Daryl "Moose" Johnston, NFL on Fox Broadcaster

Let's go out to the guest line right now and welcome in a man that knows a thing or two about the Dallas Cowboys and he won three Super Bowls with them, was a multiple-time Pro Bowler and now Darryl Moose Johnson who's been calling games for years on Fox as the Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the USFL and you can get tickets at the usfl.com slash ticket dash hub and that includes matchups in Detroit, Birmingham, Canton and Memphis. Moose, appreciate the time, thanks so much for doing this, how you been? I've been good, I've been good, how you doing Zach? Well I've been fantastic, so another year of the USFL, we know last year was successful, Birmingham winning it all, just what are you kind of feeling as you get ready in a month to embark on another journey here? Yeah it's a little bit different this year, it's kind of odd, you know we had all eight teams in the single hub in Birmingham last year so it was very very busy, a little bit chaotic and and getting ready for this season it's been a much more manageable pace but the challenge this year will be having you know the four hubs total, two teams in each hub spread across you know kind of the center part of the country Birmingham, Memphis, Canton, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan so you know not getting a chance to see everybody that you worked so hard with last year is kind of disappointing so you know we get to jump on some zoom calls to catch up once in a while as we're doing some of the day-to-day grind in the business so but it's going to be fun looking forward to it we've had Skip Holtz here you know getting ready with his staff and they're excited to have an opportunity to defend that first championship. What was your favorite part of last year? My favorite part was the progression from week one all the way to the championship game in Canton, Ohio and really the opportunity to have our first you know playoff series and championship game at Tom Benson Field at the Hall of Fame was something that was really really special for us and you know we had Jimmy Johnson come in and he addressed all four teams in our playoffs you know during that week we wanted it to be something special for the guys to show them how much we appreciated all the hard work that went into year one in the USFL and it couldn't come up any better. We had some really good games you know had a little bit of an upset there with Philadelphia who was a team that was probably playing Houston and Philadelphia were probably playing the best football down the stretch. Philadelphia was able to qualify for the playoffs Houston was not and they knocked off New Jersey and really you know truth be told if Case Cook doesn't break his leg in the championship game I think that that's going to be a real nail-biter coming down to the end so I think that was the most enjoyable thing for me was you know to see where everything started to see how much time and energy and passion was put into it by everybody you know players coaches staff you know league staff and to watch us grow from the time we walked into training camp through the course of the regular season and and to be able to crown that that first champion in the USFL at the Hall of Fame was just awesome. I think the neat part about it Darryl Moose Johnson is like I'm programmed right NFL college football that's my football but not everyone can get to the NFL or not everyone has the easiest path to get to the NFL I think giving guys more opportunities to extend their professional football career maybe find the path to get back to the NFL has to be a neat part for you. It really does it really does it's so hard today and you don't know what the circumstances are you know it to see you know somebody like you know Kavante Turpin you know take advantage of a second opportunity and maximize that was great. One of the guys that I'm excited to see this year a couple of guys you know Kingston Davis and and Mark Thompson you know two running backs Kingston's with New Jersey markers with Houston he was there last year but he's been out of football for two years and I think that there's an opportunity maybe for him to get to the next level so you never know timing circumstance you know what whatever the the situation was for some of these young men and why they didn't make it to the NFL to be able to provide that that alternative route to get back there is something very special to us and one of the things we're really looking at this year is you know kind of our our first collegiate draft class you know we drafted 10 players per team back on February 21st so we've got 10 10 players on on each of our teams that have access to the rights to these players and you know do these guys choose to go through that draft process which is something that we encourage you know we you've worked so hard to have that that opportunity to be drafted in the NFL and and if you think you still have that that chance to fulfill that childhood dream then please go chase that but if it doesn't work out for you you know we we've got we've got a place for you here in the usfl and you know we've got 80 new names and new faces that uh that we're excited to see that could come our way uh you know post draft time in the nfl talking to moose darrell moose johnston here with us aaron rogers today basically told the entire world he intends to play for the jets what are your expectations with looking like rogers heading over to the big apple i i think it's going to be interesting we had the jets a couple of times last season and and really it was it was the quarterback position um that was the the challenging part for that team uh you know robert salla and his staff have done a great job on the defensive side of the ball um you know kind of building that team um you know they they had both of the rookie of the years last year on the offensive and defensive side of the ball so they've got some good young talent they've got a good offensive line they've got some good running backs um the wide receiver position is is growing and maturing there's a lot of good pieces in place and and aaron rogers is one of those types of quarterbacks that uh you know you refer to as the high tide quarterback right he raises all ships so everybody on that offensive side of the ball is going to get a little better with aaron rogers at the helm so i i think it's going to be interesting i i really do um i don't know if they were just that one player away but there was so much inconsistency with the quarterback position last year for the jets that that if aaron rogers is healthy for all 17 games uh it's going to be interesting to see how much pressure the jets can put on the bills yeah and i just wonder how far they could take it because this is a positive day if you're a fan of the jets but rogers you know two three years ago mvp of the league back to back years had home field advantage and that offense left you wanting more up against tampa bay and san francisco in the playoffs so like i look at rogers i just don't expect him to win another super bowl because it's been so many years yeah well you know you look at that san francisco game and it was really special teams that was the downfall that day you know sometimes you know coaches head coaches and quarterbacks you know they they get too much of the credit they get too much of the blame uh when things go well or things go wrong uh there's a lot of things that you can sit back and look at if you were to go back to that tampa bay game and then that that san francisco game um you know i would have expected aaron rogers to have more than than one super bowl championship at this time um you know he's got incredible numbers he'll be a hall of famer um and and it's surprising to see him sitting there not only with just the one but just how few opportunities there were there when they were in such great position on so many occasions so um you know i think it's it'll be interesting to see what happens you know how much gas is left in that tank um you know a change a change at this stage of somebody's career there's mixed results there but maybe this is something that really invigorates aaron rogers and and he embraces it and and has you know a lot of the key pieces in place to help support him it it's not it's not a game that's won by just adding one player you know how does that player fit in what is the chemistry what is the culture in that building that robert sala and his staff have have installed and how well does aaron rogers fit into that so there's going to be a lot of carryover there's going to be a lot of commonality uh you know because matt leflore coming out a lot of those similar situations in green bay um that's going to be familiar there's a lot of you know a lot of connections when you talk about some of these coaching trees that have been intertwined uh from these franchises darren was johnson how did you react to the news today that ezekah elliott and the cowboys are no more um i've been busy all day here trying to get ready for player arrival tomorrow so i i had not heard that one uh but when you go with tony collard with the franchise tag uh there there's obviously a transition that's going to be had and obviously ezekiel with the contract that he had um you know is is he going to take less does he still feel like there's more in the tank for him um it may be a similar situation to aaron rogers you know we remember and we're grateful for everything that ezekiel elliott did as cowboy fans uh but perhaps this is an opportunity for him to go out and find you know that that opportunity at this stage of his career where he finds a role um you know similar to what he had in dallas you know i still think you know in the beginning of the year he was he was running very physically um you know there there was there was a you know an uptick the last year's it's just the ability to stay healthy and that's one of the reasons why you know the running back position has become you know maybe an undervalued position in the nfl now and we see it so much by committee is because when you have that lead guy when you have that that every down back it takes a toll and especially the way that ezekiel elliott ran the football he was a very physical behind the pad runner um and and those hits they they take real pieces from you uh on the back side of your career as they start to accumulate so you know it's a sad day for cowboy fans i think everybody respects and appreciates everything he did for the franchise and you know i think i echo probably everybody's sentiments where we're sad to see him go but we wish him all the best back to back years they've had 12 wins in the regular season and then heartbreak in the postseason both times at the hands of the 49ers do you think the cowboys are close to getting over that hump and getting back to a super bowl i think it's going to be interesting uh with mike mccarthy back calling the plays um you know it's been a long time with that same offense you know kellen moore was under scott linehan so there was a lot of consistency there and i understand why with dak prescott coming in and growing in that system and not wanting to change at that point but but i i think that dak is at this stage of his career it's going to be an easy transition for him um i i expect mike you know to to have great conversations with dak prescott and find out everything that he liked you know from kellen moore's system incorporate that into what they're going to do this year uh but but for me i i'm excited to see what dallas does you know with mike mccarthy at the helm you know calling the plays building his offense and pair that uh you know with what dan quinn brings on the defensive side of the ball and uh you know they're close they're very close they had they had the moment last year at 1912 you know for dak prescott that was his moment that was his opportunity to join the troy inkman the rogers stallbacks you know those great franchise quarterbacks in dallas cowboy history with a drive that takes you down and ties that game and then you lead your team to a victory and you get to go to the nfc championship game and and and maybe continue that journey um so i i i know that it was a disappointing outcome for him i know that that was a bitter pill on that drive um and and that i i really feel that the the right pieces are in place there i think that everybody's going to come back motivated uh i think everybody understands the window concept uh you know in that franchise and you're seeing transition right now you know ezekiel elliott leaving the franchise you know how much longer is tyron smith a part of that franchise um you know you're starting to lose some of the key guys of those great teams over the last five to eight years ten years last thing i'll ask you darramus johnson what's your guess on what happens here with the lamar jackson situation he's allowed to get a deal done with another team and the ravens could either match it or let him walk for two first round picks when it comes to week one and you're calling games in the fall do you think lamar will still be on the ravens uh i think that that's going to be a very hard decision for for baltimore i think it's really really hard when you have somebody who's meant so much for your franchise uh you know to walk away without fulfilling the ultimate goal in the nfl which is winning a super bowl championship so um the the one thing for me looking at the last couple of years is is you need your quarterback to be at his best at the end of the regular season going into the playoffs in the last two years lamar jackson has been hurt and i think that that's something that's going to weigh heavily on this decision um and when you look at transitioning out of that and you get two first round draft picks uh to start the rebuild to move away from lamar jackson you know that that is going to be something that's going to be very tempting for the baltimore ravens but i think the biggest thing for me looking at that situation and and i think it's it's a situation that that that every quarterback has to understand is is your health and getting through the season um and and just seeing how that impact you know what it did with chicago and justin fields when he's not in the lineup you know as dynamic as he is you know when when patrick mahomes is not healthy you know in kansas city you know what that does to him and you know for for baltimore the last two seasons to be in a position to really kind of get into the playoffs and make a run and to lose lamar at that time you know that that has to be very very frustrating for them down was johnson thanks so much good luck with your number to the usfl and thanks so much for doing this you got it jack thank you 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