Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware: Cowboys team leaders must step up, injured or not

DeMarcus Ware has lived through in-season turmoil. He was right there in the midst of one of his nine Pro Bowl campaigns when the Cowboys fired head coach Wade Phillips in early November 2010, and all he did was keep creating havoc on the field to eventually lead the league in sacks that season.

So Ware knows a thing or two about playing through the kind of adversity and noise the 2024 Cowboys are facing.

But in a one-on-one conversation with Cowboys Wire this week, the Hall of Famer admitted that this year's bunch is exponentially more hamstrung simply due to the number- and the caliber- of players currently missing in action.

"Number one, you've got to have everybody there," Ware said. "When you don't have DeMarcus Lawrence and you don't have Micah Parsons and a couple other interior guys, you can see that everybody's not on the same accord. When you have [coordinator Mike] Zimmer coming in with his new defense, you can see how great they played in the first game. And then as guys start to become missing and not playing as injured, the other guys didn't pick up the pieces. You can see missed gap alignments, you can see missed assignments, guys not being where they need to be."

Injuries are a part of the game, for every club, in every year. How a team deals with that eventuality usually ends up deciding their fate. But as Ware points out, the real work on that front should have actually happened months ago, with the younger, newer, and less experienced names who have been thrust into bigger roles.

"It's hard to go through a stretch like that, but that's when you start to see true leadership. When you have guys out, are you actually pouring into the guys that are second- and third-stringers? And that starts in the offseason," he explained. "When you pour into the guys in the offseason- from minicamp to training camp all the way to the season- the starters aren't always going to be out there, but their aura, their feel, their spirit, is going to be out there in those players, and they actually play to a higher level, and that's what I'm not seeing."

The seven-time All-Pro cautions that the team's current woes, though, aren't solely on the defense.

"You've got to have everybody on one accord. And some big plays have to be made for Dak to get closer to the end zone, because he's not a guy that's going to go from goal line to goal line."

And while Ware hints that the Cowboys' laundry list of issues is too long to be magically fixed with a well-timed bye week, he says a turnaround- like the one that took the 2010 crew from 1-7 under Phillips to a 5-3 mark the rest of the way under Jason Garrett- starts with getting back to fundamentals and having a select few leaders rally the troops.

"The guys that have the C on their chest, they're always the leaders. Not because they've been there the longest, but because they've impacted the guys in the offseason, and they say, 'You can carry us throughout the season.'"

"Close the doors in the locker room and say, 'Here's what we need to do.' You've got to quiet the media by quieting the chatter in the locker room. You can't let the outside media separate the guys in the locker room," he said. "How can you quiet the media? By playing well."

While it remains to be seen if the current Cowboys have it in them to rally this season, Ware is doing his part to help rally the community that's become his home team since he retired from football.

The Metroplex resident will be making a timely appearance at this week's grand re-opening of Sam's Club Cafe in Grapevine. But this isn't just any ceremonial meet-and-greet; this Sam's Club location has been closed for nearly two years after a devastating F-1 tornado ripped through the town in December 2022.

"I've been part of the Grapevine community since '05," Ware offered, "and I remember when [the store] closed. It's a huge building over there, and everybody's been anticipating when they're going to open back up. And it's so cool for me to be part of this, part of the community, but now part of this grand opening in a new and inventive way."

The remodeled store will be the chain's first all-digital location, with no checkout lanes, payments made (and even food and beverages from the Cafe ordered for no-wait prep) via a scan-and-go app, and receipts checked at the door by AI.

And Ware himself will be on-hand to welcome the community back in person Thursday from 2 to 3 p.m. CT.

But how about a return to The Star to pitch in with a Cowboys defense that desperately needs a comeback of its own? Even at 42, the Ring of Honor enshrinee looks like he could still throw on pads and bag an opposing quarterback.

"I've still got about 13 to 15 plays in me," Ware laughed.

These Cowboys could use every one of them.

** Special thanks to Pepsi for facilitating the conversation between DeMarcus Ware and Cowboys Wire in advance of his Oct. 17 appearance at Sam's Club Cafe in Grapevine, Tex.**