.
Amazingly, 11 years have passed since the Cowboys famously selected Martin over Johnny Manziel in the middle of the 2014 NFL Draft. It is hard to really contextualize what those days were like to people who did not fully live them as the franchise was in a bit of a treacherous spot.
You see, the Cowboys had just come off of their third regular season finale that was a de facto NFC East title game where the winner took the division and the loser missed out on the playoffs. Dallas lost this exact same game for three seasons in a row, amazingly, some would say cruelly, to each one of their three division rivals. You cannot write this stuff.
Given the failures, there were enormous questions surrounding head coach Jason Garrett and quarterback Tony Romo. With Manziel available for selection and having a lot of Texas A&M fans who also rooted for the Cowboys wanting to see these worlds collide, that Dallas took Martin was as dramatic of a way in which you could see a franchise select an offensive lineman.
Here is what the Cowboys looked like the last time Zack Martin was not on the team
That is the context behind the times of when the Cowboys drafted Martin, but what about the specifics of that specific time in question? As noted, that 2013 season finale was the last game that the Cowboys played without Zack Martin as a part of their franchise. Obviously the next one will be the 2025 season opener.
Here is what the Cowboys starting lineup looked like on December 29th, 2013 against Philadelphia.
OFFENSE
- QB: Kyle Orton
- RB: DeMarco Murray
- WR: Miles Austin
- WR: Dez Bryant
- WR Terrance Williams
- TE: Jason Witten
- LT: Tyron Smith
- LG: Ronald Leary
- C: Travis Frederick
- RG: Mackenzy Bernadeau
- RT: Doug Free
DEFENSE
- DE: George Selvie
- DT: Nick Hayden
- DT: Jason Hatcher
- DE: DeMarcus Ware
- LB: DeVonte Holloman
- LB: Bruce Carter
- CB: Brandon Carr
- CB: Morris Claiborne
- CB: Orlando Scandrick
- SS: Jeff Heath
- FS: Barry Church
The defensive names are a much larger blast from the past than the offense, maybe that is because Martin played with so many of them in the years that would immediately follow. It should also be noted that this was the last game that DeMarcus Ware would ever play for the Cowboys as they moved on from him in the offseason where they drafted Martin.
These were some dark days for the Cowboys and they were not made better by what Jerry Jones said in the immediate aftermath of the Philly loss. Bob Sturm reminded me that this happened a few months ago, but I had legitimately forgotten myself. Jerry Jones had an all-time Jerry Jones quote following this Eagles loss, one that would have gotten the Stephen Jones “drought” treatment if it happened in today’s day and age.
Jones didn’t appear to appreciate being asked if he ever felt embarrassed in the wake of the Cowboys missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season and losing a win-or-go-home Week 17 game for the third straight year.
“I don’t know,” Jones snapped. “Would you get embarrassed if you were standing in this stadium? Seriously.”
After a moment of awkward silence, another reporter attempted to ask a question before being interrupted by Jones. “The answer is no. Not at all.”
What does the beautiful $1.2 billion stadium have to do with the mediocre results the Cowboys have been getting on the field?
The fact that Jones references the stadium when asked about the football product illustrates one of the major issues of having a marketing man serve as the franchise’s general manager.
Jones is without question of the most successful businessman in NFL history. That shouldn’t justify the job he’s done as a general manager.
Pretty sobering. And this was over a decade ago!
Back to Martin though, that was a very long time ago. Consider that the building that Jerry Jones was bragging about had just wrapped up only its fifth season in hosting the Cowboys and was only a few months into the name AT&T Stadium after it had previously been called Cowboys Stadium.
The Seattle Seahawks would go on to win the Super Bowl shortly after. Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray were still on their rookie contracts. Dak Prescott still had two more years in Starkville before being drafted. Current Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer was an offensive coordinator… for the St. Louis Rams. Yes, St. Louis.
It has been forever since the Cowboys played a game without Zack Martin and they are going to have to figure out a way to do it later on this fall. Father Time is undefeated.
