IRVING, Texas – The Dallas Cowboys took another step in bidding farewell to Valley Ranch, their practice home since 1985, by conducting their final practice here Thursday, capping it with an on-field team picture.
Coach Jason Garrett earlier showed the team video from a 1992 Cowboys practice – which featured Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin – that occurred on the same fields they used for their minicamp this week.
“This is hallowed ground for sure,” said tight end Jason Witten, a third-round draft pick by the Cowboys in 2003.
For the Cowboys, this week has been about recounting tales from their years within these confines the past three decades, which included the final years of the Tom Landry era and three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s under Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer.
“I don’t think anyplace that I’ve done anything exists anymore,” said Irvin, who was here for the close of minicamp. “They got rid of the Orange Bowl, got rid of Texas Stadium, now they are getting rid of Valley Ranch …Time moves. You hold onto all these great memories but you want to see it move ahead in that great facility. It’s a beautiful facility.”
When the Cowboys return from their training camp in Oxnard, Calif., in August, they will move into the lavish confines of their new home, The Ford Center at The Star, in Frisco, a fast-growing community about 30 minutes north. The headquarters includes a 12,000-seat indoor stadium.
Stephen Jones, the team’s executive vice president, said there will be plenty of emotion when he leaves Valley Ranch for the final time.
“That’s all we’ve ever known, and as Cowboys, as a family, and really, that’s most of my adult life, having spent it at Valley Ranch,” Jones said. “If you’ve measured all the hours I’ve spent in one place, it may rank number one, maybe including the house … Then you start to think, it’s more than just walls and brick and mortar. As you well know, there’s been a lot of emotion going through that building, a lot of greatness walked through those halls.”
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