What Cowboys icon Drew Pearson said about CeeDee Lamb’s return, Dallas’ resilience and more

During a Tuesday meeting with 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM) to discuss his role as an ambassador for the East-West Shrine Bowl, Dallas Cowboys icon Drew Pearson took some time to discuss the team’s current state of play heading into the 2024 season.

The original #88 shared his thoughts on CeeDee Lamb returning to the team after receiving an extension, how Dallas can rebuild its badass identity, and more. Here are some highlights from Pearson’s appearance on K&C Masterpiece (edited for length and clarity):

You once said, “I didn’t have a catch zone. I had a zip code. You just throw it in that zip code and I’ll catch it.” As for CeeDee Lamb, does he represent that well?

Pearson: “Without a doubt. You saw the season he had last year, the catches he had. Defenders knew he was going to be the guy, and he still managed to get open and beat coverage, whether it was double coverage or single coverage. You throw the ball in his radius, he catches it. I don’t remember CeeDee dropping anything last season. Obviously, 88, we don’t drop anything. We don’t even drop calls, it’s not our fault.

“CeeDee helped in the passing game, the downfield passing game, and he made a difference. Again, he did it when the defense knew he was going to be the guy. And the Cowboys did a good job of covering up CeeDee, getting him moving, getting him in the slot. Double receivers on one side, things like that. The idea is to confuse the defense and keep them off balance. Dak (Prescott) knows he has a receiver in CeeDee Lamb, No. 88, and he turns to him in situations that require a lot of concentration. I just hate that he missed all that training camp time because that time is really important in terms of the reps you get with the quarterback, the reps you get with the offense and the sense of offense you have when you’re out there…”

How long would it take you to flip that switch and get into soccer shape?

Pearson: “As soon as you got into training camp with Tom Landry. You weren’t ready to come to our training camp. Now, in this training camp, I was in Oxnard for a couple days watching practices. I was like, ‘Man, I should dress down. I can get through one of these practices.’ Baseball caps, shorts, no shoulder pads. Coach Landry was practicing twice a day. As a rookie, we had a whole week of two-a-days. We had 100 rookies in camp my rookie year, and by the end of that week, we went from 100 to 50 guys doing two-a-days. The next week, the veterans come in and you’re trying to catch up and keep up with them.

“It’s a tough process to go through and try to make the team. But once you’re there as a veteran and you make the team, training camp becomes a necessity as far as getting ready for the season. Once you get ready, it helps the team get better and get ready for the whole process as well. You have to put in the work. You put it in training camp and the preseason. I don’t like the fact that these guys don’t play or don’t get a lot of playing time in the preseason. They don’t get beat up and tackled in real NFL games. Then they go out and play their first regular-season game and, hey, when you walk onto the NFL sideline, you can’t hide. You’re going to get hit…”

How does a team shape a strong identity?

Pearson: “You create that in practice. With the new rules, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, what players can and can’t do in practice, how many practices they can have. It’s hard to do. These guys today have to find that missing piece of their game to be successful in the game. They have to figure it out for themselves. When you become a veteran, you know how to push yourself. You know what you have to do to face the adversity, the challenges of the upcoming season. So you just go out and do it. You do your job to the best of your ability and hopefully it’s good enough to help the team win some football games.”

“It’s all about winning. We’ve gotten away from the most important thing, which is going out there as the Dallas Cowboys, playing and representing the Cowboys. It’s not you individually, it’s the team. And it’s all about winning…”

You can listen to the rest of Pearson’s statement on The Fan here.

For more on the Cowboys, check out The Dallas Morning News here.