Try To Stop Me

When Dallas Cowboys running back Marion Barber III was negotiating his seven-year, $45 million contract, I imagine he only had to submit tape of one play. You know the one I’m talking about. The undefeated New England Patriots are at Texas Stadium. The Cowboys are deep in their own territory. Barber takes a handoff from Tony Romo and is immediately deeper. Four Patriots knock him into the end zone and almost out the back of it. Romo spins on his heels in disgust; a safety is all but assured. But Barber somehow stays on his feet. He keeps running. He finds a seam—creates his own, really—on the opposite sideline and turns up the field. When he’s finally pushed out of bounds at the 12-yard line (by the ninth Patriot to get a hand on him), he has run 40 yards to gain two. Go to YouTube. Watch that play 100 or so times. Go to the Cowboys fan shop. Buy a “Marion the Barberian” t-shirt. Then get excited that training camp starts July 24.